Macintosh

The Sims: Unleashed

After a feeling of disappointment after the release of Sims Vacation, my faith in the Sims series has been revived by Unleashed. Its fresh spin on game play is quite enjoyable, and I recommend it highly for everyone who has ever enjoyed playing The Sims. I would even recommend this add-on to people pondering the idea of owning a pet. It will give them a a little look into just how much responsibility ownership of a pet can be.

As far as expansion packs go, Unleashed offers a great deal of new gameplay to the Sims experience. Training pets is fun, challenging and rewarding. Breeding pets is probably just as enjoyable, if only I could find some non-lesbian cats. Not that I don’t love lesbians, but when it comes to breeding, things just don’t work. Old Town is very hip; I totally dig the Paris-style pet-friendly cafes. Finally, I like the ability for Sims to garden, as I’ve always enjoyed the idea of gardening, but hate actually being outside. All in all, I urge all Sims fans to go and fetch Unleashed.

Now, this is the point in the review where I would normally complain about the game's performance. I won't do it here, though, because it's obviously doing no one any good. The performance of The Sims has been extremely poor on lower end machines since Hot Date was released, and it's not getting any better, so I assume there's a valid reason for this. As a result, we moved our copy of The Sims from the 500MHz G3 iBook to the 867MHz G4 Quicksilver, and things are much better. I realize that most of you aren't afforded this option, and I'm sorry. It's either build a new house or move off the block, your Sims neighbors are telling you. It's progress...suburban development.