The Sims 2: Pets (console)

The Sims 2 Pets Wii Review
The Story

Well, as far as story lines are concerned, this game doesn't really have one! The Sims 2 Pets Wii is a very nicely done and well though out game, bringing the complete open-mindedness of most other Sims games to the console! Yes, that's right, this game is perfect for those with a creative mind who long for life simulation style games. This is a family-friendly version of a Sims game with a new feature: Pets! Yes, if one thing had to be relatively close to a story, it would be this game's new feature of being able to have pets! You can still create a neighborhood however you want to, create and customize Sims that will grow, change, live, love, cry, and fight, and you will still become emotionally attached to these wonderful Sims that you put on your made-up world, but now you can add pets to the mix! At the "Create A Family" menu, you will now not only be able to create almost any Sim-person imaginable, you will also be able to create almost any Sim-animal imaginable.

Customization

Many people have argued that console versions of the Sims series never really captured the full extent of customization that the PC versions were famed for, but I disagree. You can still choose from an array of clothes (gender-specific, of course) for your Sim that you can change the material, style, size, and various other things of. So you should always feel free to just go ahead and make any kind of Sim you want, customizing them literally from head to toe, not just with fashion, but with body type, head shape, aspiration, personality, and name, too! I'll admit, some other Sims games do have a little more customization, but come on, cut this console version some slack! Also, there is probably an even wider array of possibilities when it comes to creating a pet. When you are first creating a family, you can choose between a dog or a cat, male or female (obviously), and then dozens of breeds. Once you choose a breed, you can alter body shape, fur style, fur color, fur markings, tail shape, head shape, body size, fashions (yes, even tops and shoes for you doggy or kitty), personality, and much more! So really, the customization variety in this game shouldn't really be criticized.

The Town Square

The Town Square is really just the public center of your neighborhood where your Sims can go and buy various different awesome items for their pets (they can even put them in a boarding kennel when you just need a break), and where your Sims can also socialize with all your other Sims. The Town Square is a fun, unpredictable feature of this game, so I'd say it's definitely a nice touch.

Playing The Game

After you've created a family, you'll get to choose from one of the pre-created houses on the map, one of the empty, lots, or you can even build a house of your own. Once your all moved, in you can use the handy "Object Catalog" to sift through hundreds of different everyday items. You can literally get everything your Sims could possibly need and more here. Once you're playing the game, you can play through it in either "Classic Control Mode" (which I think is better suited for the Wii console because it uses an onscreen pointer to select actions), or "Direct Control Mode" (which allows you to, well, directly control your Sim. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of actions you Sims can undergo. So go ahead and have some fun with your Sim's life! Anyway, one thing that makes this game a little more difficult is how you can't directly control your Sim's pets. You can really only watch them as they loiter around the house, so it's up to you to strategically place items in your house to keep your pet happy. Also, your Sims still speak that signature language of theirs (also known as "Simlish"), which is good news, plus the time still travels at a faster pace than in reality, which makes the game easier to get through, but also more annoying when you find that your Sim has taken about an hour to take a whiz.

Controls

I personally think that EA did a pretty neat job with the controls for this game. They are a little different and sometimes unexpected when compared to other Sims games for consoles. However, though it can be difficult to get the hang of these controls, I think this game is very nicely suited for the Wii in the controls department, especially when you are on "Classic Control Mode."

Graphics/Glitches

Well, the graphics and picture are quite good, though I have found a large extent of sometimes annoying glitches that result in your Sims getting stuck on items and furniture, though this is really the only big one.

Overview

To bring this review to a conclusion, I'll just say this: The Sims 2 Pets for the Nintendo Wii is definitely a good game, and it it totally and completely worth it if you are willing to forget a few little glitches and maybe an extended loading time. I give it a smiley face!

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The Sims 2 Pets for consoles is part of the series of The Sims 2 expansion packs, and is the fourth installment in The Sims console series. Based on the PC expansion pack, it features a much less goal-oriented system, and is more like the free mode of previous games. The main element in this game is that the Sims could posses pets which could be customized and looked after.

The Sims 2 Pets is the first game to have the Green EA Logo (formally the EA Games and EA Logo) and the logo is used on The Sims, MySims and SimCity franchises as well as SimAnimals.

The console version of The Sims 2: Pets plays similarly to the PC version. It is available on GBA, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP, Windows, Mac OS X, Wii, and N-Gage platforms. It was released for the Wii on June 13, 2007. Werewolves are not featured on the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, GameCube or Wii versions.

This game is different from the previous Sim console games as the player isn't forced to accomplish goals which wasn't the main idea of the original Sims. The player creates and controls the Sims they make. In this game there are pets which you are supposed to take care of.

The player is given the option to create or adopt pets, which is the only way to expand a family, unless 2 pets have offspring.

When a Sims reaches a certain level of friendship with another Sim, as in all games, it unlocks a series of romantic actions, which are not limited by gender. Sims cannot, however, WooHoo, age, or have a baby. Elders are made simply by changing hair color.

As said before, the only key to expanding families are adoption and the real estate office when the Sims are there before moving to a new house.

A pet's offspring usually looks like the parent of the same gender, ie: The mother dog is black and white, the father is brown and rust, the puppy is a female, so it will be black and white with a few rust-colored flecks. Occasionally, when mixing breeds of dog, the puppy will be the same breed as one of the parents, with no hint of the other breed, ie: When interbreeding a black Poodle with a russet-colored Collie, the offspring will be a dark brown Poodle, because the poodle has such a bizarre body and fur coat, there is no way to mix it with the collie.

Families

 * Newbie Family
 * Bob, Betty, and their dalmatian, Buddy


 * Hardiman Family
 * Dan, his wife Kate, and a collie named Buster


 * Oakley Family
 * The slob, Buck, living with his three dogs at Dogwood Forest.

McAvery Family
 * Townsend Family
 * William, Linda, and their two dogs, Henrietta the pug and Fauntleroy live on Paw Valley Road

Isabella, Chris, Macey, Bianca, Sabrina and a one dog Ginger at Firefly Lake

Other Townies
As the player progresses through the game, other Sims are unlocked. Players cannot start a game with these Sims but they can move them into already inhabited households by marrying them or simply increasing the relationship points with them enough to ask them to move in. Until a Sim is unlocked they will not appear around the Town Square or visit/be seen walking by their home.

Here are a list of the townies Unlocked and the aspiration points totals:


 * Charlie Prescott - 100
 * Patty Prescott - 100
 * Cindy Lou Boyle - 100
 * Claire Seville - 1000
 * Walter Mellon - 1000
 * Wanda Mellon - 1000
 * Babette Lambert - 10000
 * Jim Lester - 10000
 * Huckleberry Wong - 100000
 * Kiki Pickens - 100000
 * Timothy Pickens - 100000
 * Eddie Howard - 1000000
 * Joyce Howard - 1000000
 * Hilary Duff ???

Changes from earlier The Sims games for consoles

 * The 2 Player Mode from earlier games has been removed.
 * The repairman is now renamed as the "Repair Woman" in the PS2, GameCube and Wii versions and "Repair Person" in the PSP version, The Repairman is however not renamed in the Windows version.
 * Some objects from The Urbz and The Sims 2 are removed.
 * Fears have been removed.
 * The Romance Aspiration has been removed from The Sims 2.
 * The Family and Creativity Aspiration has been added.
 * Pet Points
 * Death has been removed.
 * Adult is the only life stage.