Oh, how Maxis continues to marvel Sims fans from all places. With Nightlife their newest edition to The Sims 2, players are now given a whole new world of options, as well as being mesmerized with comical characters such as the match maker and even vampires. Yes, I said vampires. Along with beautiful game play, the creators added some spice with extra special details and crazy new options for your sims. Nightlife adds modular furniture, which gives your sim the chance to have a unique couch design instead of just a bland three-seater. Sim children also get a chance to enjoy themselves with the new option of using the dance floor, and it's even possible for you to get creativity points by working the DJ booth or for singing in karaoke. And just like the musical instruments in The Sims 2 -- the more points you have, the better your performance.
Remember how I mentioned vampires? These new characters are a rare sight, and can greatly change the life of any sim, so be on the look out. Vampires are pleasantly goofy, and while being in their coffin, sims get the option to peek inside it or to dare others to try. Along with your coffin, vampires can also have the option to "stalk" another player; this is when the vampire lurks around with an arm held out usually guarding his fangs from view. They are even given the ability to turn into bats and fly from one point to another, which I found to be incredibly interesting. There are also downsides to becoming a vampire, such as that little job of yours. Along with being a vampire comes the ever popular side effect, you know, burning in the sun. When your sim is up past sunrise their mood will quickly decrease and they will begin dieing. That's right, your sim must sleep in their coffin until night. So if you want to become a vampire, I suggest you forget about having a job.
The biggest addition to the game however, is the dating game. With the new environments your sims can visit, you can now go downtown in groups, or even go down by yourself and scope out the area for your next love. That's right, your sim is given the ability to scope out the area, and while doing this, sims that you find attractive will light up. Considering you are given the chance to set your turn-ons and turn-offs, any sim can be a new match for you. After finding out what sim you want to hit on, you can do things to your sim (such as perfumes) to increase your attractiveness to other sims. Although, sometimes doing anything at all is not the best approach, a sim won't always like you if you smell like you just bathed in cologne.
If you've succeeded past the first impression, you can ask the sim out on a date. Dating is much like the Greek house from University, in the aspect of having a time limit to make the sim like you so much, by filling up their hearts desire. While on dates you can talk to your date, take them out to dinner, or go somewhere for some entertainment. But like any relationship, a date can have its problems. Once you've started a date, your sim is given new wants, which need to be completed to have a successful date. As well as new interactions for dating sims, you can also acquire social interactions earlier than if you weren't on a date, such as the popular "Woohoo".
Speaking of "Woohoo", did I mention the new items? After five years of desperately waiting, sims can now have their own cars. Your house requires a driveway, but you can also build garages straight onto your home to store your new toy. Having a car gives your sim a new range of interactions such as driving to work (you can show up late), taking the kids to school, going for a joy ride, and you can even catch a bit of steamy romance in the back-seat if you've just been out on a date. Now that youve finally achieved your dream of owning a car, you probably dont think it can get much better, but that isnt true.
Maxis has finally given you the chance to have the ultimate party house. New items include dancing lights, the electro dance sphere (beware of this, it will make your sim violently throw up), a poker table, new art pieces, and even a bowling alley for that extra rich sim. The idea is basically a source of motivation for you to make your sim as socially accepted as possible, and with an amazing party house it couldnt get any easier.
Though you are given so many ways to improve the home style of your sim, the new items just sit there. The idea of Nightlife is to spend as much time downtown as possible meeting new people and fulfilling new goals. Each town is given its own personal place to go for the action, much like the college chooser in the previous expansion, University. You dont have to worry about getting bored either, because there are enough entertainment options to keep you busy for a lifetime. You can even create and visit your own downtown areas, and Id strongly advise taking advantage of it. Each downtown area includes the normal shops you think you would encounter, but also contains restaurants, bowling alleys (which provide fun for the whole family), nightclubs (naturally, you know what those are there for), and even a cemetery the perfect date for any vampire. Not only can you visit downtown but you also have the amazing ability to live right next to your favorite restaraunt! Your sim can finally live that metropolitan life youve been silently wishing for.
Maxis has once again awed the public with their superior ability to bring life into gaming, however -- not everything about Nightlife is for the best. Remember those relationships that you had in previous expansions? You're emotions have drastically increased, giving you a better sense of love and hate, making it harder to find friends, and even worse -- to fall in love. Every sim wants to fall in love, right? Well, now each person is given the ability to find that perfect someone. New to the game is the Match Maker. This may sound like a good idea, but seriously, it's just not worth it. Thinking it would work, I willingly gave the NPC 5000 simoleons. What did I get out of it? Absolutely nothing, in fact, my sim went on the worst date of her life. My recommendation? Make your sim endure the tedious process of finding a match based on sign and personalities. Atleast that way, you'll go on a date with someone you know you'll enjoy.
This newest expansion is jam packed with new ways to create the perfect world, and it's easy to see why so many people can lose themselves in it's grip. So even if you aren't a sims fan, go check this game out, you never know -- It may just be the game for you. I'm slightly curious myself to find out if Maxis is going to be able to create even better expansions every six months like they've promised. One promised expansion, due to be out in early 2006 is, The Sims 2: Open For Business; apparently you are given the ability to run your own corporations. Keep your eyes peeled, Sims fans, Maxis may just give you everything you've been wishing for.
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