I must be a Sim addict because I had to get this new expansion pack the day that it came out and I had been waiting for it to come out for months. I was so excited when I saw the commercial on MTv for this new expansion that I ran out to Staples and bought it right then. The commercial does not even do the game justice.

Requirement

First you need to have The Sims, this is an expansion pack so you do need to have the original game to play this. When I installed it also had me install some files from the House Party expansion pack (even though this is not mentioned on the box). So be prepared you might need to have your House Party disk handy when your installing this new game as well.

Other requirement are:

Windows 95/98 (it says NT is not supported but I have run it on NT as well)
300MHz Pentium 2 processor
65 MB RAM (128 MB if your running other expansion packs as well)
600 MB's of free hard disk space (more to save your games)

I know this sounds like a lot but newer computers will already have all of this. If your not sure make sure before you buy this because you might be disappointed if you are looking forward to playing and then find out that your system is too old.

New Objects

There are over 125 new items for you to play with your Sims with. They include:

Cuddle Coach
Fish Pond (this is great because you can feed the fish and watch them - in the downtown area you are able to rent a sailboat and sail it in this pond also)
Picnic Blanket
Lover's Swing
Ice Cream Counter
New Tables
Ceiling fans (so you don't have to find places for lights in those tight quarters)
New art objects

There are many many more objects for you to use to liven up your house and the lives of your Sims. There are also new roofs, wallpaper and floors and walls for you to use.

New Interactions

There are a lot of new options for interactions. Before there was only the main options but now there are sub-interactions that depend on how your relationships are with each other. For example:

Under Talk

You can either talk about interests or gossip.

Under Kiss

You can give a quick friendly peck on the check all the way up to a fiery passionate kiss (I wouldn't try this one the first time it appears or you will get slapped just like the Sim from the commercial).

Under Hug

Here you also have from Friendly to Passionate hugs that will show up as your relationship grows.

Give Gift

This is a great new feature because you can go downtown and buy your own gifts and select what gift you will give to each other. They have a variety of stores that you can buy gifts from (from Teddy Bears to Diamonds to magazines to Candy).

As you can see there are more interactions than I can go into a review about them but there should be some surprises when you open the game and start playing also.

Downtown

Now this is the area that people have been waiting for. Now your Sims are no longer stuck in their houses under some boring routines, such as cleaning and cooking and reading).

Taking a Cab

To get downtown you need to take a cab because your Sims still cannot drive themselves anywhere. It will cost you 50.00 to get downtown and it will cost the same to get home or to get to other sections of downtown.

Meeting New People

Now you can meet new people without creating a lot of new people in the neighborhood. All the people that you meet downtown will have the last name of Townie so that you can call them once you get back home. This means that it is a lot easier to meet new people and build your social levels.

Buying Items

This is very simple. All of your household income always follows you when you go downtown so just make sure that you have some money in your family account before you head out the door.

Eating Out

Yes now your Sims can eat out also. There are many places for your Sims to eat at including a Fish Restaurant, and Ice Cream Parlor and a nice restaurant, there is even a bar with a dance floor.

Time

When you leave your house everything saves the way that you leave it in and there is no progress made in the house. This can get strange because the time will remain the same when you leave and when you return from your trip downtown.

Building Downtown

You can also build a shop downtown and then take your Sims downtown to shop in your own store. I have not done this yet but I am planning to very soon.

Conclusion

There are so many more aspects to this game that you have to experience to understand. This is a great addition to the game and is well worth the money for your Sims. They can now have more interactions with other Sims and it does not require that you create all the Sims that your Sims will have contact with. You can now also have up to 8 neighborhoods as compared to the 5 from the other expansions and only the one neighborhood that you got when you just had the basic game.

This is a great game and can consumes hours of your time to play so make sure that you are not suppose to be doing something else before you start.

Recommended: Yes