The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, after two days of owning Sims 2 I think that I have gotten enough play time in to write a comprehensive review.(...)

Alright, on to the review.I have both positive and negative things to say about Sims 2.Sorry, this is probably going to be a long review.

POSITIVE:

*Maxis has thrown a bit of Sim City into the mix.You can either play one of the pre-created neighborhoods or you can start from scratch.This option is fantastic!You can choose the layout, build houses or place houses already built onto the lots.No more wondering if you already have a house at lot #5 before downlaoding because you can place the house ANYWHERE you want!

*While playing the game you can connect to Maxis (if you have internet connection) and dowload new Maxis created items directly into the game.

*The Wants and Fears addition to Sims 2 is alot of fun.Even if they tend to get repetitive.

*It's alot easier for your Sims to Socialize in Sims 2.Now they will receive telephone calls from people who just want to talk, they can chat online and send and receive e-mails.Plus your Sims will sometimes bring people home with them from work or school.AND you can now socialize with (and even marry) what were previously non-interactive character like cashiers, the maid, and the paper deliverer.

*The Sims now have days off from work and vacation days.Needless to say, this creates alot more free time for your Sims to concentrate on other things.

*You can distinguish between family members and roommates.So no more awkward "Flowers in the Attic" moments.

*I haven't actually built a house but I love having the option of building more than 2 floors.Plus you can now shape the roof for more realistic and more luxurious houses.

*You can choose from a whole outfit or you can mix and match tops and bottoms.And with a mirror you can change the color and cut of your Sims hair and add and remove make-up and facial hair.

*Some reviewers were discussing the load time of Sims 2.I am running it on a Compaq Presario X1000 Notebook computer and so far the game has not crashed on me once.Furthermore, I haven't had any problems (crosses fingers) with the load times.I suppose the true test will be after I begin adding more objects, clothing, and genetics to the game.

*I was happy to see that you can still create community lots.Right now it's limited to basically parks, grocery stores, and clothing botiques but I'm sure restaurants and such will be coming with an expansion pack.

*Having your Sims age is a great addition to the game.Plus children now have alot more functions.They won't just stand around all day with their stupid "Ha-ha Who-who" and annoy the crap out of you (experienced Simmers know what I'm talking about).Ah yes, and teenagers can now get jobs!No free rides for for anyone anymore!

*The Sims act alot more natural in Sims 2.Like if one Sims is reading a book, they will look up if someone sits next to them, sometimes even talk to them.Their actions are much more fluid and natural and less robotic.In general, the Sims act alot more like real people than in the original Sims (it's especially noticable with the children).

*There are now little multiple choice scenarios that your Sims will experience.Your Sim will be given two or three choices and depending on which option you choose the outcome can be positive or negative.You could, for instance, be promoted for the choice you make or lose an entire day's worth of pay (These are just a couple I have personally experienced).

NEGATIVE:

*Creating family relationships isn't as liberal as I was expecting it to be.For instance, if you have an Adult Sim and a Teenage Sim living in a household, the Teenage Sim HAS to be the child of the Adult Sim.This was a problem for a family I was trying to create where a Teenage Sim lived with her Aunt.I haven't tested it yet, but it might be possible to do this the long way (create two sisters and a teenage child and whack the mother).I suppose it would just be easier if you could create them from the start.Same thing I noticed with an elderly couple whom I wanted to have an adult son and a teenage son.The only way to make the family possible was to make the teenager the son of the adult son :(But still, I'm thankful you can distinguish whether your Sims are roomies or siblings.It spares those awkward moments when your Sibling Sims start flirting withor making out with each other (Eww)

*The Sims age really fast!Luckily there's a cheat code you can use to turn off the aging process.

*Furnishings available in the game seem really limited and eventhough you can pick and choose from a variety of colors, nothing seems to match.Same thing with clothing.It seems like there's just like 10 outfits in 10 different colors.I'm sure Maxis is leaving this open for downloadables and expansion packs.

*Not all the modifying options available in Sims 2 Body Shop are actually available in the game when creating families.So I would suggest creating the faces for your families in Body Shop before playing the game and then they will be automatically added as a head choice in the game.

*For the most part, I am enjoying the 3D graphics.It took me awhile to get adjusted to the zoom, but now it's alot easier.The only problem I have is that some household items (like refridgerators and windows) don't go invisible while zooming past them and they can sometimes block your view.It's not really a big issue though.

So these are a few of my first impressions of The Sims 2.Perhaps I will write another review when I have gotten more play time in, but so far I am not disappointed one bit with my purchase.So, if you are a fan of the Sims or have just been wanting to check out what the buzz was all about, I would highly recommend adding Sims 2 to your collection.

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Product Description:
The Sims 2 is an incredible sequel to the best-selling PC game of all-time! You'll get todirect an entire Sims' lifetime, and try to get them to reach their goals in life. Will theyhave a long, successful and happy life - or will they end up poor and heartbroken?Special DVD with bonus content -Interview with the game designers(where they offer game tips), tips on making your own films with Sims 2, screenshots, deleted scenes and more!

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Spyro A Hero's Tail Review

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(More customer reviews)I have always been a rabid Spyro fan, probably more so than what others would consider mentally healthy. The first three Spyro's are still my favorite video games fo all time. I, like many Spyro fans were, was disgusted with Enter The Dragonfly, whichI bought out of loyalty despite bad reviews.

When I saw a video for Spyro A Heroes Tail I had some hope, as it did not appear choppy and laggy like its predecessor. I got the game yesterday and I have gotten through a decent amount of it. I am enjoying the game, but I consider it a new brand of Spyro, as it seems detached from the rest of the series.

Spyro's moves have ben altered, instea of jumping and gliding you now double jump and glide, that took getting used to. There are small things that bother me, basically that there are four homeworlds with only two levels each. Don't get me wrong, the levels are MASSIVE, but it doesn't feel the same, and you walk into the lvels more or less as opposed to taking the "old school" portals.

Rather than the passive slapstick humor used in the other games you often find Spyro giving a commentary to the player, it doesn't work. There seems to be very little connection between this and the other Spyro game's, every voice actor is different (except maybe Sgt. Byrd) and there are new completely useless dragon characters that are Spyro's size. And they turned Moneybags into some kind of Arabian salesman, whats that about?

Overall, the game is slightly above mediocre, and if you are expecting a Spyro returning to tis roots, your in for a dissapointment.

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Product Description:
Spyro: A Hero's Tail takes you back to the world that tough little dragon, for all-new platforming adventure! Spyro must save the Dragon Realms from an evil dragon who has planted life-sapping dark gems all over the Dragon Realms. Seek out and destroy all of the Dark Gems to return the lands back to normal. A Hero's Tail is the greatest Spyro adventure ever!

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Star Wars Battlefront II (Mini Box) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very ambitious game that tries to include nearly everything in the Star Wars universe--from Jedis and high-tech weapons to space battles and land invasions--in a single package. For the most part, it pulls this off credibly.

Gameplay: This game is primarily a first-person shooter, although it includes some simple flight simulation and strategic gameplay. The single-player campaign focuses on Darth Vader's unit, the 501st squad of Clone troopers seen in the most recent Star Wars movies. Over the course of about 16 missions, you'll go from classic location to location, fighting against rebels, Wookies, droid armies, Jedi, and others as you tighten the emperor's grasp upon the galaxy. There are a couple truly great missions. For example, the best mission of the campaign was a reenactment of the capture and invasion of Princess Leia's ship, as seen at the beginnning of Episode IV. It's an intense, nearly perfect rendition of the movie scene, with Vader and his army of stormtroopers entering the captured ship through a hole blasted in its hull and battling it out with rebels. Overall, the campaign is well put together and should last 15-20 hours. My major complaint is that the missions vary wildly in difficulty, from those which should be easily finished by casual gamers to others that will require as many as 10-20 attempts to complete for even a serious gamer. Needless to say, your frustration level will likely get high after trying to conquer Hoth (the last and toughest mission) after the tenth failed attempt.

The game has three gameplay modes. First, there are space battles. Generally, these are well done. The ships are detailed and scaled well, and you get an opportunity to fly many different kinds of craft. You can even land inside of an enemy capital ship, destroy vital systems, shoot it out with enemy soldier, and even fly off in an enemy ship. The flight simulation feels a lot like the old X-wing and TIE fighter games, but with vastly improved graphics. The second part of the game--and the major focus--is the land battles. These involve fighting to control certain points of the map, which produce reinforcements for your army. As long as you have reinforcements, you respawn after dying and can choose from among several classes to return as (e.g., trooper, engineer, scout, etc). If you hold certain captured points, you'll be able to respawn as a hero character like Vader or Boba Fett. These characters are powerful, but not unstoppable, and they are usually appropriate to their environment. Playing as a Jedi is enjoyable, but does not have the same depth of control and tactics as Jedi Outcast or Jedi Academy. Still, the entrance of a hero onto the scene definitely gets noticed.

The third element of gameplay is a Risk-like game called Galactic Conquest mode that allows you to fight a computer enemy on a map of 15 planets. The object is to conquer all the planets (classic Star Wars places like Hoth, Kamino, Tattooine, etc.) and destroy the enemy fleets. It's a decent diversion for a while and should give the game some replay value. Additionally, there are various skirmish and quick-play modes.One of the draws for this game is the multiplayer capacity, which is probably quite fun though I haven't played it (I'm strictly a solo gamer).

The game is well polished, and I experienced no bugs in the campaign except that I never managed to get the imperial officer's chaingun to work. The instruction book is thin but provides the necessary basics, and there is a decent in-game tutorial. Unfortunately, the game does not allow any saves within missions, which will be a bit annoying during a few of the tougher campaign missions. However, the interface is clean and understandable and all of the controls can be customized for a keyboard, mouse, and/or gamepad.

Finally, I feared that the AI in this game was going to be bad, based on things I've read. However, it's quite acceptable in most circumstances. Enemy computer opponents will hide behind cover, try to outflank you, dodge and roll, snipe at you, and so forth. Computer allies usually hold their own when the odds are even, but the game really wants the player to be the star here, thus you'll be doing much of the killing, capturing of points, and saving the day. So, the AI is not bad per se, it's just geared toward making the player the center of attention.

Graphics: The game looks very good. Character models, ships, terrain, and special effects are all convincing. The game has a number of cutscenes from the movies. Also, on a mid-range PC (3ghz Pentium, 1GB of RAM, Geforce 6600GT), I experienced no lag or studder in framerates, even with a lot happening on screen.

Sound: Everything was fine in this department. The grand Star Wars score played in the background at appropriate times, and all of the weapons, ships, voices, and so forth sounded as they should.

Overall, I recommend this game to anyone into the Star Wars franchise or interested in first-person shooters.If you only play the single-player component of games (like me), I would suggest waiting until the price of the game drops to about $30. This game really does beg for an expansion which could add another campaign, some more planets to add to the Galactic Campaign mode, more ships, weapons, etc. If you like playing multiplayer, then the current price ($40-$50) is a bit more justified.

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Product Description:

Star Wars Battlefront II takes the best-selling Star Wars video game of all time one Imperial-walker step forward with all-new space combat, playable Jedi, and never-before-seen environments straight out of the Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith movie. Fans of the original Star Wars Battlefront will also enjoy an all-new single-player experience that takes players through an epic, story-based saga where every action the player takes impacts the battlefront and, ultimately, the fate of the Star Wars galaxy.Battlefront II improves upon the original game's single-player experience with open-ended, mission-based objectives inspired from all six Star Wars films. The compelling storyline spans more than 16 new locations, many from the Episode III movie, including volcanic Mustafar and the space battle above Coruscant. All-new classic movie moments complete the Battlefront II experience, as players battle within the interior of the Death Star and visit Princess Leia's blockade runner, the Tantive IV, as seen at the beginning of Episode IV A New Hope. In addition, at certain key moments within the battles, players can earn the opportunity to wield a lightsaber and use the Force as a Jedi. For the first time ever, Battlefront players can engage in space combat and, during the same battle, board enemy ships to attack from within. Starting on foot inside a capital ship, players can enter the starcraft of their choice and travel into space to dogfight with the rival faction. From there, they can dock within the enemy's capital ship, overtake the ship's command posts, man its turrets to disable its shields and destroy it from within! Or, they can simply stay inside their own capital ship and defend it from attacks and enemy fire. The choice is theirs.

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