Review: The Sims 2: Pets (NGC)

With fewer and fewer titles being released for the Gamecube, those players still persevering with the format must be glad of EA's continued support for the platform. This year's Sims update comes in the form of Pets. Released on the PC as an expansion to the Sims 2, the title arrives as a game in its own right on consoles, tidying and refining the Sims 2 engine and with the added inclusion of all new pets.

In comparison to some of EA's other lacklustre ports to the Gamecube (see Need for Speed: Underground 2 for an example of one such shoddy translation), Gamestyle was pleasantly surprised at the quality on offer from this title. The presentation is excellent and the game controls well, despite losing the benefit of being able to use a mouse to control onscreen happenings. Instead, selecting a sim allows you to take direct control of them and move them to an object, person or pet that you want to interact with. Then, pressing A brings up a menu of all the different interactions that are available in context. Simple, isn't it? And also quite ingenious given the paucity of buttons on the Gamecube pad. Tasks can still be stacked up and this is easily done by holding the left shoulder button down to 'pause' the action and racking the tasks up to keep your sim busy without the need for constant attention when the action restarts. The d-pad can be used to bring up useful information such as your sim's current needs and wants and the right stick controls the camera. EA have also included a 'classic' style of control, meant to ape using a mouse. It's slow, clunky and totally unsuited to the Gamecube - avoid.

Graphically, the game is pretty solid, bright and colourful with well animated sims and pets. The range of customisation available for both pet and sim are solid if unspectacular, and Gamestyle wonders whether it might have been appropriate to ditch items such as tattoos in favour of more practical customisations such as a greater range of hairstyles or facial characteristics. Sounds are good as well, with plenty of 'simlish' versions of pop songs (see if you can recognise them all!). There's a fairly extensive range of clothes and household items to spend your sim's hard-earned on with many new items not featured in last year's Sims 2, although the selection is still notably slimmer than that on the PC version.

With the Sims having been around for so long, you'll probably know what the game is all about, and that hasn't changed in this release. You must still ensure your sim is fed, watered, clean and happy as well as having a job that brings in the cash so, just like real life, you can buy pointless tat you don't really need. In addition, you are now required to ensure that your pet is fed, watered and happy. The range of pets available isn't exactly vast, so ditch those plans to adopt a Bearded Dragon. Instead, you can have a dog, a cat or fish. Or all three, or multiple dogs, cats and fish. It doesn't matter how you dress it up, does it? It's just not an exciting selection. Ignoring fish, as you can't pet them or teach them to do tricks, that only really leaves two viable options.

So what do you with your pet? Sadly, EA have missed a novel concept by not allowing direct control to be taken of a pet in the same way it can be taken of a sim. Instead you must tell your sim to interact with your pets; you can teach them various tricks, pet them and even scold them. The way that you train your pet in its formative years affects the adult personality; all those nasty little habits, like destroying furniture and digging up the lawn, need to be stamped out quickly. If you don't, you'll wind up with a badly-behaved animal (don't forget, you can't teach an old dog new tricks). The game recognises the time invested in your pet by awarding pet points, the only currency accepted at the handful of pet shops in the town square. As well as a pet venue to pamper your pooch or coddle your cat, the town square acts as a focal point for the neighbourhood where other sims and their pets can be met. It's not exactly a thrilling hive of activity, though, and there are only so many visits that can be made to the pet bakery or pet salon before they lose their sheen.

The town square perhaps best sums up the problem that Gamestyle has with Sims 2: Pets: everything just meanders along, doing little to generate excitement. Yes, shops will grow as more pet points are spent there. More customisations for your sims and pets as well as household items can be unlocked. But when the tasks required to achieve this, like sending your sim to the toilet, or cleaning the cat's litter tray, are so mundane, there seems to be little impetus to make any onward progression. The game's unique selling point, pet training, even lacks the immediacy or interactivity of Nintendogs, a far more worthy pet game.

It's not that Sims 2: Pets is a bad game - it's competent if uninspired - but by now you probably know whether you like the Sims or not. If you're not already a Sims fan, then the inclusion of a limited pet aspect is probably not going to be enough to make you buy this title. If you are already a Sims fan and own last year's Sims 2 title, then you need to carefully consider whether the inclusion of pets is enough to justify a purchase. 

Rating: 5 / 10

Words by Andy Lucas