The Sims: Livin' Large

DEVELOPER : Maxis
PUBLISHER : EA

 

System Requirements Pentium 233 Mhz, 32 MB RAM

Recommended Pentium II 300MHz, 64+ MB RAM, 4 Megs Video card, 17 in monitor

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 8.0 – The beauty here is not necessarily in the latest and greatest graphic technology, but in the tender loving care that went into the new item models like the vibrating heart-shaped bed and the floor-mounted lava-lamp. Tre chic! Audio: 8.0 - "SimSpeak" is still pretty cool to listen to, the radio still rocks the house (drop your own MP3 files in for a more personal touch - nothing like a little "Rammstein" while trying to make it with the neighbor's wife!), and the 50's style shopping music is still too hip for words. Interface: 9.0 – Just about as intuitive as you can get - on-screen help is thorough and makes the manual unnecessary.	Play Issues Gameplay: 4 – Livin' Large fixes none of the major problems of the original such as time issues (does it REALLY take 30 minutes to check the mail?), and tediousness. Game play isn't really augmented in any way by the expansion. The Sims is still a "going potty" simulation, and Livin' Large is pretty much just a skin pack. Replayability: 9.0 – Almost limitless potential as to what type of personality you want to play as - murderers, criminals, cops, sexual deviants... it's all there for your sick little minds to engage in! The game will literally never play the same way twice. Mulitplay: N/A Learning Curve: 7.0 – It takes the IQ of a cumquat to get up and running with "The Sims: Livin' Large," but some of the nuances of the game take a bit of exploration and strategizing.
Other/Notes Documentation 7.0 – Since nothing much has changed here from the original game, the documentation's small size doesn't really matter. It's sufficient for what's needed. Notes: Navigating the map by scrolling can be a "choppy" affair, and I played the game on a P3-500 with 128MB RAM and a 16MB video card. Pros: New skimpy outfits for the "Simlettes", cute descriptions for the new items, some really tacky (in a good sort of way) new textures and accessories. Cons:  Game play is still repetitive and tedious. Time model is downright ridiculous, and you spend most of your time cleaning up and going "doody". This is fun? Overall: 5.0

What can I say about The Sims... when the game was first announced I met the news with guarded optimism, and had high hopes that designer Will Wright would be able to come up with another masterpiece like SimCity. As its release date came I began the reading glowing reviews, the gushing newsgroup posts heralding what looked to be one of the most engrossing titles of all time. And, as if the almost unanimous and over-the-top reception by the gaming community wasn't enough to make me want to go out and spend my grocery money on the game, what really made my mind up for sure was when I found out you could have girl-girl relationships. The pervert in me forced me to rush out to the nearest electronics store and snatch up a copy of what I thought would be the sort of gaming goodness that only can come when one can tool about with sexually deviant lifestyles. With fervor usually reserved for trench warfare or Star Wars prequels, I tore open the package and installed the game. However, the hours that followed were full of disappointment and despair. It turned out that all the hoopla I had heard was wrong; I hadn't bought a life simulation - I bought a "potty" simulation. In my opinion, the game - while a brilliant idea - was killed by a ridiculous time model (if my wife took an hour to take out the trash, I'd throw her lazy behi.... err... cancel that.) and game play that became incredibly tedious over time. If only Maxis would've fixed this problem and a few other minor issues, The Sims would indeed had been the king that so many in gaming journalism seemed anxious to crown.

So, when The Sims' expansion pack, "Livin' Large" landed on my doorstep to review, I was hopeful that perhaps Maxis tightened up the code, fixed the time problem, and upgraded the game to the type of game it should've been upon its initial release. However, much to my chagrin, it turns out that Livin' Large is nothing more than a glorified skin pack - you'll find nothing here much more interesting than the add-ons you can already download off of the Internet. Livin' Large is a perfect case of style over substance - I would have much rather seen some refinements to the game play than non-essential additions like the ability to build your house in the style of a castle, or the ability to dress your buxom blonde Sim in a bikini top and a sarong. (Well, OK - maybe that last addition wasn't so bad).

Livin' Large adds a few new career paths to the game: you can now decide to pursue a career as a Musician, Hacker, Paranormal, Slacker (huzzah!), and Journalist (where "Gaming Journalist" is - quite accurately - near the bottom of the career ladder). Unfortunately, these new career paths mean about as much as a Bill Clinton promise in terms of game play as your Sims still simply zoom "off camera" when the go to work. Instead of concentrating on new clothing and futuristic furniture, it would have been nice if perhaps Maxis added an "at work module" to the game. I realize that's a tall order for an add-on, but it would have been a more substantial addition to the game than what Livin' Large turned out to be.

The new events - such as a magic lamp complete with wish-granting genie (and NO you can't wish for a better employment model within the game!) or a late night visit from the Grim Reaper himself - imagine the talk around the water cooler the next morning...

Rob: Hey Bob! How 'bout that ball game last night! That was a real doozy, wasn't it!?

Bob: Oh, I missed the last quarter - I was busy playing canasta with Death.

Rob: Err... that's great, Bob [backs away nervously]. Well... [looks at watch] I gotta get to work! Later, Bob! [runs screaming towards cubicle]

One area of The Sims that has been made a bit more interesting is the house building functionality. A man's home can now TRULY be a castle, as you're free to build a genuine real-article medieval castle complete with wooden thrones, cathedral windows, and arrow slits to add to that "homey" atmosphere. Or, if you're feeling a little futuristic, furnish your humble abode with the latest in bubble windows, egg shaped furniture, and a 3-foot tall lava lamp (cool!). Livin' Large also gives you four new neighborhoods devoid of Sims where you can buy your little own plot of land and build your very own dream house. After you've started your little family (or commune), you can then build neighbors or simply download some from The Sims' website (which, incidentally, is probably the best publisher-supported game web site of all time). But enough of the feature lists - The Sims experience can only truly be relayed by sharing stories of the bizarre little families we build and the lives that choose to lead on the other side of the looking glass. So without further ado, allow me to tell my Sims' story...

My journey with Livin' Large began with the home-building module, as I set out to build the biggest and baddest set of digs this side of Southfork. By problems began when - after I finished the house infrastructure - I realized I only had enough money to buy a toilet, a cheap TV, and a phone. So there my "family" was - the pink leisure suit wearing, effeminate Jack, the jeans and leather-wearing Janet, and the bikini and sarong clad blonde bombshell Chrissie. Yes, there my creations were in all their glory, passing out on the floor because there was no bed in which to sleep. (And please someone tell me what the Sims are doing with their hands when they're sleeping on the floor - I'm worried that my little on-screen avatars on going to go blind.)

So, before you can say "three-way bi-sexual love triangle," I had the two women of the house secure jobs - Janet as a Slacker pulling in a solid $90/day, and Chrissie as a law enforcement officer evoking memories of "She's the Sheriff" (a TV show that was on when most of you were probably still a glint in your daddy's eye). I considered having the man of the house seek employment, but he was too busy watching television, spraying cockroaches, and spending the girl's money on a maid service to be bothered with gainful employment. After my French maid would leave, in would walk the women - all tired from a hard day's work and ready to cook Jack his dinner. After cleaning up and doing the dishes (which took what seemed to be an average of 5 hours), the girls were finally allowed to flirt with one another before they had to shower and go back to work. Ain't those girls lucky?

Anyway, after weeks of game-time and thousands of hour-long bathroom trips and two-hour longs treks to the trashcan, the girls finally managed to scrounge up enough cash to buy Chrissie an exercise machine - after all, we couldn't let that girlish figure go to the dogs. I also allowed them to purchase a double bed that they were forced to share so that Jack would be afforded a peaceful night's sleep after his hard days of entertaining the maid and drinking at the tiki bar.

It was about at this point in the game (around two or three hours in) that the game started taking on the same mind-numbing tedium that I remembered from the original. The Sims - and its expansion pack Livin' Large - is a perfect example of the game getting in the way of the experience. There's only so long that one can enjoy computer-simulated dinners and bathroom visits - it simply gets old after a couple of hours. Even three-way love triangles get boring in time (at least the simulated kind).

In the end, Livin' Large succeeds in making The Sims a bigger game, but fails at making The Sims a BETTER game. Had Maxis added some more interesting functionality to the game, Livin' Large could've been a worthy expansion pack but as it stands it does not fix any of the original game's shortcomings - choosing to ignore them instead. Of course, if you love The Sims the way it is, you'll probably get a kick out of Livin' Large - but it's not going to change the minds of people like me who found The Sims a bit mundane.

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Reviewed by Michael Askounes