The best expansion pack so far. (The Sims 2: Seasons (PC))

Member Name: Daisy_ttfn

Product:	The Sims 2: Seasons (PC)
Date:	23/08/07 (874 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: weather, fishing, gardening

Disadvantages: need a good graphics card for some effects

OVERVIEW
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The Sims 2 Seasons is the 5th expansion pack for the PC game The Sims 2. This expansion pack adds 100s maybe even 1000s of new objects, the ability to grow vegetables and fish and best of all weather!

CONCEPT
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The Sims 2 is a game where you take control of a virtual person (a sim) and guide them through their live. You have to buy them a house, find a job, get married and have children. You can control more or less every aspect of their lives. You can make them rich and happy or make them really poor and unemployed, it is entirely up to you.

This expansion pack adds loads of new things to the original game, to make the game play more interesting.

NEW OBJECTS
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The expansion pack brings with it loads of new objects, which includes; a greenhouse, pool slide, juicer, a scarecrow, hot chocolate make and loads of new floor and wall decorations. These objects add to the already extensive amount in the game, and make personalising houses a gardens even easier.

FISHING
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This game brings the ability for you sims to fish. If there is a pond either in the garden or in a community lot you sims can fish in it. To start with your sims may only catch old boots or nothing at all, but with practice they will earn fishing talent badges and start to catch all sorts of things.

The fish that are caught are put into the sims inventory. They can either be placed on the wall as a decoration, or stored in the fridge. If the are stored in the fridge the can be used to make meals, and these meals have special qualities. The food sparkles and makes the sims hunger go down much slower. It also reduces the need to buy groceries as you are not using them.

GROWING VEGETABLES
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You can also grow vegetables. You start with an empty piece of land and then plant a seed. To start with you can only plant tomato seeds, but with time you will earn garden talent badges and be able to plant loads of different type. You then have to water and tend your plants until they are ready to harvest. Once you harvest your plants you have 3 options. 1. Sell them for a small amount of money. 2. Store them in the fridge to use as food (as with the fish). 3. Use in the juicer.

Using the vegetables in the juicer means you can produce allsorts of weird an wonderful concoctions. Some of the juicers have special abilities, so you have to try as many combinations as possible.

GARDEN CLUB
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There is a new option available on the phone. It is join the garden club. If you decide to do this a group of people will visit you garden and give a rating. They like things such as statues, flowers and fountains. If your garden is good enough they will give you a membership which gives you cheaper seeds to plant. Also if you get a high rating you will get a cash reward.

WEATHER
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The best part about this expansion pack is the weather. In all sims games up to now it has been constantly spring/summer, now it is all 4 seasons!

On the neighbourhood screen you can choose which seasons you want to occur. You can choose up to 4, but they can be all the same if you want them to be.

Each season brings with it new stuff to do.

In the winter it could possibly snow, and if it snows enough they may be a snow day! The snow effect is really good and everything gets covered. Make sure you sims have warm enough outerwear (a new clothes section) otherwise they may freeze! The snow brings loads of activities as well, you could build a snowman or have snowball fights.

The snow does have a down side and that is for you vegetables. If they are not in a greenhouse, they will probably die, so avoid planting them until spring or build a greenhouse.

The spring brings rain and thunder storms. Be careful out in the storms as you may get hit with lightning!

Summer bring sun, sun, sun. if your sim spends too much time in the sun they may get burnt! So put them in the pool to cool down or they may spontaneously combust!

Autumn makes the leaves fall off the trees which have to raked up in to piles, which can then be played with, but then have to be raked up again!

WHAT I THINK
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I think that this is the best expansion pack so far. The weather effects are brilliant especially the snow and thunder storms. The new objects gives you mare creativity in the way the houses and gardens look and the garden club will reward you for you efforts, which is good as then there is a reason to make the garden nice, not just leave it full of objects.

The only downside I can think of is that for some effects to be seen you have to have a fairly good graphics card. One effect is you can see fish in the ponds. You can not see this with some graphics cards.

I think this is a must have for every sims fan.

Summary: a must have for all sims fans