Good, but not the best. (The Sims 2: University Add-On (PC))

Member Name: Daisy_ttfn

Product:	The Sims 2: University Add-On (PC)
Date:	24/08/07 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: young adults, new university neighbourhoods.

Disadvantages: slightly boring, takes too long to get through university

OVERVIEW
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The Sims 2 University is the 1st expansion pack for the game The Sims 2. This pack adds a whole new world to The Sims, which is University. It adds new places to go, new objects, new clothes and the new Young Adult age.

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.

NEW OBJECTS
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There are loads of new objects you can use to decorate you house and/or garden. Some of them include; guitar, bass, drum kit, mini fridge, pool table, bonfire and a communal shower.

The new instruments make it possible for your sims to start a band. If you get one sims to start playing each instrument (guitar, bass, drum kit and piano) they will all play the same song together. The song however will only be recognisable if the sims playing have enough creativity points.

THEY GROW UP SO FAST
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When you sims become teenagers they can leave home, become young adults and go to university. Before they go however it is worth checking if they have won any scholarships. There are loads of them and they are available for many different things, such as; high school grades, high skill points and being an orphan. The money you get from these will help a lot so it is worth while checking before you leave.

So once you sim has applied for the scholarships and you no longer want to play them as a teen, you can phone up the university, and off you go.

CAMPUS
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Once you reach the campus you have to choose some where to live. There are a number of houses which you have to pay rent on. This is a one off payment so is not really rent, but it is quite a lot on money. So to start with your sims will probably live in a dorm.

In each university neighbourhood (there are 3 to choose from or you can make your own) there will be several dorms, each with a different number of rooms. Once you choose one and your sim arrives you have to choose a room, and a picture of the sim is placed on the door. This door can be locked, so no other sim can enter.

Each dorm has a TV, places to sit and study and a kitchen. During the day there will be a cook who will keep producing meals, so there will always be food around. There isn’t a cook if you live in a house, so you have to do everything yourself.

MAJORS
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Now you sim has settled in to university they have to choose a major. There are 11 different majors. They are; Psychology, Drama, Art, Philosophy, Biology, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, History, Physics and Political Science.

Each major will make it easier for your sim in certain jobs. So it is quite important to choose the right major if you have already decided which job you want them to have. You can change your major as many times as you want, until the last year .

UNIVERSITY LIFE
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So, you start you 4 terms at university as a freshman. Each term is split in to 2 semesters with exams at the end of each. Once you choose your major you have to start going to lectures. The time of the lecture appears in the same place as jobs, and happens everyday. There are no days of the week when at university so every single day you are supposed to go to the lectures. You don’t have to go but then your probably won’t make the grade for you exams.

There is a minimum grade you have to reach in order to pass the exams. If you don’t pass you have to repeat the semester and if you don’t pass that you get booted out! The reach the required grade you have to attend lectures, do assignments, group research and many other activities which all add to your grade. If you reach the grade early enough in the semester, you can spend the rest of it doing what you want.

While at university you can also go to all the community lots as in a normal neighbourhood, so there is loads to do.

GRADUATION
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If you pass all of you exams you will eventually graduate! Once you have you have 3 days to organise and have a graduation party. After the party or when the 3 days are up you move back into the normal neighbourhood and change into an adult.

WHAT I THINK
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I think that this is good start for expansion packs for the Sims 2. It adds quite a lot to the game, loads of objects and the whole new young adult age, but it can be a little boring taking your sim through university. Once you have got through the first semester or two you start to think, I’ve got to do all that again?!

I personally don’t take all my sims through university. I use the game as more of an add new objects expansion pack. That said I do some times take my sim through university, so it is not totally a waste of time.

CONCLUSION
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A great expansion pack, maybe a little boring, but worth buying all the same.

Summary: an OK game, still a must have for sims fans