Alright (The Sims 2: University Add-On (PC))

Member Name: w4sh0ut

Product:	The Sims 2: University Add-On (PC)
Date:	20/09/08 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: many new add-ons

Disadvantages: too much to do for one specific age group

The basic premise of the Sims 2 is that you create your own characters, their personalities and looks and then you guide them all throughout their life until they die of old age or one of a myriad of horrible tragedies. Anyone who has played the Sims will tell you how funny it can be but this expansion pack falls short.

It does have some great add-ons. In the Sims 2 you play as a character and for the purposes of this review I'm going to say I'm playing with a Sim named Sally. In The Sims University there are three pre-made universities that you can associate to the neighborhood you're playing with. All universities have their advantages and disadvantages but they're mostly the same thing, La Fiesta Tech being on the desert for sims who are more party oriented (such as popularity sims) and Academie Le Tour is for Sims who take their education more seriously, such as knowledge Sims. University did exactly what it advertised it would: there are four years of university in which a Sim chooses their major and lives on campus for four years. This is quite possibly the biggest downfall of University: your sim cannot live off-campus and attend university.

The Sims have these stages of life: baby, toddler, kids, teenagers, adults and elders. The Sims University added a different stage of life, young adult, which sims that don't go to university DO NOT go through. Now, Sally was a sim that grew up in the neighborhood and I played with her since she was born meaning she already had several skill points and a good grade. This translated into her getting into university with more money. The more scholarships you get and you can get them for a lot of things, the more money your sim will have when they go to University. When you create a sim in university they will only have five-hundred simoleons to start with, which sounds a lot worse than it is.

Young adult sims start in dorms, naturally what you would expect a dorm to be. Each Sim gets an individual room that you pick plus there's a common area, usually with public toilets and ceiling showers, a little study area with a bookcase and an easel and one or two computers, depending on how big the dorm you're in is. The other rooms quickly fill up with NPCs and if your sim craves social interaction there's no better place to find it. It is also very easy for your sim to make friends in the dorm just by playing chess with them or eating.

Your sim won't need much money: although they do have bills to pay they never have to buy food (provided they live in a dorm) and they will also have a cafeteria person come and cook them meals every day so they won't go malnourished, either. The better your grade is, the better your scholarship is, meaning the more money you get. If your Sim gets a really high mark (A plus) they will get 1200 simoleons. I recommend you spend them on furniture or something before your sim graduates as you will not be getting that money when they turn into an adult and putting it in your inventory.

If you do, however, want your sim to make money, there are several ways you can make them. You can tutor other Sims for simoleons, you can be the cafeteria person for a few simoleons an hour, you can busk or work anywhere in campus. Another major change is that now when you're within the university time passes, it never freezes even when you're out. This is good as university is a bit too long and it can get quite tedious sometimes, however if your sim is out on a hot date or something make sure to watch out for the automated "going to class" action because regardless of what they're doing they're going to leave unless you cancel it.

Class is quite easy, stupidly so. You go to class once a day and you need to define a major for your sim by the time senior year rolls around. There are different skills tied to different majors so it's better if you decide early on. You also have an opportunity to change your sims aspiration during the middle of university.

This Expansion pack added many things that should be fun and easy but they didn't time it right so it drags and it becomes boring and tedious to have a sim go all the way through university. Although it does have some really cool things unless you plan to have all your sims or most of them go through the entire thing then I'd say skip out on this and buy seasons or free time.

Summary: get a different expansion pack unless you really want your sims to go through uni years