Fancy a Hot Date? (The Sims - Hot Date (Expansion Pack) (PC))

Member Name: Kazziee

Product:	The Sims - Hot Date (Expansion Pack) (PC)
Date:	29/09/02 (322 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of add-ons to the existing game , more freedom with social interactions, can provide hours of entertainment before boredom sinks in

Disadvantages: a little tricky to navigate certain parts, takes up a heck of a lot of hard drive space, not good for your social life!

Hi. My name’s Kazziee, and I’m an addict...
Addicted to ‘The Sims’ that is. I am completely hooked! When I first bought ‘Hot
Date’, I became totally addicted. I had already installed the original, and ‘Livin’ It
Up’, and I had to uninstall quite a few computer programmes to make space for the
latest addition to the Maxis series.
‘The Sims’ is basically a ‘real life’ simulator. You create families of people, build them
a house, and take total and utter control over their little lives. You can send them to
work, help them on their way to promotion and when you get bored, get them fired.
You can play Cilla and matchmake, then have affairs, children and major arguments.
You get the idea. You’re pretty much playing God.
There are several neighbourhoods where you build your houses. You can re-create
the cast of ‘Eastenders’ and your version of Albert Square if you really want to. You
have complete control (cue evil laugh).
There are no gameplay levels as such, but it does become more difficult to build up
your Sims’ skills and persuade them to fall in love when they are in a bad mood or just
can’t be bothered.
The graphics are variable. Depending on how fast you want the game to run, you
can set the graphics to low, medium or high detail. High shows the blades of grass,
low shows a green patch- that’s basically the choice. Movements are pretty realistic,
but Sims are slow to respond sometimes.
‘Hot Date’ allows you to play matchmaker to your Sims, and allow them to go on
dates downtown. There are hundreds more social interactions, not only for the
downtown area, but in the normal house setting as well. There are also new characters
that you can introduce your Sims to whilst downtown, including the Blonde
Bombshell,
Female Fatale, Dream Boat, Jock and Lounge Lizard.
Over 100 new items have been included to brighten up your Sims’ lives. These
include a cuddle couch, fish pond and lover’s swing.
You can also build your own shopping centre/ tourist attraction downtown, for your
Sims to enjoy.
I actually use the downtown area to take my Sims shopping more than going on
dates. A tip for you; when in town, buy some of the magazines and leave them on the
coffee table or something. On the next day (on the Sims time scale), go to the ‘buy’
menu, and click on the magazines, their value should have risen dramatically.
The social interactions are great, just be careful, as you can’t really tell how your
date is feeling when downtown. The Sims’ levels such as hunger, fun and social levels
decrease very fast while in the downtown area, so watch out for that too.
Navigation is much like in previous Sims games. The ‘buy’ menu has changed
though. For example, click on the decorative menu and you will now see
sub-categories for paintings, rugs etc. It is a little tricky at first, but it gets easier. I
don’t really see how this is an improvement unless you are looking for something
specific.
I wouldn’t recommend downloading houses from the ‘Sims Exchange’ on the
Internet. I have tried this several times, and it has crashed my computer each time.
My copy of the came now crashes fairly often too, so I wouldn’t take the risk. Please
do let me know if anyone has any tips on how to download successfully.
This game has provided me with hours of enjoyment, but I can tire of it pretty
quickly sometimes. I would definitely recommend it to fans of ‘The Sims’.

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