The Sims is a hugely ambitious game, almost attempting to recreate real life. Allowing you to create a family and move them into various houses around 'Sim Lane' and direct their lives anyway you see fit.

For starters then, you're given the option to create your family, names, sex, face, body and adult/child options can be selected for each member, and once they are created you're free to move them into the house of your dreams. You can select various ready made housing layouts or if your feeling creative, design your own (this is one of the more enjoyable parts of the game). Different tools are used to layout your home, the main one being the wall tool, which sets the boundary of your home and also the internal walls. Then there is the floor tool which carpets, concretes and tiles the various parts of your home and garden. Others include, wallpapering, adding plants and trees and raising and lowering the height of the ground. As well as this you can spend money decorating your home, there are hundreds of appliances, surfaces and furniture essentials, a good place to start would be the toilet and beds, but you don't have to.

Once the setup of your family is complete and you've moved them in their house, it's time to start living. Initially things are simple, an almost empty house, (depending on what you spent your money on of course)the first hour or so of play will revolve around visiting neighbours and your family trying various activities. From here on things things get difficult, so many options are available, so many things to do, not enough hours in the day. Or maybe there is but because your sims do things so dam slowly, it's hard to judge time.

There is so much to do in the game that it's hard to rate the gameplay, it's not like you'll ever just be sitting around, but when the controls are this slow and your sims are this unresponsive it's hard to really get addicted to the game. Of
course there is a lot of fun to be had, progressing in your career, buying that dream indoor swimming pool, basket court and pool table. Respect to those who have the patience to get this far and keep a consistent game going, but for me it's real life, but for the most part, the bad bits!

This game will obviously appeal to some and there is a hell of a lot of enjoyment to be had. But if you hate slow moving, unexciting games, steer clear. . . . .