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The Sims (PS2)
by cath_del
I was a big fan of the Sims on the PC, and after starting to get into playing the Playstation, I saw that there was a PS2 version of the game available. I wasn't too sure if it would be as good as the one on the computer, and it never has lived up to the PC, but it is okay if you are a fan of the game and playing on the ... PS2.
The game is rated at 7 plus, as nothing too explicit ever happens and the most violent it gets is when two Sims are angry at each other and begin arguing which can lead to a fight. I bought it in a 3 for 2 deal, however it can be bought for around £8 on Amazon, yet for the same price you can buy the PC version which is much more fun.
The controls are pretty simple, however annoying they become. You use the analog stick to move the characters around and select the actions for them to do using the gamepad, these controls are pretty much similar to the computer game. However, using this method does get quite annoying quickly, as it takes so much clicking through options to get the item you want and picking smaller items can get very frustrating.
To start out, you have to first create your Sim, where you can customise it to look however you want. In this section, you can select clothes for them, hairstyles, the look of your Sims face and what their personality is like. Although there isn't as many options as the computer game has, if your computer just can't handle the amount of memory needed for The Sims, then this console has enough customisation options to satisfy your Sim designing needs.
I prefer this style of gameplay though to the PC mode, as you have loads of quests to complete throughout your Sims life, which reminds me of the new Sims 3 lifetime wishes. In order to actually to progress throughout the game, you have to complete the quests given to you for each house. However, if you choose to just leave the quests for a while and do random things, it can get a bit annoying seeing as a character will constantly harass you to complete them.
There is 5 "levels" to the Sims game when you play it in the quest mode called "Get A Life" with each increasing what your Sim has to do throughout.
Level 1 - you have just moved out of your mum's household and into a house, however it has been destroyed by a fire and you have to clean it out. Most of the requirements in this level are cleaning, repairing and getting a job.
Level 2 - now after your house has been improved, you get invited to live with Mimi. Her house is slightly better, however she is a very lazy roommate so you are trying to get as far away from her house as possible. This level mostly consists of making friends to move out with by throwing parties and buying new furniture to make the house just a little bit nicer.
Level 3 - You finally get to move away from Mimi, with some of her friends that you meet at the party. Now that you have happier roommates, this means that you can concentrate more on yourself and your happiness. Throughout this level it basically requires you to get promotions and to fall in love.
Level 4 - After you fall in love and get married, you move into an unfurnished house that you need to fill. However, now you are a happy couple, it means that you have to get children and improve your career.
Level 5 - After having kids and a successful career, now your Sim has moved into a bigger house that is more cosy. This is the last level, so you have to make your kids be successful and retire.
There is 2 modes to the game, one where you have the quests and the other Freeplay which is unlocked after you complete Get A Life. I prefer playing Freeplay as it reminds me of the PC version and you don't have someone harassing you to keep finishing the quests. I do get quite immersed in this level as I'm always trying to improve my Sim as much as I can and it can take hours.
The graphics aren't as good as other versions of the Sims, however for the console it is better than others that I have seen. All the objects and Sims themselves are really well designed and detailed, with most of the things looking as realistic as they can from a game made in this time period. One thing I did not like about this game however is the music, it is very repetitive and annoying. For most of the game, I found that I had to mute it and put background music on.
The gameplay time is really long for the Sims, as all the games in this series tend to be. Completing the quests can take a long time, as there is so much to do in between like build up skills or keep your Sim happy enough to actually do things. I found at times I could play it for hours just trying to complete one of the "levels".
Overall, this is a relatively good game if your computer can't handle the memory of the Sims and you'd rather play on your PS2. The gameplay is really long for the money that you'd pay for it with great graphics for the time period. All they really could have done is improved the sound and controls and this Sims game would have been as good as it was on PC.
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The Sims: Bustin Out (PS2)
by char2011
Originally when I first seen this game advertise on TV I thought it was about busting out of prison or sneaking out at night without getting caught by your mum. I was a kid and thought it would be fun and exciting to pretend to bust out of jail but after actually playing it I realised that I got the advert all wrong and it was really ... about moving out of mum's house and finding your feet in the real world.
The game is part of The Sims collection of games and I think its really good fun an occupied quite alot of my time when i was a kid.
The aim of the game is you create a character which will start by living at mum's house. To get out of mum's house you read the newspaper to find a job. There are a collection of jobs such as movie star, mad scientist,paramilitary, fashion victim, jock, gangster, counter culture. The variety of jobs makes it fun for everyone. My personal favourite was the movie star because you get to live in the best houses. All jobs start at the bottom of the scale once you pick a job you will need to move out to start work. You do that by getting on the motorcycle parked at the front of the house. When you go to work on time and have the right amount of friends skills and have a good life scale you will get promoted up to the next level of your career. My advice would be to stay in mums house till you have built up you skills bars because its alot harder to get skills while you have moved out and trying to keep your life up as well as get skills, go to work and make friends.
Skills bars are:
Cooking skills (gained by reading cook books from the bookshelf)
Mechanical skills (gained by reading mechanical books from the bookshelf)
Logic skills (gained by playing chess)
Charisma skills (gained by talking in the mirror)
Body skills (gained by using exercise equipment and swimming in pools)
Creative skills (gained by painting)
Each skills bar needs 10 points to be full. The more you use these objects I have stated the quicker they get full. I find that the creative skills are easiest to get because painting is fun so it brings you fun life bar up not down like the rest. The most needed is the cooking skills because if you have none when you cook you tend to start alot of fire and cook nasty food. When you cook bar is full you cook nice food and never start fires.
To keep your life good you need to sleep, socialize, have fun, eat, keep yourself clean basically just the regular everyday things that people do. The bar that I find ever so hard to keep clean is the toilet because it runs down ever so quickly.and then it make your wet your self if you dont go toilet, then you need a shower and the environment bar goes down because the place is messy. The toilet is one to watch or it could make your came life hell.
The houses that you can live in are as follows:
Mom's House (All careers start off her)
Dudley's Trailer (after moms house jock,gangster, mad scientist and paramilitary careers will move here)
Mimi's Place (after moms fashion victim, movie star, counter culture will move here)
Tinsel Bluffs ( rich posh house)
Pixel Acres (Forest)
Shiny Things Labs (science lab)
Club Rubb (night club)
Toane's Gym ( a gym)
Studio 8 (an art gallery)
Casa Caliente ( a love shack)
The Octagon (military base)
Goth Manor (graveyard)
Malcolm Mansion (mansion where all careers end up living for last promotion)
At some point in the game you will have a chance to live or visit all of these houses. Its best to make friends in each so if you choose or your career requires you to go live there you know them. Knowing characters allows you to sleep in the same bed as them which is good as some houses only have one bed and instead of spending your money on a new one you can just sleep in theirs. The posh totty that lives in Tinsel Bluffs is one hard person to communicate with I never waste time trying to make friends with her. To make friends you just talk to people by clicking on them.
Other features of the game are you unlock furniture and objects to use in free play mode. Once you have had enough of playing this mode you can move onto Free Play mode that allows you to build your own house start your own career and have kids and start relationships with people in the neibourhood. The are 3 areas that houses can be built in free play mode. Your free to do whatever you want.
The thing about free play mode that really annoyed me that i never played it much was that you only get a little bit of money that can barley buy or build anything. So you end up getting stressed saving money to finish your dream home.
Money in the game you earn by working. You can also earn money by selling paintings and sculptures on the easel bored and lump of metal that can be purchased in the buy mode You have to pay every time you enter the fridge. Buy mode is where you by furniture etc.. Build mode is where you build houses and pools.
This game is quite old as it came out about 9 years ago and you can get it for next to nothing on Amazon or eBay.
I definitely recommend this game and I spent about a year hooked on this game. I could still play it to this day that's how much of an influence it had on me.
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Ace Combat 5 (PS2)
by Bullydc1
This is the 5th instalment of the much loved Ace Combat series from Project Aces, who are part of Namco and specialise in developing flight simulations. Depending on which version you get, European or American/ Japanese, it is called : Squadron Leader (for the European) or The Unsung War for the latter.
The main aspect of this ... game takes all the tried and tested elements of the first four , the gameplay and action is all there. But this time rather then just worrying about yourself, you also have to worry about a small squadron to which you are assigned to command. There are only 3 others so no need to panic that you will have to command around 20 other aircraft.
Straight from the word off you get sucked into the storyline because just like Ace combat 4: Distant Thunder the developers have relied on a good mix of storyline and gameplay to make these games so great. Just watch the first intro scene that shows you a little of the history and what you can expect from the game, all to the fantastic tune of Blurry from Puddle of mud. This is one of the best intros you will see for a flight sim.
Unilke distant thunder you dont just go up against one tough 'yellow' squadron, this game features numerous ace squadrons that will test your squadron as the game progresses. Each squadron has their own distinct personality, colour scheme and aircraft. As the missions progress the squadrons get better aircraft and so challenge you more.
Your 'wardog' squadron is initially based in on Sand island, on the fictional country 'belka's coast, to which you are now an occupying force from the joint airforces of the two fictional super powers in the game, Yuktobania and Ocea (both are from the storyline of Ace combat 4), and this story takes place 15 years before the next game Ace Combat: The belkan war. Belka, in an effort to stop the advnace of the superpowers, launched several nuclear weopons against its own cities. The country is broken and you now take the role of peacekeeper/ occupier whilst the country is being re-built. As your wardog squadron fights two initial missions on a prurely defensive nature from the island, you then progress to fly as a naval aviator based on a carrier group. Under the command of a captain called 'swordman', of whom there is suspicions that he could be an agent for the enemy, you carry out numerous offensive missions to destroy a Belkan break away faction.
The great thing about this game is the mission variability. You carry out search and destroy, air cover for a special forces extraction of a downed pilot, the usual assault missions and low level under the rader raids etc.
Also you get the usual mix of licnced aircaft, concept planes that never made it into mass production like the Mig-31 and a dazzling array of weapons. You also have to learn to land and take off on a moving aircraft carrier which is ruddy dificult, in fact I think I only made 1 landing in 3- buts that why im not a pilot !!
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