GameSpy Gives The Sims 2 University 4.5 Stars and The Editors Choice Award

"Does Sims 2 University significantly add to the Sims 2 experience? Is it worth the money? The short answer to both questions is yes: there's a lot of meaty content here and some awesome new gameplay to explore."

Party On!

The Sims 2 University

By Dave Kosak

Bust out the togas: The Sims are storming college with all the subtlety of a National Lampoon movie.

Ah, college! Those four perfect years between being an angry teenager and a disappointed adult. Years where you let slip the surly bonds of your parents and discover a social life with no curfew and an unimaginable workload that you blow off to play video games and pool. Even if you've never been through any sort of higher education, the mythology is familiar thanks to movies like Animal House or Old School.

Since college is such a rite of passage, it's fertile ground for the first Sims 2 expansion pack. The Sims 2 University allows your teenage Sims to leave home and spend eight semesters either partying hard or educating themselves on campus before beginning their simulated adult life.

Welcome to college, blondie! Woooo!

Does Sims 2 University significantly add to the Sims 2 experience? Is it worth the money? The short answer to both questions is yes: there's a lot of meaty content here and some awesome new gameplay to explore. Only a number of small bugs and annoyances that are beginning to creep into the code base hold the pack back from the perfect five-star score that The Sims 2 enjoyed, but it's still brimming with new content that make it a must for anyone still playing Sims 2.

Collegiate Content

The Sims 2 University isn't just a random assortment of additional objects and floor patterns. It adds significantly to the core game. For one thing, there's a whole new age wedged in between teenager and adult. Sims become a "Young Adult" when they go to college, and stay that way until they graduate, about 3-4 weeks later in "Sims time." (A complete rundown of everything that was added to the game would be too much to print here, but for detailed descriptions of the new content check out our "letters home" series: Letter 1, Letter 2, Letter 3, and Letter 4.)

Suffice it to say that your Sims can now go to college on any of several new college campus maps, live in the dorms (you can now claim a single room in a building that isn't yours, shared by other Sims), join fraternities or sororities, go to classes, work odd jobs for cash, play any number of new musical instruments, have a graduation party, or slave away at any of four new careers. There's even a secret society that might "recruit" your Sim and drag him or her to their secret mansion.

Together the new content doesn't just simulate the whole college lifestyle, it genuinely impacts the game as a whole. Sims who take the time to go to college will gain tons of skills and new friends that will give them a huge head start in their future careers. They'll also get bonuses to help them score higher in life, such as extra "want" slots. "Lifetime Wants" are also added into the core game, and if your Sim can achieve these incredibly ambitious goals, he or she will attain a permanent platinum mood.

There's also a new game element, "influence," which a Sim can gain by achieving various goals. After you've gathered enough influence, you can "spend" it on other Sims to make them do things for you. That's right, you can make the mailman clean your house or force a random Freshman to do your homework for you.

Rocking out at the campus coffee shop. The new instruments will all play together.

A Sim's four years in college play out almost like a mini-game within the game, as you struggle for good grades or crazy frat parties or mad career skills or whatever it is you're after. Toss in over 100 new objects and decorations and now you've got an expansion that's really worth its salt: hours and hours of additional entertainment has been stacked on top of the original game.

Not All Grades are Passing

One criticism with the original Sims game was that, as expansion pack after expansion pack came out, more and more bugs crept into the game. Particularly if you installed them out of order. Unfortunately, this same "bug-sickness" seems to be creeping into The Sims 2. While the original game was immensely polished, there appear to be some glitches in the expansion.

One time, a phantom Sim from my dorm started playing my guitar -- he was semi-translucent, like a ghost, even though he wasn't dead, and couldn't be interacted with. When he eventually finished his eerie concert, he put down the guitar and faded back into existence, acting normally ever since. In another case, I managed to get a Sim stuck into group study mode. She had her nose in a book continually for several days, never stopping to eat or go to the bathroom and somehow never starting to stink. On the plus side, she was always there when I needed a study buddy.

The worst bug encountered during gameplay was when a cheerleader got stuck in the door of somebody's dorm room. She couldn't move and couldn't be interacted with, and because it was a dorm I couldn't demolish the door or create an alternate entrance. As a result, one NPC student was permanently trapped in his own room.

Bugs like this only manifested themselves after hours and hours of play. While annoying, none of them were showstoppers that forced me to stop playing or prohibited my Sims from doing what they wanted to do. Sims 2 has been wildly successful, and more expansions are undoubtedly on the way: hopefully future products will keep a lid on these problems.

On the technical end, our main testing machine suffered from long load times with the expansion. This likely won't be a problem for most users, but if you found that load times for Sims 2 are long, know that the expansion will contribute to your wait.

Toga! Toga! Toga!

Where University really shines is in bringing the college experience to life with all the goofy humor of a Sims game. Parts of the game are absolutely perfect: a whole new musical track is available, featuring college-style pop and alternative rock from real musician hopefuls willing to record their singles in Simlish. The result is great. The music fits the scene perfectly, and don't be surprised if you hear a couple of the new tunes on your radio someday. (In English.)

Sims buzz around campus in ways that really bring it to life. They can play "kicky-bag" together, or "hang out" by sprawling around on the floor chatting to each other. Watching a group of Sims play pool is amazing because they really play pool. (You can also hussle other Sims for money, natch.)

A professor is mortified by the behavior of the school mascot. Or, perhaps, she is turned on.

The new musical instruments all work together, so when you have a group of Sims on the guitar, drums, and bass they'll all actually play the same song together. You can play for tips, so I was able to have one Sim rake in the cash all through college just by jamming at the student center all day.

Subtle changes and tweaks to gameplay bring on some cool results. For instance, within fraternities or sororities, "Fun" and "Social" stats drain quickly while everything else drains more slowly than normal. As a result, people in frat houses want to always party and play around. Brothers or sisters in greek house also tend to "find" stuff around campus, so it's not unusual for someone to show up with a pizza or a ratty old couch to plop on the lawn.

The campuses are loaded with characters to interact with. Cheerleaders show up wherever there's a sports party, you can befriend professors from class (and even get them to fall in love with you for higher grades), the college mascot strolls around in a full llama costume, and the dorms are constantly abuzz with student activity.

Streaking? Oh yes, there's streaking.

As a complete package, then, Sims 2 University delivers in a big way. There's a staggering number of new things to do and new ways to interact with your Sims. While bugs occasionally crop up, they're not quite enough to spoil to party. Enjoyed Sims 2? You'll need to get your hands on University straight away.