The Sims 2 Castaway (Wii)
Ages: Teen

This is a quantum shift for the Sims. For years, we have been making them happy by buying bigger houses, giant TV's, luxury swimming pools, fancy barbecues. Material things alone did not make them happy and so there were nightclubs, video games to play, music and dancing, intimate snuggles in dark parks.

Here we have a complete turn about - shades of Gilligan's Island. Your happy-go-lucky crew are shipwrecked on a deserted island and now your are down to the basic essentials – food, water and shelter. You won't be killed by animals but you will have to contend with the weather. Luckily, there is a little help in the form of a sort of Boy Scout manual and you do come ashore with a sleeping mat and plenty of toilet paper. Once you can collect the materials you need – the next steps like lighting fires goes pretty easily. Friendship, at first, comes in the form of chimps since at this point you haven't found your other mates.

Some stuff is still the same – the personalization/customization of your Sim gender, body type, clothing, five personality traits and occupation. In this game, occupation is important – a mechanic has more chances of surviving than a hair dresser – apologies to any hairdresser intending to play this game. The animations seem more fluid but maybe that's because you are moving about more, shinning up trees and swimming. Tropical music provides an upscale feeling and maybe I've been playing too much Sims but I can almost understand the Simlish.

The Wii Remote is used to access data that are on the screen – changing Sims, scrolling through the interactions (this one can also be done with the Nunchuck), accessing inventory and checking goals - button A, selects. The screen is cleared as soon as you move the Remote away. The games suggests that it is easier to play with the Remote pointed away from the screen. Strange but true - It's a Nunchuck game - the control stick is used to move your Sim and the Z button will do the action like climbing a tree, cooking, gathering stuff. Camera and zoom are on the Remote key pad. You can save from the Pause menu and you will also be prompted to save when you exit, but you can only save one game at a time. But if I am not taking full advantage of the Wii controls, why am I playing on the Wii?

You needn't just wander aimlessly around. Moneywell's Big Book of Survival provides goals. Health, nutrition and rest, as in all the Sims games is important. Here you will learn what stuff is good to eat and what will make you sick. and you will learn from your experience. You do have to attend to your Sim's needs – don't starve to death! But this is just the beginning and Electronic Arts has wisely made it easy to get into the game.

Meeting up with your crew mates can make life easier because tasks can be assigned like cooking, fishing and then they become automatic. You can even train chimps to help. If you keep your Sim fed and rested you can do a lot of wandering and exploring. Ideas are transformed into plans that you use to for building, once you have collected the material. Building controls are accessed separately at the bottom of the screen and require a whole new set of button assignments – rotate, roof vs. wall, and blueprint mode. As your stay becomes longer – you will make some interesting discoveries that may effect your decision to make your home on the island or do your best to reach civilization.

The game is a welcomed change from the usual Sims. What can we expect next – a base on the moon?

Reviewed by: Editor - 11/07