My Sims Pet Stories
Ages: Teen

You’ve got The Sims, The Pet Stories, and you have sort of a soap opera and it will play on your laptop.

In the Free play Mode, which is basicallyThe Sims and Sims 2 Pets– you have the whole gamut of Sims options to customize, create families, build, and shop. Sims 2 Pets added the ability to create and customize your pets. Since they are one of the family, it is in the Create A Family section that you will make your very own pet. Every possible attribute from fur to tail and personalities to match or complement their owners is customizable.

And now we have a story to bring it all together. Two stories actually, Alice Witt, an unemployed artist who is about to be dispossessed from her grandmother’s house is counting on winning the prize money in the upcoming dog show. She just has to train her loveable Dalmatian. Steven Loyala, bachelor chef has volunteered to mind his cousin’s cat. Anyone who has owned a cat has some idea of the comic possibilities of that one. Both are in need of some romantic engagement. What’s very different about it all, is that Electronic Arts has massaged the whole gameplay so that in Story Mode, your actions are diminished from absolute control to mostly agreeing to goals and walking your Sims around. Because the graphics and animation are so good, it’s almost like being a voyeur.

I am not objecting. I think it is extending the Sims franchise to those who would not want to spend the time with all the customization, the families and buildings. I am sure that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get onto more important things but had to stop to attend to my Sim’s personal needs. Hell, I remember in URBZ where I laid out multiple bathrooms so that I wouldn’t have to run through the city and take away time from other pursuits. Watching a Sim go to the bathroom is old stuff now.

There is still more. EA made this game to run on your laptop. This means the game makes less demands on the processor, so that laptops with their limitations, and older PC even without graphics cards can play it.

It plays in a window allowing you to keep up with your e-mail, write or whatever. Especially nice for reviewers who can play the game and write up reviews simultaneously. There is also a low battery indicator and closing the cover of your laptop will automatically pause the game.

The cherry to top it all off is that EA is donating the SimCity game to the One Laptop Per Child Initiative. Next – a world of city planners.

Fun Factor: Plenty
Female Factor: Well represented
Player Friendly: EA made it easy for newbies

Reviewed by: Editor - 12/07