The Sims is one of, if not the most popular PC gaming series ever. Year after year, expansion pack after expansion pack millions of people the world over lap up each addition. In 2004 The Sims 2 arrived to millions of sales and critical acclaim the world over. The game is clearly set up for the mouse and keyboard of the PC, and the two previous games on the Xbox, The Sims and The Urbz Sims in the city have still been good, but not quite up to the PC standards due to a few issues, most notably control problems due to the lack of a mouse. So has developer Maxis again fallen short of the PC classic or have they put more time into the console version?

The Sims 2 has two modes of play, Story mode and Freeplay mode. The title Story Mode is a little bit misleading as there is practically no story at all...think of it more as a mission-based mode. The first thing you do is create your character which is actually a pretty deep experience this time round. You start off with a DNA generator which gives you a random sim based on your family genes or you can go through the whole process yourself to create the right sim for you. I would recommend doing it yourself as it is really easy to use and there are plenty of hair, clothing, accessories and body options to create yourself or any one else you like. You then choose your Sims personality traits and decide what you want your Sims to do with there life by choosing there aspirations which are Romance, Wealth, Knowledge, Popularity and Creativity.

You will need to develop your character to suit each need, for example if you pursue romance you need to get your social and hygiene skills up, for knowledge you will need your sim to read and use the computer to get smarter etc. Choosing a star sign also affects your character, some signs make your character moody, shy and playful and a few other things that will have a bearing on your Sims life. I was surprised at the number of options available during the character creation process, it's very detailed and involved but handled in style thanks to the excellent menu system and graphics.

Once you have that all done you basically just have to meet life's challenges and try and advance your sim in their chosen endeavors. You must meet certain goals like make a friend with a certain character or make an enemy. You do this by starting conversations and choosing from the various options, you can tell a joke, chat, hug, tickle someone to become friends or you can mock and annoy to make an enemy. Saying the wrong thing can also make the game quite difficult as it is a bit of trial and error to see what works and what doesn't. By meeting the games wants and needs you will keep your sim happy, doing things like jumping on the trampoline, playing a video game, playing on the computer, watching TV etc all make your Sims life more enjoyable.

Other things you must do to advance through the game are buy an item for the house, like a bed, computer or a new couch to buy these items though you will need a job. Yes once again your Sims can't just sit around all day they have to go to work so you then need to look for jobs by reading ads in the newspaper. Once you have a job the next step is getting a promotion. To do this you need to improve your sims skills and keep your sim happy. Other challenges include getting to a certain friendship level with your fellow sims, learning new recipes or visiting new locations. Oh yeah of course you still have to keep your sim well showered, fed and give them regular toilet breaks to keep there stamina and motivation up.

The other mode is freeplay mode which is more like the PC game in that you can choose to do what you want when you want without the needs. There are four areas for your sim to live in, and then you must build your house, raise your family and make friends. This mode has no challenges that need to be met, the entire mode is just down to you running your Sims lives the way you want them run.

The most obvious improvement to the game comes in the fact that you actually control your character with the left analogue stick like you would in any other third person game. It is so much better than the point and click mechanic of previous games. Another cool feature is the fact that the game can be played two player co op. It is a nice feature though I would still like to see the game go on Xbox live and let fellow Xbox gamers from around the world interact with each other in the Sims universe. Also the new cooking options are a welcome addition to the game, instead of just getting a meal out of the fridge and cooking it, you can select individual ingredients and cook them up using recipes and recipes can be learned from books and magazines as well as from trial and error.

Sadly though The Sims 2 has quite a few annoying little problems which prevent it from joining its PC cousin's high scores. The first is pretty much unavoidable, the game is quite complex and features a fairly steep learning curve. There are so many things going on in The Sims 2 that you can get in over your head quite quickly. Your character goes to work which takes up a few hours each day, you then have to cook, clean, shower, use the toilet, make friends, learn new skills, keep your character happy and get to sleep so you can go to work the next day. The micro-management can take quite a bit of the enjoyment out of the game and could turn some people away if they are not committed to the game.

The second flaw is a real strange one indeed, Story mode and Freeplay use the same save spot on your Xbox, so you can't keep two games going at once you can only have one or the other saved. This is one of the dumbest things I have found in a game in many years and it really is quite bizarre that it's happened. The third and final thing I was annoyed about was the amount of content we lost from the PC version. On the PC you could have children or you could start the game as a child and get older as you played it but sadly that has been omitted.

Graphically The Sims 2 looks pretty good; all the characters are nicely detailed as are all the various locations you visit. The animations in this game are also top notch, and some of them are quite funny as well. All of the objects look nice in a cartoonish kind of way and the game is bright and colorful. It's not quite up to the PC versions standards, as the frame rate is slightly lower on Xbox, but it is certainly the best looking Sims game on Xbox.

The sounds of The Sims 2 are one of the games real standouts. The various songs that play throughout the game are all catchy little numbers that will be in your head for days. The sound effects are also pretty cool as well, with the highlight being hearing The Sims talking in there own language. You still can not understand what they are saying but you can tell by there tone if they are happy, sad, grumpy etc so you know what they need or want just by listening to them. The in game sound effects are pretty solid as well; you hear the TV or radio if it's on and you will hear the door bell ring or a car horn going off to get your attention for the car pool. Sadly the game does not feature custom soundtracks, which would have been a nice addition and seeing how your Sim reacted to your own tastes in music could have been an interesting game mode.