Metacritic Games

Sims 2, The (GameCube)

If the world was a blank canvas, how would you fill it in? Create a cast of characters and tell your own stories in The Sims 2. Create Sims, give them personalities, and directly control every move they make. Then customize their world, building their homes, creating their food, and designing their fashions. Help them in their careers and aspirations as they build a network of friends and avoid their enemies. Enjoy the peaks of pleasure and the trials of pain in your Sims' lives. Immerse yourself in a world created, customized, and controlled by you. Develop a master plan for your Sim's social life, career, and pathway to greatness...or live in chaos! Genuine console controls let you directly control every move your Sims make. Create thousands of your own food recipes and clothing designs from items you acquire throughout your Sims' world. Sims now have memories, adding a new dimension to managing your Sims' relationships. Play copperatively with a friend for double the fun with new split-screen 2-player mode. Experience endless possibilities! There's a surprise around every corner ... and in the couch ... and on the toilet. Investigate your Sim's world to find hidden opportunities that can help (or hurt) in achieving your Sim's goals. [Electronic Arts]

Electronic Arts
Simulation
Players: 2
T (Teen)
Developer: Maxis
Released October 24, 2005

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

73 / 100

Critic Reviews

90 GamePro
If playing the divine hand to a house full of simulated people appeals to you, this is as good as it gets.
90 Cheat Code Central
It may not be as deep as the PC version but compared to most console games, this one is a bottomless pit.
85 IGN
It's a fun, funny and truly engrossing entry in the series.
85 PGNx Media
A fun little game. It does a great job of keeping everything that made The Sims so interesting on the PC. However, the game isn’t as well suited for consoles as previous Sims games were. The removal of a real story mode is certainly a detriment. The actual gameplay is top-notch as always, though.
85 Game Chronicles
One of those games that, like its predecessor, appeals to almost everyone and practically never gets old.
85 Nintendo Power
By far the funniest and best-animated yet on consoles. [Jan 2006, p.112]
85 NintendoWorldReport
This is the perfect date game on two-player mode, and if you have a soft spot for the wonders of domestic tranquility, you’ll have a great time playing this game.
80 eToychest
While many adherents of The Sims franchise will lament changes to the Story mode, The Sims 2 for the console market is a seriously strong entry in the series. It simply doesn't get better than this when it comes to playing god from a La-Z-boy.
78 Worth Playing
Fans will still like it; nobody will be angered by it. But, when looking at the great work done on the PC version, which has positioned itself on a very different path than the original (thanks to the generation hopping), there really isn't enough in this GameCube version to warrant a release past "Livin' Large."
78 Game Informer
Even with these new elements, the game isn't as dynamic or addictive as others in the series, but it does manage to find some identity amid its more familiar feature that Sims fans will certainly appreciate. [Nov 2005, p.150]
74 BonusStage
You’ll notice such things removed from the game as the ability to create a child Sim, while new things like a partially locked catalogue and cooperative play were added.
70 GameSpy
There's still something addictive about this game once you get past the initially slow start. There are dozens and dozens of things to unlock, and charting your progress through the title really sucks you in.
70 AceGamez
The type of player who will enjoy this game is the one who plays to unlock things. This is your type of game, because there are hundreds of items to unlock and use, which you will have to work for.
70 Next Level Gaming
The replay in any of these titles is much less than what you would find with the PC version. The linear storyline, and structured game flow really cut down on the nearly limitless options that are at your disposal in the computer version of the Sims games.
70 Electronic Gaming Monthly
I'm ready for this series to advance its gameplay, rather than just continuing to add new objects and locations to interact with.
67 Gaming Age
It’s a marked improvement over the original Sims port, and "Urbz: Sims in the City," and you might find it to be right up your alley.
65 GameSpot
The Sims 2 loses something in translation from PC to consoles. Namely, its addictive, entertaining gameplay.
60 Gamenikki
If you’ve played the PC version and are looking for something new, you are likely to be disappointed as some of the newer and richer features have been stripped away to fit it onto the console.
60 1UP
Sims 2 for consoles is definitely not on par with the depth and ingenuity that its PC sibling offers but it's refreshing to play a relaxed version of the game that doesn't require as much surveying and emotional input.
50 Computer Games Magazine
Left unattended, they are pale shadows of their more vibrant PC counterparts. They seem more vacant and literally dispossessed. [Feb 2006, p.91]
50 Game Revolution
But the underlying gameplay and A.I. that made the PC version such a cohesive package is lost on this new generation of sexless sims, who care only for new rugs, expensive coffee tables, and balanced meals. They’re perfect yuppies, and perfectly boring.
30 N-Europe
Just stay away; this game isn't worth your hard earned cash. Go buy something decent.

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