The Sims 2: Apartment Pets
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
The Sims franchise has become one of the most well-known and popular gaming series’ of the past decade. The many sequels and spin-offs have maintained the same level of deep gameplay and accessibility for novice gamers and while some of the games in the series heavily outshine the others, there hasn’t been one Sims title that couldn’t be recommended. That is of course until The Sims 2: Apartment Pets came to the Nintendo DS, which could be best described as The Sims meets Nintendogs.
How does it play?
If you’re up to speed with The Sims universe you’ll know that after the latest encounter in The Sims 2: Apartment Life, the Sims now live in a nice little apartment. As they venture onto the DS, their nice like abode is now sitting atop a pet shop that they own. As most people who live on top of their own pet shops do, the Sims have allowed a few of their pets from the shop to live upstairs with them. Thankfully, the DS doesn’t have a smell-o meter.
It wouldn’t do the game much justice to give it one main genre. The game has a mixture of RPG, music and action elements and combines the three well to create a weird and original experience.
The species vary from dogs, cats, snakes and birds and each specie has a designated set of mini-games that you can take part in. These mini-games allow you to bond with the animal, earn money and unlock items for the pet. If you feel like dressing your pooch up, ala Paris Hilton’s dog, then you can do so by playing the specific mini-game for the dog and unlocking dog clothes. You can also unlock items for the apartment as well, so don’t worry about the cat scratching the hell out of the couch – you can get a new one!
The mini-games are fun but short and don’t offer much challenge, with the Guitar Hero-rip-off Bird Boogie being the only memorable one of the bunch.
Apartment Pets associates many of the basic attribute-style progression elements from other Sims games and your ability to take part in mini-games and work up your pampering skills will determine how successful the pet store is. If you choose to let your Sim lounge around and have the pets run amuck, your Sim won’t be able to diagnose problems with animals when a customer brings their sick pet in, and this will ultimately lose business for the store. You can leave the store in the hands of helpers, but they bring in far less cash than if you direct your Sim to do it themselves.
Healing a pet requires precision and quickness with you using the stylus to dictate motions and choosing medicine in a way so as not to upset the animal. The more efficient and effective the healing process is for the pet, the more money you earn for the store.
While the concept of Apartment Pets sounds great, the execution isn’t. The games major fault is in its repetitiveness. There’s no variety beyond 4 hours, which is about the time you’ll need to develop and master a routine for your Sim. You’ll be doing the same thing over and over and over again. Unlike in PC Sims games, you can’t guide your Sim outside of the store and you can’t make any friends, leaving it to be a very boring and repetitive lifestyle for both the Sim and you. It’s great for the first few hours, but once you develop a routine, there’s no real incentive to continue.
What does it look like?
Apartment Pets suffers from some major clipping issues, specifically when the pets interact with stationary objects. The pets look OK and so do the environments, but the game is a major step down from what we’re used too for Sims titles. Yeah, this is the DS, but we’ve seen a lot better on this handheld.
How does it sound?
Like the gameplay, the sound is repetitive and boring. The only difference is that it’s boring right from the get-go.
I'm getting my money's worth, right?
No, you’re not. Apartment Pets is great for a few hours, but once you finish combing your cat, training your dog and healing the neighbours snake, there’s nothing else do. Well, there is, but it’s just the same…over and over and over again.
The Final Verdict
The Sims 2: Apartment Pets might be a fun title for kids who love animals, but even they may find the game overly repetitive and tedious. The game starts off OK, but it has no middle and end and you’re just doing the same thing. Once you do everything once, you’re expecting more and for the game to evolve. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.
Gameplay
5.5
You’re running a pet shop and an apartment filled with pets. The mini-games are kind of fun, but once you master them and develop a routine, the gameplay fails to grow.
Graphics
4.5
Clipping issues make the title look like an early-generation Playstation title.
Sound
4.5
Generic and repetitive sounds round out a dull presentation.
Value
4.5
Wake up, play with pets, go to bed. Repeat.
Overall
4.5
Submitted by Gaetano
14/10/2008
49
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