The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack

Fans of the Sims games might be the world's largest cult. Despite the franchise's incredible popularity, it is still something that many people—hardcore gamers in particular—just don't get. "A game where I have to get a job and go to the bathroom? Fun!" Me, I haven't totally swallowed the Sims Kool-Aid, but I still admire the games tremendously for their humor and creative energy. The Sims 2 University is the first of what will no doubt be a gazillion expansion packs, and the bottom line here is the same as it ever was: If you love The Sims 2, you'll be happy. But if you still don't get what this is all about, the expansion will not change your mind.

Assume the position
The core of this expansion is in the title: You now can send your teenage Sims to college, where, like all college kids, they will learn the fine art of doing as little as possible while still getting by. The college game is a self-contained one, like an extended minigame. You either create a college-age Sim or take one of your existing teenage Sims and enroll him in one of three universities. All the subsequent gameplay then takes place in the new college living areas (dorms, private homes, or Greek houses if you can get in) and surrounding campus neighborhoods until you either graduate or get expelled. Then the Sim moves back to the regular Sims 2 neighborhood.

At root, it's not very different from the main game. You spend almost all of your time at home, working on your wants and needs, vanishing for part of the day to go to class instead of your job. Each "semester" lasts three days, after which there is a final exam. If you want to succeed, you'll have to spend a lot of time completing assignments, writing your term paper, and doing research. The more you do, the better your GPA will be, and the more scholarship money you'll be rewarded. Successfully graduating opens up four new careers for that Sim—paranormal, show business, artist, and natural scientist—that you can pursue back in the main game.

Double secret probation
As in real life, you can just goof off instead, but here the expansion is something of a letdown. If my actual college experience had been this G-rated, I wouldn't have bothered taking seven years to graduate. There are "pranks," but they are toothless ("joy buzzers?"), as are the opportunities to destroy your life and/or brain. I know Maxis needs to keep The Sims safe for a mass audience, but more depravity and irresponsibility would have gone a long way.

Still, there are many pleasures (like trying to sleep with a professor) to be had. I never did successfully get into a frat, but that's about par for the course for me anyway. You can now "influence" other Sims to do things for you, though I never really got why I should care about that. The new objects, which also show up in the main game, are lots of fun—I spent tons of time playing the bass, hustling pool, and dancing to my MP3 player. As usual, the accompanying animations for these new objects are awesome. This is the only game I know of where zooming in and sitting back and watching is just as entertaining as actually playing.

The Sims 2 University preaches to the converted. Fans should go ahead and get it. There's nothing transcendently brilliant here, but there's enough new stuff to keep you happy. Everyone else, you can keep scratching your heads.
By Jeff Green