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The Sims 2 Pets (PSP)

Release Date: 15/12/2006

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RRP £14.99
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Summary

Developer:: Maxis
Publisher:: EA Games

The addition of a new friend is guaranteed to enrich the daily lives of your Sims! Not only will players have the opportunity to choose from a variety of existing breeds, and hot designer mixes, but they'll also be able to personally design their new friend with the Create-a-Pet feature. The ability to customise gives fans the opportunity to create their ideal pet by choosing their body shape, unique markings, even their pet's personalities! With so many different animals to choose from, there's no telling what unpredictable experiences could occur!

Players will also be able to teach their pet new tricks, take them for a romp in the park, outfit them with new pet accessories and even give them a job! As in real life, your Sims' pet will require care and training. A neglected cat with an urge to scratch might claw up your new couch if you aren't careful, and leaving your dog unattended near a freshly planted flower bed probably isn't wise!

Features:

Sims Have New Friends
Pets! Sims can share their lives with their new pets and add more fun to the Sims experience. From dogs, cats, caged animals and more, your Sims share new friends to experience life's precious moments. With so many different animals to choose from, there's no telling what unpredictable experiences could occur!
Create-A-Pet
Choose from dozens of dog and cat breeds or customize features for a one-of-a-kind pet. You can even modify your pet's body shape by choosing from specific colours and unique markings. Don't like the way they act? Change their personality - from smart and sweet to silly and sloppy - anyone can create their ideal animal friend in The Sims 2 Pets.
"Sit, Spike, Sit"
Your Sims can encourage and discipline pets, training them to shake, roll over, play dead, and more. Unruly pets might dig in the yard, claw the sofa, or topple the trash. Thankfully, a little training can go a long way.
Classic Sims Open-Ended Gameplay
Create and control digital characters over a lifetime, setting their goals in life from popularity and romance, to fortune and family- their stories are in your hands.
Share unique Pet unlocks
Use special codes to share unlockable pet accessories, fur types or markings with other The Sims 2 Pets players.
Stroll the Central Town Park
Take your Sims and their pet for a romp at any of the nearby park areas, or head to the Central Town Park which is a favorite of pet owners. While there, watch your pet play well with others while your Sim can meet others and socialise with fellow animal lovers.
Shop 'til you drop
Visit the adjoining Town Center, a great gathering spot for Sims that evolves over time. Once you've seen the latest styles and decided on a purchase, deck your pet out in the latest clothing and accessories around. From geek to chic and cool to casual, your Sim can customise their pet's look with one stop in the Town Center. It's sure to be the coolest pet in town!

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Screenshots

GAME Reviews
Customer Reviews Customer Reviews

The Sims 2 Pets Review; Author: Mark Scott ; Published: 21/12/2006

Sony’s smaller system gets its cutest Sims instalment yet...

While pretty much everyone knows what The Sims is by now, there's a lot of confusion surrounding the series purely because of how many different expansions there are on the PC alone. That only gets more confusing when you factor in console Sims games, and when you get to the handheld releases things can get frankly head-spinning.

To clarify, then; on PC, Sims 2 Pets is an expansion pack to the original Sims 2. On home consoles, The Sims 2 Pets is a standalone title, offering the same game as PS2 and Cube Sims 2, but incorporating new animal friends. On handheld however, things diverge drastically; especially on DS, which offers more of a stylus-directed vet-style game than a traditional Sims-style title. The GBA release, meanwhile, does its best at recreating the bigger console versions on the smaller screen, but there are understandable cutbacks due to the power of the machine.

It falls to the PSP, then, to deliver the full Sims 2 Pets console experience in shrunken-down form. And it does so in impressive fashion, porting much of what made the PS2 version so successful to Sony's smaller system. Indeed, the PSP's processing power has been used well here: this is the most sophisticated handheld Sims we've ever seen. It's also accessible, which is a must for all good portable titles. The tutorial quickly teaches you the basics of Sim management and interaction, and offers up two distinct control methods; the latter of which, Classic Mode, aims to recreate the PC approach as closely as possible, giving you free control over the camera. However, we prefer the standard mode, in which you directly control your Sims, switching between them with a quick press of the circle button.

This is the most sophisticated handheld Sims we’ve ever seen.

The accessibility continues when you start the game proper; like its big PS2 brother, Sims 2 Pets on PSP offers two choices upon beginning a new game. There's a handful of neighbourhoods to choose from; some with existing families already residing, and some empty and ready for immediate occupancy.

Pleasingly, you can tailor the degree to which the game sets things up for you here; so, if you want to jump straight into an existing family, you can. On the other hand, if you want your own family, you can create one in an unoccupied neighbourhood, or boot out the residents of current ones and take their place. Likewise with home creation, you can choose to move into a pre-set home, or scrap that and make your own from scratch, selecting one of a few different layouts and the type of furniture that sits inside it. It's not the deepest game of its type ever devised, but manages to balance personalisation without ever being annoyingly fiddly.

That customisation element extends to the pets themselves, who really are the stars of the game. Cats and dogs are the focus here (no real loss - you can't exactly walk a goldfish anyway, can you?) and you get to choose everything from breed to age, fur colour and length, size of ears and personality traits, which affect how they interact with your Sims and other pets throughout the game. Now, that might make the game sound a bit like a hardcore pet simulator - but we have to stress, this is no Nintendogs. Whereas that game gave you your very own virtual puppy, the pet here belongs to your Sims family, so instead of interacting with their cat or dog directly, you'll influence its actions by directing the actions of your Sims.

A ton of stuff

And that's where the depth of The Sims 2 Pets shines through. There's an absolute ton of stuff to do; if your goal is simply to have the best pet possible, you can have your Sims spend time with their four legged friend to play with it, give it praise or scald it for doing something wrong - as it frequently will by, for instance, digging up the yard - or by teaching it new tricks like sitting and rolling over to develop its personal skills. The longer your Sims spend with their pet, the more accomplished the pet becomes, and (with any luck) the better it interacts with both your Sims and other Sims pets. There's even a downtown area devoted entirely to pets in which they can earn pet points to buy new items like chew toys, as well as unlocking various interaction options.

Yet, for those people who want more than to train and develop an adoringly obedient furry friend, there are the other, more traditional Sims aspects to focus on too. This is still a game about maintaining your Sim's wants and needs, so you'll have options to send them out to get a job in order to earn money to develop their household - as well as managing their own desires as far as learning skills, pursuing hobbies and socially interacting with their Sim friends. It's not as deep as the PC iteration, but for console (and especially handheld) owners, there's a pleasing amount to be getting on with.

The longer your Sims spend with their pet, the more accomplished the pet becomes.

Sadly, there's one particular aspect of the PSP release that threatens to turn the game's simple premise into something altogether more frustrating: Load times. This may be a great approximation of Sims 2 on portable - even great looking and sounding, too - but the load times are lengthy and permeate everything from the intro to pet creation and in the in-game item menus. It's not enough to ruin the game, but may severely test your patience, and does impact on the game's otherwise stress-free pick-up-and-play fun.

Thankfully, The Sims has always been a slow-paced game, so the lack of speed isn't as damaging as it would be to a Star Wars or Syphon Filter. With only one other pet-less Sims title on PSP, this is definitely the most well-rounded title of it's type the system - or any handheld - has to offer, so if you can handle the load times, you'll find the Sims 2 Pets is well worth picking up.