As you may have gleaned from its name, The Sims Complete Collection brings together every release and expansion pack for the original Sims game. The Sims 2: Nightlife, on the other hand, is a brand-new expansion pack for owners of The Sims 2.
Given the dramatic advances over The Sims that were found in The Sims 2 in terms of both graphics and gameplay, you may wonder why the developers are still bringing out releases based on the original game. There are plenty of reasons. The first is gameplay: while the fundamentals of the two games are the same, The Sims is more simplistic, thanks to the lack of things such as aspirations, wants and fears, making it easier to get to grips with for players new to the genre.
Second, being based on a game originally released in 2000, it places few demands on modern hardware, and doesn't need a top-of-the-range Mac with a state-of-the-art graphics card to run smoothly.
But perhaps the most compelling selling point of The Sims Complete Collection is its value for money. As well as the original game, you get seven expansion packs, which would have set you back around £180 if bought separately. That said, it's clear that the developers really were scraping the barrel when they came up with some of the later expansion packs, such as Unleashed, where your Sims can own pets and take them to the park. But with other packs such as Hot Date and Vacation, the possibilities are endless.
Although the gameplay fundamentals are the same for The Sims and The Sims 2, the biggest drawback of playing The Sims Complete Collection six years after the debut release is just how dated and primitive it feels.
If you have a fast G4 or G5-based Mac (performance is too slow on Intel Macs, but Aspyr has said that Universal Binaries will be released soon), then The Sims 2 provides a graphically much richer and generally more immersive gaming environment. The Nightlife expansion pack brings a wide range of new features, obviously most of which are based around your Sims going out and having a good time.
The first time you launch Nightlife, you're asked to associate a downtown area with your neighbourhood. You can either select the default area or create your own with brand-new buildings including nightclub, restaurant and bowling alley. These can be supplemented with more than 125 new objects including a DJ station, poker table and karaoke machine.
Your Sims can go downtown using the traditional cab service, or they can now own their own cars, which, true to life, are expensive to buy and maintain - you have to build a driveway or garage to keep your car in.
Once downtown, they can use the new dating feature to fast-track a romantic relationship, or just go out on the town with a group of family or friends. The chemistry feature lets you select a suitable date by showing a lightning bolt in the relationships panel and the Date Meter measures the success of the date; group outings are judged a success if all participants have fun.
Continuing the party theme, there's a new life aspiration called Pleasure Seeker, and a personality trait defining turn-ons and turn-offs. There are also new characters to interact with, such as vampires who die if they carry on partying into the daylight, and a gypsy matchmaker, who you can pay to set you up with a romantic match.
The expansion pack brings some features that aren't Nightlife-specific - for example, you can now see neighbouring properties without having to exit the neighbourhood screen to see what's going on next door.
The Sims 2: Nightlife is a product for people with too much time on their hands, as you'd have to play The Sims 2 for a lot of hours to get bored enough to think extra features are necessary. If you're lucky enough to be one of those people, there's plenty to occupy many a sleepless night.
Verdict
Perhaps the most compelling selling point of The Sims Complete Collection is its value for money
Author: Mike Hirschkorn
MacUser Online