The Sims 2: Apartment Pets (DS) Review
The Sims 2: Apartment Pets is a fun combination of The Sims and Nintendogs that is ultimately let down by too much repetition and limited gameplay. While not a bad game, the concept is far too limited to provide more than a simple distraction. It features some decent graphics and all the usual Sims charm, but fails to capitalise on its early promise.
Those players familiar with The Sims will immediately feel at home with Apartment Pets and will be able to dive right in and create their Sim. The creation process is very simple, but allows enough customisation to create something with a little bit of personality. Once the player has created a Sim they will be thrust straight into the action of looking after an uncle’s apartment and pet spa business while he is away.
This means treating a variety of animals for ailments ranging from tangled fur to bad smells and more. These treatments take the form of a bunch of mini-games that utilise the touchscreen. The mini-games range in quality, but are mostly fun little distractions. The player must also take care of the needs of their Sim, although, unlike normal Sims games, they really only need some basic care before it’s off to the pet spa to earn some money.
Treating customers’ pets in the pet spa will earn your Sim some money. The better the treatment, the more the customer will pay. Pet spa upgrades are available and the better the spa is, the richer the customers. The player can also redecorate the apartment, buy pet toys, clothes for themselves or their pets, or food. There are plenty of ways for players to customise their pets, with a variety of outfits to choose from, such as hats and sunglasses. The problem is that outside of treating pets and buying new items, there just isn’t much else to do. The player can’t explore anywhere outside of the pet spa or apartment and there is no one to interact with but customers and co-workers. It’s fun for a time but it all becomes very boring, very quickly.
The game looks quite good, with reasonable looking environments and excellent looking animals. The whole look is consistent with other Sims games and that great Sims charm is evident throughout. There are plenty of different apartment friendly pets to interact with including dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, snakes and rabbits. Each of the different pets is well modeled and looks great. The audio consists of standard Sims sound effects. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but what is presented serves its purpose effectively.
The Sims 2: Apartment Pets is a game that starts off well, has an appealing concept and is mechanically sound. Unfortunately, the limited scope of the game will quickly turn off most players. The game could have had far more longevity if the developers had provided a few more options for players to interact with the outside world. It was the external interaction that made Nintendogs more than just a pet sim and it would have only taken some simple things to add some much needed depth and replayability.
