Something that disappeared in the Urbz, but is back again now is the Freeplay mode. You can create a family of up to four Sims, place them in one of the four locations for freeplay, and then you can start playing. Build a house, make a career for your Sims, and so on. This mode gets the closest to the gameplay of the Sims on PC, where you can just go ahead and control your Sims, give them a fabulous, rediculous or crappy life, and tell the story you want - without children or any other generation gameplay. You can do this with all items you have unlocked in the story game. Although this works well on the PC, the console version seems to lack something here. At least I prefer the story mode on the consoles, like I did with the previous titles. Where the PC game gives you a lot of freedom in every aspect, freeplay mode on the consoles has too many limitations. Being able to build only one floor is one of them, and the fire limit gets annoying quickly as you can't fill up the space with objects and such. I wouldn't be able to tell if this limit exists on XBox and GameCube as well, but it's obvious the Sims would work better on more powerful consoles. Let's hope this changes for the next generation of hardware (PlayStation 3, XBox 360 and the Nintendo Revolution).

What also keeps the PC game fun is the expansion packs and downloads. They refresh the game every so often, and allow you to do some more experimenting. Free mode on the consoles is a lot like the very basic first edition of the game, which is far too outdated now. You're stuck with a number of objects, and although there are a lot of them, there are many of the same type as well (e.g. quite a few tables, beds, chairs, etc., all of them with the same basic functions).

On the PS2 you can save up to 8 families on a memory card, besides your story Sim. In a new game, two families have been made for you by Maxis. Unlike previous versions though, they all live in the same neighborhood together with your story sim, and so share the same savegame on the memory card. Starting a new game will overwrite both the freeplay mode as well as the story mode. Keeping them separate would've been more flexible.

One advantage over the PC version is the split-screen mode that all console Sims games have had. Rather than having to sit alone and playing the game at your own, you can have a friend join you so you can get through the story slightly easier. There's still just one main Sim that'll need to complete all goals - it won't work if you do it for the other - but the second player can control an extra Sim. When you need to help other Sims this can be helpful, as you can set the main Sim to do something he needs to do, socialising for example, while the other makes sure the other Sim gets what he needs.

Two-player mode overall doesn't add very much to the gameplay. Besides two Sims being controlled by people at the same time, there's no difference with the default gameplay. It's also still somewhat limited, in that the two Sims have to be on the same lot at all times. They can't move to a different location without the other one following. The Sims has always been more of a single-player game, and although it works there are better games to play with two players if you'd ask me. It's not like you start the game and play a couple of rounds against each other like you'd do with most games. Instead the Sims takes quite a lot of time.

It's also important to note that it's still the first Sim that's the most important, and only player 1 will be able to control that Sim. You can't control each other's Sims, but you can both control other story characters. Because it's still the game of the first player, completing the game can only be done by him. Promotions, skill points, and recipes earned by the second Sim won't count towards the progress. Both players can pause the game if they want to. The other will just have to wait. And if something needs to be bought or built, the split screen will disappear and become one big screen again, which the player who pressed the pause button controls. Useful, as it gives the necessary overview over the lot - half a screen wouldn't do.

There are some other things that could've been better in the game. Objects and Sims are quite often clipped too soon. If the camera is up close to one end of a large table for example, the entire table will disappear. Even Sims, selected or not, may disappear from the screen when the camera is too close. Although I can understand this clipping is necessary at times, to keep a decent overview, it looks a bit silly when you have plates floating in the air because the table beneath it is invisible.

Other annoyances have been mentioned earlier in this review, but one of the biggest ones is probably that you're waiting a lot. The current generation of consoles is definitely getting outdated, and the Sims is quite a heavy game. Mostly animations are loaded on the fly as you play. Some big animations, most notably the secret handshake, takes a while to load. If you increase the game speed, the timeout occurs quicker and so even though you told your Sim to do the secret handshake or some other interaction, it'll be cancelled without any result. That's some time lost. Like this, you're fairly often waiting for things to load - except the taxi. That's pre-loaded while you make the call to move to a different location. Loading times in generally feel like they've been improved. The game also doesn't force you to change your clothes that often, where the Urbz did in every location, so you're not loading that up too often either.

Another minor issue is that if your Sim has been sent off to work, they cannot be selected. It's not bad as such, except it also makes it impossible to plan things for your Sims to do after work. You have to queue up the actions when the Sim gets back from work, so you have to pay attention to that. Talking about careers: in the skill sidebar on the left of the screen (not the panel in the pause menu) you can't see how many skill points you need for a promotion. You need to go into the pause menu to see that. There you have to check the icons, and if you don't know their meanings look them up in another panel. It's not possible to focus these entries and quickly get a reminder of what needs to be trained. The game also doesn't give much feedback when your Sim has earned a skill point, even though there are other messages in the top of the screen half the time. When letting your Sim train a skill and you go off to control another one, it would be useful to know when your Sim is ready without having to specifically check your Sim.

During the story, there is also a point where you unlock lots that don't have even the most basic things for your Sim to survive (think of a fridge, telephone, etc). When playing, I just wanted to get the goals over with, I don't want to have to fix up every lot I visit so I can stay there more than 24 simhours without killing the Sim I'm playing with. Then again, once you've done it, it's ready and you can focus on what you want to focus on again.

Finally, there's the huge amount of dialog boxes that gets annoying. It's alright in the tutorial - that's most likely something you see once or twice, and it's over after roughly 15 minutes. But there are 3 boxes for loading a game alone, that could be just one. Once you chose to load a game, the game asks which memory card to load from. Alright so far. But then the game checks if there's a game, if there is it asks you if you really want to load it. Click yes and it'll load the game - after which it'll tell you "Load Successful" in yet another dialog box which requires a click. In my opinion it would've been enough if the game asked me where to load from, and then just gave me a message in the top of the screen or so telling it's loaded the game - without me having to press another button.

It may sound as there are many issues with the game, but there are also many good things. It's not at all as repetative as the Urbz. The locations are quite varied with different stories for each. There are also many objects you may be familiar with from the Sims 2 on the PC, but some have been improved with extra interactions. The guitar (from University) can now shoot flames, and on the telephone you can make prank calls (which you'll also receive occasionally, if you're lucky you'll also get some money from it). There's a telescope with which you can discover new comets, and there are many more things like that. When socialising you'll also see quite a bunch of new interactions, most packed with the typical Maxis humour. The goals of the story keep you going, and thanks to the status panel showing your progress you'll try to get the game 100% completed.

The Sims 2 is the best Sims game on the consoles yet - I haven't even mentioned everything in this review. If you want to compare it to the previous games, think of it as Bustin' Out with the good things from the Urbz, some elements from the PC (aspirations), and several good additions (the food game, direct control). The game feels solid and complete apart from the odd glitch. There's always room for improvement, but there's nothing that really makes you put the game aside because it becomes unplayable. The music - some you may be familiar with, some new scores - is good, just like the animations and the original objects. Direct control is a real good addition that you'll often use besides the classic control. It's a thing that's worked out well. Build and buy mode have always been less important on the consoles than on the PC, but that doesn't matter. Sometimes it feels like you're forced into these modes through the wants and fears, even though it's not really necessary, but wants involving buying or building are easy to accomplish.

So do I recommend you to get this game? The answer would be yes. Especially if you liked Bustin' Out or the Urbz, then this will be a good addition to your collection. If you want to try the Sims on another platform than the PC, while you do have something that sticks close to the original gameplay, then the Sims 2 is good for you too. It doesn't beat the PC game when it comes to freedom and customisability, but it's something different and more goal-oriented. If you don't have the money for it, then you can either wait until it's become a budget game, or get Bustin' Out. Although that game is quite different and outdated by now, it's somewhat similar to the Sims 2 gameplay-wise. If you don't have a PlayStation 2, XBox or GameCube, then I wouldn't buy such a console just for this game. It's a little short of a must-have.