Introduction
'With the sheer amount of time needed to housebreak and train each pet, those Sims players who might have gotten bored with virtual family matters will totally enjoy the infusion of gameplay that a Sim pet will bring to their Sims family. Face it, you will love Unleashed if you play The Sims. Unleashed provides a great new breath of fresh air into the game. The pets are so much fun to interact with, you may just start to ignore other areas of Sims living. Unleashed is a definite must-have for Sims owners.'
Final score: 8.8 out of 10
'..unlike “Hot Date” and “Vacation,” which gave you a sort of a goal, this latest expansion pack somehow takes you back to the game’s basics, with no particular goal in mind. Having as many animals as possible simply couldn’t be the goal of this game as it is already swarming with them to begin with. This add-on is obviously the last one before the revolutionary and eagerly expected “The Sims: Online.” I sincerely hope that they will redesign both characters and items which already look a little bit outdated. A couple of hundreds of polygons per model more or some facial expressions wouldn’t hurt, would they?'
Final Score: 63%
'There are so many new things in "The Sims Unleashed" I could literally sit here all day and talk about it. But I won't, because I'm sure by know you'll want to own a copy of the game yourself. As good as this expansion pack may seem (enhanced neighborhood screen, pets, new career tracks), it has its share of bugs. The ones I've encountered have not been bad enough to crash the game, or force me to restart. They are small annoying ones, like Sims not sitting to watch TV, and custom formal (pajamas, etc.) go back to the default when restarting the game. New objects, skins, more lots, and of course the pets are good reasons to own this one.'
Final Score: 4 out of 5
'Sadly, Unleashed doesn’t address any of the actual problems that exist in The Sims’ world. You can still sit and watch them get caught up in narrow corridors and doorways, and you still have to perform 90 percent of a Sim’s life for him. It might be nice to develop a degree of automation after all this time. Fans of The Sims should and will buy Unleashed. It’s one of the better expansions so far. Sadly though, those of you who played the original game until boredom set in will find nothing here to tempt you back. Bow-wow.'
Final Score: 6 out of 10
'As an expansion pack, The Sims Unleashed is totally packed with new features that Sims fans will love, and if you like animals, you'll absolutely love it. It is always great to see an expansion pack that adds so much life to a game - quite literally in the case of The Sims Unleashed. If you are not a fan of The Sims though, Unleashed probably does not change the game enough to change your mind on it.'
Final Score: 90%
'While The Sims: Unleashed offers plenty of new features, game objects and gameplay changes, it doesn't significantly add pleasure to the game, which is a real disappointment. Players who have purchased the four previous expansion packs will likely find this worth buying, and more casual Sims fans that missed the other packs can be secure in knowing this is one of the better add-ons from the pile. Gamers that found The Sims phenomenon confusing and odd, though, won't find anything in this expansion pack to make them rethink their views. After five packs we should expect, and EA should deliver, more than this, but when viewed on its own, this is an impressive add-on.'
Final Score: 2.5 out of 5
'It's true that the Unleashed expansion pack never set out to fix The Sims' core problems--none of the other expansions did either--but after all this time, these minor problems seem at least as annoying as ever. The worst thing about these problems is that they keep you from doing all the interesting new things you want to be doing in The Sims: Unleashed--playing with or training your pets, building up a garden, or taking your family out for a trip to town. You could say that expansion packs for The Sims have become formulaic--that they all add a great deal of new content without really fixing any of the original game's flaws--but if you're a fan of The Sims, you'll probably end up enjoying Unleashed as much as the previous expansions.'
Final Score: 8 out of 10
'Of all the expansions, Hot Date and Unleashed give you the most bang for the buck. In either case, they add a great deal of interactions to the core game while also expanding your playground with bigger neighborhoods or downtowns to explore. If having your Sims kick around plastic pink lawn flamingos is beginning to lose its luster, and the $30 price tag doesn't discourage you, The Sims Unleashed is a great way to breathe new life into a classic game.'
Final score: 85 out of 100
'The Sims Unleashed is choked full of goodies, all of which improve upon an already incredible title. Unleashed refers to the most attractive and visible part of the package – the addition of pets to the world of The Sims. While not really missing before (simply because there were so many other things to do), after welcoming the precocious and mischievous fur-balls (and other assortment) into your home, you’ll wonder how you could have lived without them.'
Final Score: 9.1 out of 10
'A pet may not be for everyone. Like in real life, you’ll have to make sure that it’s taken care of. Pets have the same set of needs that humans do that need to be attended to. Pets don’t require nearly as much attention as a human, but if you’re too busy at work, going on a hot date, or anything else, you might not want to be unleashed.'
Final Score: B+ (Great)
'..by now, the only people still playing The Sims (besides those people who just bought a computer and with it their first game) are serious, hardcore Sims players who are going to buy every expansion pack regardless. And we've already downloaded hundreds if not thousands of new skins and objects, so that part of the expansion isn't very impressive. So once the novelty of cleaning up after cats and dogs wears off, we're left with a $30 utility that adds twenty new lots to each neighborhood.
Final Score: 7 out of 10
'Sure, these cute little Trojan horses initially win your heart, but within hours you’ll get sick of having to stop hitting on your SimBuddy’s girlfriend because you’ve got to change the litterbox. The game play is so tedious that we’d shun it completely if it weren’t for its only redeeming value: spooking the neighbors endlessly by being that crazy old lady who lives with 3,000 cats.'
Final Score: 2 out of 5
Written at 11:57 2002n Tuesday 1 October 2002 by Matthew.
Last updated at 18:31 2003n Monday 10 March 2003.
Last updated at 18:31 2003n Monday 10 March 2003.
