Writing a review on a Sims expansion is little more than an academic exercise. After all, if you have The Sims 2, you don`t need me to tell you how much fun it is, or to convince you to buy the expansion. If you`re anything like me, you can`t get enough of this popular life simulation, and you simply have to get more and better things for your Sims characters to buy and do.
In the case of the first expansion in this series, University, what your Sims get is education, and I don`t mean just a degree. As in real life, university is much more than simply burying one`s head in the books. University adds entirely new lots to the original game, with dormitories, fraternity houses, coffee bars, lounges and a host of new objects, all geared to help "educate" your Sims in romance, partying, music, and... yes, academia too.
The expansion brings with it a range of new items, including various music instruments you can use to start a band. You also get a counterfeiting machine for when you need some more dosh and your part-time job isn`t quite enough to fund your partying habits. Other new items include a mini fridge and some cool exercise equipment.
New career paths have also been added, including the paranormal, show business, art and natural science, which reminds me: the Sims do actually need to study as well. University doesn`t exist in isolation, but integrates with the rest of the game. At any time, you can choose to send a teenager to any one of three tertiary institutions and choose a major that suits his future career choice. If you manage to find a balance between fun and work, your Sim will complete his three "years" and graduate.
A degree or diploma is not only nice for your Sim to have, but in fact helps him in his career, speeding up promotions and ensuring he gets a better shot at the big bucks. So it`s worth making sure he hits the books and completes his papers in between toga parties, keg chugging, skirt chasing and playing pranks like pouring soap powder into fountains.
Whereas the original game allowed for aspirations and wants, your characters can now also build up "influence" points too, which allows them to influence other people to do things - pretty much like a Jedi mind trick.
The problem with this expansion is that you have to be very careful not to install it in the same directory where you have the original game. If you do, it overwrites other data and neither game will work properly. That`s a shortcoming. I believe expansions should simply integrate into the original game without fuss.
When I first installed the expansion, my computer froze each time I tried to save the game. This was particularly annoying, since the game saves automatically every time a Sim boards a taxi to go party or buy clothes. This meant I lost everything that had happened before that point and I could not visit any of the lots.
So I uninstalled both and reinstalled them in entirely different locations on my computer, but to no avail. The problem persisted. In desperation, I downloaded updated drivers for both my graphics and sound cards. Hey presto! It worked.
The initial problems aside, "University" is tremendous fun, adding an entirely new dimension to the original game and improving an already brilliant gaming experience.
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