The Sims 2 Apartment Life Review

There are a few certainties in life … death and taxes are the two most often cited, but how about that as long as there is a Sims franchise, EA/Maxis will pump out expansions every couple of months.

Yep, it’s time once again and with Sims 2 Apartment Life, the supernatural gets a shot in the arm with the introduction of witchcraft. The element of witchcraft in the game is part of the new idea that Sims don’t have to own their own homes, but rather can rent. Of course there are rules for renting, like noise levels and making the rent on a timely basis, but the apartment element is surprisingly akin to the homeowners element. You will have visitors and develop social groups.
Part of the vampire element introduced several expansions ago allowed Sims to meet vampires and if they got friendly enough, that vampire might bite them and they would become a vampire. Werewolves got a similar treatment. Well, now it is time to give witchcraft a try. Sims can meet witches or warlocks and befriend them. If all goes well, they may be allowed to learn either the Ways of Light or the Path of Darkness.

When you head down that road, you get a spellbook and cauldron. The spellbook contains all your Sim will learn and the spells fall into three categories – good, neutral and evil. Good spells might include healing sick Sims, neutral allows for teleportation and evil includes starting fires and breaking up relationships.

And because there are witches, that means foregoing mechanical conveyances and riding on the broomstick.

The expansion includes a few new animations available in the radial menu (when at the right place) like a dance kiss, brushing teeth, washing the Sim’s face and jumping rope. A few new objects also enter the scene, like adding closet doors to a small room to create a walk-in closet, and there are also vending machines, a new spiral staircase, ceiling tiles for rooms, a new bed and bookcase and a silent ringer mode for phones.

Because some Sims do not make a lot of money, you can advertise for (and get) a roommate. The roommates are NPCs, and that means they operate under an independent AI. Sometimes the actions seem to make little sense, but generally they can work out fairly well.

As expansions go, Apartment Life adds some nice variety to the series. It does not add anything new in terms of the graphics engine but does bring in some nicer elements to the gameplay. The sound changes little.

Maxis (and EA) must be stretching it a bit to maintain viable content for the Sims 2 series – especially with Sims 3 releasing in 2009. But Apartment Life is a bit more robust than Free Time was in terms of behavioral modifications and that makes it a bit more fun.

Review Scoring Details for The Sims 2 Apartment Life

Gameplay: 7.2
This actually adds some entertaining elements to the game.

Graphics: 7.0
Some nice effects make this a bit brighter in terms of content than previous expansions.

Sound: 6.5
Typical of the franchise.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Concept: 7.5
The witchcraft element and roommates make things a bit more interesting, especially if you like to meddle in the lives in NPCs.

Overall: 7.2
This is more entertaining than Free Time and the apartment roommate element spices it up a touch.