Customer Reviews

The Sims 2: Castaway

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

3-hour-tour can easily become a 3 day gaming session

Sims 2: CASTAWAY is exactly what you'd expect if you are remotely familiar with the SIMs franchise. Sims 2: CASTAWAY is essentially SIMs surviving on an uncharted deserted isle. Part Survior, part Gilligan and another Tom Hanks, with all the classic scenarios and archetypes of the "LOST @ SEA" genre. CASTAWAY is as addictive as are all SIMs titles. A 3-hour-tour can easily become a 3 day gaming session.

It is obviously a one-shot affair, like the recent "Pet" release so no prior experience with any SIMs titles is required, but like the other titles the SIMs react according how you've constructed the personalities to respond to their situations and your management, too. They need to Eat, Sleep, Socialize, have time appreciate "the Arts" and have some makeshift civilized creature Comforts including island outhouses.
Like most self-contained SIMs games the ability to customize your SIM is more limited than in the PC series. You can morph faces and bodies into your desired characters. Beach and boatwear can be selected along with hats, hairstyles and jewelry. Once you get to the island you can upkeep your appearance with a sewing kit or make clothing from your surroundings, provided you are creative enough. Like other games in the franchise you assign points to your 5 personality traits which influence the way your SIM will respond to your commands as well as how they will respond to each other. You learn by doing and build up skills through effort and application, even fast with skills that are compatible with your SIM's personality. For example: fashioning tools is a mechanical skill and builds up your skill level through uses as simple as building a fire or repairing a radio transmitter.

There are classic genre subplots to become involved in while your struggle to survive and/or escape for the island. There are mysterious caves to explore, airplane wreckage to scavenge, jungles to search, rafts to build and volcanoes to climb. First you must reassemble your "lost" crew of SIMs you can make up to 6 and choose one to start; this must enlist the aid of local monkeys and resources to do this. But, even after you find them you have to develop good relations with them in order to persuade them to "join the Tribe." There are other goals to accomplish with some aid from lost journals and survival texts you can discover. In the mean time there are monsoons, quaking volcanoes and rough seas ahead.

Some suggestions for play: There are no limits on how much inventory you can have so start collecting, you'll eventually use it all. Start making rope and twine early, they have lots of uses, like the sewing kit, which if fabricated early enough can save your original outfits from permanent disrepair (jeans will remain shorts if you don't catch them early, this will keep your "Comfort" level higher as will haircuts, also provided by the sewing kit). Build a shelter and a bed, these will provide longer lasting rest periods and cut down on time lost sleeping. Build a home Tiki in order to assign jobs to your SIMs, so they will help collect or cook with out being instructed to do so. A campfire will provide warmth and cook food, but a island-made grill will cook more longer sustaining food. Build tools to aid your SIMs like fishing spears & poles. Tools like the hoe and collected ash will allow you to plant a garden and limit your food gathering to a trip outside the hut. Build-up your Body skill harvesting wood and collecting resources in order to be strong row a canoe to an outer island or climb across a chasm.

Goodluck little buddies.

I'm a longtime fan of the Sims 2 franchise on the PC, and in general I've found the console versions of The Sims to be highly unsatisfying. Sims 2 Pets for the Wii was the worst of the lot - awkward gameplay, poor graphics, no fun whatsoever.

So I was pretty nervous about Sims 2 Castaway, thought it over a long time before even deciding to rent. After one day, I was hooked! It has a much different plotline than any other Sims game, many things to discover, explore, learn and unlock. Graphics are beautiful, and the Wii controls are easy to use for any task your Sim may need to perform. I like that I have the option to complete missions as quickly as possible or to just dink around the island, eating bananas and doing yoga. VERY addictive and enjoyable!

I only started with one castaway, so I'm looking forward to giving it another go with some additional crew members sometime in the future. One thing that another reviewer mentioned and I can't figure out either - what is up with that parrot who shows up when you're sleeping and flies away when you wake up? That is ODD!

The sims 2: Castaway is another cool addition to The Sims franchise. It takes place after your crew of six sims experience a shipwreck and end up on various deserted islands. At the beginning of the game you will have to choose which sim you want to start with; this sim will arrive on a deserted beach were a short tutorial will begin. As you progress one of your goals will be to reunite your crew members and as you do so they become playable characters.

There are four primary activities you will be doing: gathering food, cooking food, gathering resources and building shelters.
The game is pretty simple, and a bit short as well (I was able to finsh it in two days). There are only three islands to explore, and although they are subdivided it gives the feeling there isn't much to explore.

It is important to mention that social moves have been dramatically reduced.

It is entertaining at the beginning, and the way the Wii Remote and Nunchuck are used to control the various components of the screen is exceptional; but after you discover the secrets of the Islands, it gets pretty boring.

I would recommend you to rent it first, and to see if you like it and don't mind doing it all over once

I won't get into the gameplay as it's already covered by the other reviewers. However, this is real important, if you don't live alone or expect to have other members play Castaway on the Wii, do not get this version. There is only 1 saved game allowed to be running at a time. Why EA was unable to program it where other save positions were allowed is beyond me. But I could not find away around this. And if you're wondering it does say this under "Saving" in the instruction book.

Good game, but we had to take it back because all 3 of us wanted the ability to play separately.

Pros:
Interesting storyline
Variety of objectives
New maps and hidden areas to discover
Moderately challenging puzzles to solve
Different patterns to collect and craft
Traditional Sim "motives" to keep a sim happy
Make your own home

Cons:
Clunky controls and interface
Bugs still present in published game
Repetitiveness of gathering can become pretty tedious
A little too short for overall playtime

I'm an avid gamer, so when I heard about the Sims Castaway game, I was pretty curious to try it. I pretty much really liked this game, despite it's flaws. Overall playtime: 15-30 hours (took me less than a week).

I discovered a few bugs while playing. My pointer arrow disappeared randomly and I couldn't do anything to get it back. I searched online and found out you can press "1" on the wii-mote and use that to save and reboot. I also had a bug where one of the sims in my tribe became invisible, other sims could talk to it, and there'd be floating food and things, but you couldn't select it. Rebooting didn't help, but after going to another map, my invisible sim eventually came back.

Some of the controls were a little clunky. For example, you can only craft one thing at a time, so if a recipe calls for 20 rope, you open up the menu, select the the submenu, select the rope, select craft... repeat 20 times. There really should be a way you can say "craft 20 rope".

In spite of all that, I actually enjoyed the game very much. I just wished the plot lasted longer, or at least had more side quests, collectible patterns, etc.

This review comes from a 40+ female gamer. This game is awesome! Hours were lost, I nearly missed work due to not sleeping and I felt it was shades of Animal Crossing circa 2004. I liked that the Sims look real (not cartoon characters) and the gathering of food, supplies and hyroglyphic pieces keeps you deeply engrossed! It never seems like a good time to quit, as any Sim needs your attention at any time. Saving your game on the high volcano bluff got frustrating though. I'm not sure if it's a glitch or just the fact that I built my catamaran and can actually leave the Island life now.?.? I also noticed myself taking better care of my Sims than myself! I skipped meals, showers and sleeping in order to keep playing! My usual game choices would be anything Zelda, Mario, Sim City, Harvest Moon, Animal Crosssing. If you have any interest in these listed, you'll probably enjoy this strategy game.

This is my third Sims Castaway game. I've played and completed The Sims 2 Castaway for DS and The Sims Castaway Stories for PC. While the DS version was addicting and entertaining, as most Sims games are, the PC version fell seriously short. Therefore, I didn't get my hopes up for this game but still opted to buy it used to give it a shot.

I am a PC Sim gamer, but I also thouroughly enjoy Sims platform games for the goal-oriented aspect. As you probably already know in this platform Sims version you create a character who becomes a crewmember aboard a ship that sinks. Your character is then washed ashore a deserted island and left to fend for him/herself. You start off with simple tasks of learning how to meet the sim's basic needs and gathering resources/food and exploring the island. As tasks are completed more goals are introduced that are increasingly more difficult and time consuming, yet equally intriguing. You gradually discover your other crewmates who, once you convince them to join your "tribe", you are able to control as you do your own sim. This is a perk for two reasons: you can use them to gather resources (depending on the job you select for them) while you're working on a goal your own sim; and if your original sim's meters are low you can switch to another and continue with whatever goal you're working on while your other sims are replenishing their meters.

I was not bothered at all about meeting the sims basic needs. It did get tiring having to rest my sims, especially when she would refuse to gather resources if she was tired. The sleep meter seemed to run down quite fast. But less than halfway through the game I'd met another Sim and was able to switch back and forth between the two which made it easier to play continuously without having to constantly replenish the needs.

I wish the game had done a little more with the recipe factor. There were so many different types of fish, fruit, veggies, and grains but little emphasis on the recipes themselves. I also felt there were WAAAY too many clothing designs and not enough time or desire to make them all. Essentially, my sims wore the same thing the whole way through the game.

I enjoyed the graphics of the game, although the perception got a little tricky. It is pretty difficult to adjust your view in the jungle in order to see anything but a bunch of shrubbery on your screen.

The one thing the game did not provide was closure. You can get off the island using 3 different methods, but once you've achieved that it just sends you right back to the island to continue meeting goals, making shelters, etc... I know that this the developer's way of allowing freeplay but once I'd met all the goals and discovered all the ways off the island I had no desire to continue playing.

All in all, if you like Sims, and you're willing to spend about $15 to buy this game used, then go for it. I played it off and on for about a month before I finished it and was ready to sell it off. That's more than I can say for many other games I've played in the past.

I am used to playing the sims on pc. This one became a different change of pace. It was interesting seeing the sims how they would react on a island as composed to their normal comfy little homes with their tvs, and all those modern conviences. Even getting socialization needs up became different using the chimpanzees to help with that. Having to find items to help with building was very challenging as compared to the pc version having them right at hand and being able to build right away. I like this game i find it more challenging a slight more difficult them the pc versions. Being my first time trying a console based sims game I am very into them now and look foreward to trying some of the other sims type console games for the wii or such. I loved being able to fish for food, gather it. Finding treasure pieces this and that. Visiting the different islands the graphics are really good and lifelike , and have a very beautiful tropical island feel to them. I give it 5 outta 5 its a excellent game.

I like this game, but it is really only good for one person to play at a time. You have to make your way through the challenges and remember where you found items. There is not an option for another player to have a game going to save their own progress. It is fun, but would prefer to have multiple profiles to play with.

As a long time fan of the sims series both on PC and Console, i must say that in my option The Sims 2 Castaway is the best of the console sims games. This game is similar to the other sims games in that you need to keep your sims needs up and make sure that they eat, sleep etc. however the great thing about this game is that it is so different from the other sims games both on the PC and Console. There is so much to do in this game that time flies. You could play this game for over 3 hours and not even realize it. One of the great things about this game is that your not stuck in a house going to work all the time. Instead your sim in on a island exploring, trying to find food, and build shelter. There is so much to do in this game and tons of items to collect (well resources). Even though I've done a lot in this game there is still a ton of other stuff that i haven't even tried yet. As with all the sims console games you have goals however the goals in Castaway are optional. As the game goes along you can unlock more stuff and discover more things. I give this game a 9.5/10.