Customer Reviews

The Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion Pack

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I picked up my copy of Nightlife yesterday, as well as Prima's Nightlife Strategy book. The game is great. With this expansion, your sims have the opportunity to have enhanced social interactions with other sims. You can now see what sims are attracted to your sims. There is a new item in the relationship panel called "chemistry" and the sims with whom your sims have chemistry with are rated with a lightning bolt system - 1 bolt being low, 2 bolts being average and 3 being high. This helps if you're trying to get your sim a good match. You can also ask people about their skill levels, which will be helpful for me because there is nothing worse than picking up a sim who has low skills and thus contributes nothing good to the household.

You can now go out with groups of people instead of just one sim. This functions similarly to "throw party" in that the group outing is scored. (FYI-Dates are also scored) You can create and manage groups so whenever you want to go out with groups of people, the group is already preassembled.

With a new aspiration reward tool your sims can change aspiration. In the past this could only be done with a young adult sim while they were in college. However if your sim uses this object under the gold range their aspiration will automatically be change to "grilled cheese". They will only want to make, eat and talk about grilled cheese.

With respect to objects and building: I haven't used anything yet, however there are now 1/2 walls that you can build to break up a room a little bit, however it does not function in the same way as a full wall does i.e. if your kitchen has rotten food on the counter top and is separated from the dining room by a half wall, the dining room environment score will be affected. There is also a new driveway tool, new doors, windows etc.

I don't really like playing with cheats, but there are some new ones:
1 - You can give a newly created family additional funds without having to play with them. In the past you had to buy a house lot or a house, move them in and THEN use the motherlode cheat. So if I wanted to give Don Lothario $10,000 the cheat is "familyfunds Lothario 10000". You can insert a minus sign before the simoleon dollar amount to reduce a family's funds if you want.
2 - Give a family ALL the career reward items with "unlockCareerRewards".
3 - Maximize motives with "maxMotives"

This expansion pack is an "enhancement" pack. It takes simming to a whole new level.

As depicted in our earlier previews, Nightlife offers a new downtown/city area that you can associate with your towns. There's only one, but it's loaded with new buildings, restaurants, stores, and entertainment centers. 125 new objects are available, most focusing on social interaction or community lot decorating. Sims can now build driveways and own their own cars, and they can form social groups or go out on dates. In addition, the inclusion of Vampires almost makes the pack.

Graphically, there are some new perks. Although it doesn't directly impact gameplay, you can now see neighboring lots from your own house -- this makes the game more immersive, since it doesn't feel like your house is floating in space anymore.

A new "Pleasure Aspiration" is now available as a Sim's life goal. Typically Sims with the Pleasure Aspiration live for the moment, their wants changing rapidly based on the situation, eager to do whatever fun thing is at hand. They're pretty easy to keep happy, but not very deep, which makes the new aspiration less interesting to play than, say, a family or popularity aspiration.

When I first bought this expansion pack and played it for a few hours, I immediately came on the amazon site and rated it at 4 stars. After playing it enough to feel comfortable writing a review, though, I find I have to give it 3 stars. Let me explain.

What I liked:

*New and useful objects
*Inventory slots! Want to keep something when your SIM moves out? Put it in their inventory and take it out when you get to the new home!
*Cars! Miss the bus or carpool? No problem! Hop in the car. Don't like the waste of valuable time that waiting for the taxi has become? No problem! Hop into the car!
*The New Pleasure Seeker Aspiration. Actually not a very difficult person to keep happy and it adds a bit more variety to a game that already has tons of it.
*The New Downtown Neighborhood. Just as the University Expansion Pack had you choose a University neighborhood to associate with your normal SIMS neighborhood, Nightlife has you choose a Downtown neighborhood to associate as well. There is only one Downtown neighborhood to choose from, but it is great as is! You can still create your own if you so desire, though.
*Vampires! Beware of night trips to Downtown! You never know when the local Count is going to search for entertainment in the same location that you choose...
*Group Outings and Dates. These add new activities to run your SIMS through which adds yet more variety to an already great game. It takes a while to get a feel for how to make them successful, but learning is half the fun!
*Turn ons and Turn offs. These add a little depth to your SIMS personalities. This enhancement had me a little worried at first, because I was afraid of how already existing SIM families would be affected. It turns out that when you install this expansion pack, already existing SIMS have a potion put into their inventory. Drinking this potion allows you to set the turn ons and turn offs so you can pick those traits that will keep your SIM family together (or tear them apart if you feel evil).

What I didn't like:
*All of the bugs that I observed after the University Expansion are still their with Nightlife.
*If an already existing SIM owned a cell phone, handheld device, or other electronic gadget then this disappears after installing the Nightlife expansion pack and you have to buy new ones for that SIM. THAT is an inexcusable bug!
*If you create a new family in the Downtown neighborhood and then want to move them into the regular neighborhood, well, there's no ultra easy way to do it (like the drop out of school option or graduation in University). The work around, I guess, is to make them friends with someone in the neighborhood and have that person invite them to move in.
*The price. Despite the quality of what is added, I still feel that this expansion pack is overpriced, especially in light of the bugs that didn't fixed.

In Summary:
If I rated the new additions on just the fun and value they add to the game I would give it 5 stars. The unresolved bugs cost at least 1.5 stars though. I took another .5 for the price. It really does pain me to give this only 3 stars, but being too forgiving won't encourage game developers to put forth the extra effort to make their products bug free.

I purchased the Nightlife expansion pack after using the University expansion pack for several months, and I have to say these add-ons keep getting better! Anyone who plays Sims 2 knows how limitless the game is in nature, but these packs add so much more to the game! This edition especially shows how receptive EA Games is to its customers. A few of the great additions this pack offers are...

-Chemistry: Sims are now able to match based on chemistry. You are able to pick your sim's turn-on's and turn-off's and "scope" rooms for other sims who match basic chemistry. Then, as relationships progress, you can track chemistry levels which will make or break the relationship.

-Pleasure Aspiration: A new aspiration has been introduced to create even more possibilities for your sims new party lives.

-Vehicles: Sims are able to buy cars which makes going to community lots more fun and realistic. Also, you can now build actual garages with driveways. Cars can also be equiped with alarms for an added effect.

-Community Lots: Now, you will be able to change community lots with extreme ease and speed by simply clicking on a lot across the street from the one you're currently at. This is far quicker than having to return to your sim's house and then out again to a different location.

-New objects: This will be very exciting to any avid Sim player! EA has obviously done their reseach and discovered people were trying to make their own sectional couches or boothes for dining. Now, these items come standard with no hassles required. Many new objects await that should definitely meet and exceed your desires.

There are many, MANY more reasons for this expansion pack to receive 5 stars, but I'll save you some surprises! Don't wait; Get it now!

THIS GAME...OH MY GOSH! This is...THE BEST Sims game...EVER(I wouldn't know exactly...University doesn't work on my computer but...)! If you haven't gotten it yet, then you are SO missing out. I know you've already heard about it already but...

Pros:
-CARS!! One of the last things that I wanted! Now you can actually go places WITHOUT having to pay money for a taxi and wait for it to arrive while you Sim wants to go here and there and do this and that and by the time it gets there it takes forEVER to get them there and...I'm rambling...sorry...BUT IT'S AN AWESOME ADDITION!

-Dating...it makes the Sims life seem even more realistic than before! If you have a dream date, then they'll show up at your door and give you a boquet of flowers. If your house is already crowded, than this can be kinda annoying because you just don't have space to put that kinda thing anywear, but it's still a nice addition. If your date is a disaster however...well...they show up at your door furious and with a burning bag of dog poo. But yeah...dating is awesome combined with chemistry. Chemistry can either make your life a whole lot easier by unlocking actions earlier...or they could be completely repulsed by the person that you want them to love...but that's just another thing to add to their personality...which is totally real now by the way.

-VAMPIRES! I've been trying so hard to get one of my Sims bitten...and finally it happened! I now have a whole vampire family who are busy biting their freinds and spreading the epidemic of vampirism! When night comes, NONE of their needs go down! NONE OF THEM! Which means that you've got a whole twelve hours that they can use for maximizing skills! The bad part is that they can't really work, unless they have a home business I guess...but if you don't have Open For Business...then you have to use "motherlode"...a lot. And sometimes, with no needs to fullfill, it gets kinda tedious...BUT I STILL LOVE IT! Oh...and another thing...once morning comes...they have to get into a coffin quick! They start to die when they're exposed to sunlight, which gets kinda tough when you have an annoying little baby/toddler/kid who doesn't seem to understand that they're killing their parents when they wake them up because, A.)They need their diper changed, B.)They woke up from a nap, or C.)They want them to cheer for a report card.

-The awesome downtown. They've got tons of new places to go to! It takes FOREVER to load downtown then the place, but that can be solved by living in a house downtown. Then you only have to load the place, which takes considerably less time.

-All of the new outfits and hair. There are so many new choices! It's really cool! You can even have their hair dyed different colors by going to custom hair when they change their appearance.

Cons:
There's really not much...but I suppose...

-You can't save when downtown. Not a new concept...but it's still extremely annoying.

-The lack of vampires. I have a few Sims that spend every single night roaming downtown in search of vampires for the purpose of becoming one, and only one succeeded! ONE! Other times, I found one on a Sim that wasn't for that purpose, which made me really mad because if I had only been there with a one that was meant for it...

-Toddlers, kids, and teenagers can't be vampires. I suppose that it's because they have to go to school, but couldn't they have had a night school or a special school for vampires? I even had two vampire parents have a baby, and it wasn't a vampire...but I guess I'll just have to wait...

As you can see from the extreme lack of cons, this is an AWESOME game and I love it!

Life for the SIMS keeps getting better and better. The last expansion pack allowed them to leave home for college, join fraternities, earn a degree. Now Nightlife lets them visit or even live in a whole new downtown neighborhood, replete with casinos and karaoke bars, discos and diners. Dating has now become a more rewarding venture than ever before: SIMS have turn-ons and turn-offs to such things as hair color and physique. They can order dinner and slow dance and go on group outings. In one of the best improvements, they can now own cars, which they can park in their own driveways or garages. This expands the building options tremendously, and makes it fun to build even more realisitc homes. SIMS can even Woo-Hoo in their cars now. Even the seemingly minor option to move gravestones to another lot was inspired, allowing the creation of cemeteries, a great way to memorialize those SIMS who have passed on.

As always with SIMS expansions, one always wishes for more objects and clothes and hair styles. There are some of these, and they're great additions, so I cannot honestly complain. The only glaring ommision is the absence of motorcycles to accompany the cars. I am still happily exploring Nightlife--I had fun with my first "bad" blind date just last night--and do not expect to run out of things to explore for a long time to come. I've only just sent some SIMS to a karaoke bar to sing duets and play black jack. They have yet to hit a bowling alley or hook up with any vampires. There's still a whole world to explore.

When buying this game, I wasn't expecting much. Just dating, cars, and a few more modern pieces of furniture. And I set my sights just right. When they say, "over 125 new objects" you assume that means furniture... electronics... etc. But I think that included in those 125 are wall colours... floors... and clothes for your sim. 50 of the new objects are things put in the home.

I was looking forward to dating my sims, to find just the right spouse. The turn-on's/turn-off's are helpful in the dating scene. You can make some Sims like fit sims, and vampire sims, but hate stinky sims. However the dating is almost primitive. There's a dating meter on the side of the page, with a time clock on how much longer your date will last above it. As the two sims get to know eachother, the date meter increases. You obviously want it above the GOOD level. If you find the two sims having a good time, their date will increase in time, and if their deep in conversation, the date will last until morning.

The Matchmaker is there if your having trouble finding that special someone. However, she does not give you much choice, and if you give her anything under... I'd say 2000 simoleons, your date won't be the best. Some sims also don't appreciate falling out of the sky and landing face first on the ground, and leave.

You can also travel in groups downtown. I was dissapointed to see, however, that there are very few group interactions. The group TRAVELS to their destination, then, once arriving, split up to do their own thing.

Cars, I was pleased with. You have a driveway you can plop 'em down on, or, if you have a precious sports car and want to protect it from the elements, store it in the garage. The garage can be attached or seperated from your home. There are five different types of cars, from a $950 clunker, to the $11,450 sports car.

One of the main reasons I bought this game was for vampires. You do see these around the town, but only late at night. Once you befriend a few, you just might become one. However, if your vampire-sim ventures out in the light, their aspiration meters plummet, and they soon die. So, they sleep in the day, party at night. A nice coffin seals out the piercing rays of the sun, but it is very difficult to sheild your vampire-sims from sunlight.

I have mentioned only the basics (mostly because everything in this game is basic), for there are also inventories, bowling alleys, and many other things that are left unsaid. However, I have a life, and the Sims 2 Nightlife to play, so I can't spend the rest of eternity explaining. I just mentioned the things I was interested in when reading reviews, and I hope I helped you too.

Just picked this up last week, and it really is an ENHANCEMENT pack, as one of the other reviewers commented. I didn't feel that the University pack added a whole lot to the overall game, but the Nightlife really does!

It really seems that the social interactions are enhanced all over the place. Sending e-mail and chatting on the phone (or online) really seems to boost the friendship points more than before, so those friendships are easier to maintain. Of course, there are tons of new options for interaction when you are face-to-face with one of your Sim pals, and their reactions to one another are stronger. If your Sim doesn't get along with somebody, they REALLY get upset with each other! I had a Sim that was mad at my character actually run past my house and steal my newspaper! Of course the Sims that like each other REALLY like each other too, which is always the most fun. ;-)

The cars make getting around easier, you don't wind up cooling your heels while waiting for the taxi - you just click it and off you go. Unfortunately, you can't pick up your friends to go with you unless you take the taxi, but it's usually easy to meet everyone at the community lots. I still wish you could command it to visit a friend's house instead of only being able to invite your friend over!

The only reason that I'd give this 4 stars rather than 5 is that the new downtown area is SO involved, intricate, and busy that it slows down most systems pretty dramatically when you visit the new locations. It's still workable, but not as much fun. HOWEVER, all the new downtown objects are available so that you can build your own restaurants, karaoke bars, bowling alleys, coffeehouses, stores, etc! I've recently begun construction on a tropical paradise with a thriving downtown scene and it has been a lot easier than I expected. The ones I built are not quite as intricate as the preloaded downtown, and my system has no problem whatsoever navigating them.

I've enjoyed playing Sims 2 on and off since I got it last year, but this expansion pack really kicked up my obsession. Prior to this, I only played with the people and furniture and never even painted a room! Now I'm designing beach condos, parks, retail stores and bars, and of course still having a blast with the fun new outfits, haircuts, and furniture included with this pack. I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to add next and who will be the next lucky resident!

I'd recommend it HIGHLY, as long as your system is very up-to-date with lots of RAM and lots of space on your C:\drive. It's a memory hog (with all that detail, it's no wonder).

I've gotta say, the Sims I was already great. Then EA hit us with Sims 2 which was even better. Now, finally they have this exciting new expansion pack "Nightlife" out. And it is something else.

I just bought mine today and was playing it non-stop for three hours. I haven't been able to check out all the new feats yet but from what I have seen so far....AWESOME. Finally some new furniture and other household articles. The designs are great. My favorite extras are the cars...yummy...and of course the whole nightlife action. Diners, clothing stores, bowling alleys, clubs...EA just thought of nearly everything to make life as a Sim more interesting. Only now my real life seems a little dull.

The only thing I am missing is some hot club wear. Yeah, they do offer some pretty cool and somewhat peculiar new outfits but I am kind of missing the real thing. But otherwise, it is the best expansion pack ever!

I love how they configured the new aspiration meter. Relationships are so much easier to manage with the chemistry feature. Now you can tell if your Sims really like the person and if he or she would make a possible mate. Also, if you like to be "shady" you can influence other sims to do whatever you like. I also like the dating feature. The better the date, the more popularity and the easier it is to get to the "Whoo Hoo" part.

But of course there is a lot more to the game that I still need to explore. I just took a quick break to let you know how great this game is.

I really think EA outdid themselves with this expansion. It will be very hard to top. Personally, I think that this is the best game ever and I highly recommend it to anyone who has come to like the Sims.

While I am generally opposed to the "expansion pack phenomenon," I am at least tamed by cool stuff. The Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion Pack is so far my favorite addition to the series.

Of course, as with everything, there are pros and cons. Let's start with the positive, shall we?

PROS
1. Having your own car is sweet. Besides just being able to drive to work (late, if you want to), you can also cruise around in it (increasing your fun level) and performing the Woo Hoo. It makes for a central idea when going on a date, as you might imagine.

2. Did I just mention... you can go on dates now? It's a cool little feature of this expansion pack. It is basically a scenario process with a new interface. It is pretty cool, but is designed for only one thing, of course: romance. If you are dating around while married, you are indeed having an affair! But there are cool things you can attain from this interaction.

3. Nightlife also includes the non-romantic gatherings concept. You can formulate a group for the sole purpose of just hanging out or actually having a designed night out. In either situation - dating or group get-together - you can go out to dinner, go bowling, or go clubbing. These are the kinds of new aspirations and wants for the new aspiration: Pleasure.

4. Yes, the new aspiration, complete with lifetime wants and the daily fears. You will see that much like the whole nightlife lifestyle, it pretty much just coincides with the Romance aspiration, but requiring less Woo Hoo and more dating. But plan on being a Slacker or a heavy dater, nonetheless.


CONS
1. There are two special Non-Player Characters (NPCs) that pop up in the new Downtown neighborhood: a count vampire (usually named Count Jesse Hutchins, but there are countesses as well) and Mrs. Crumplebottom. If you ask me, both are relatively worthless. If you own the Open for Business expansion pack, my advice is not to construct a business in Downtown that has all the facilities you need to operate it 24 hours a day (like a shower, oven, etc.). The reason is that Mrs. Crumplebottom won't let you or your employees bathe. Oh, and she won't let you in a spa, either. (Bathing suits.)

2. The expansion pack will set you back some decent chump change. Why not wait until The Sims 3 comes out and then get The Sims 2 Complete Edition? It will only cost you $50 then, I would guess, and you get every expansion included. But if you can't wait that long and you don't need the cash, The Sims 2: Nightlife will keep you "busy" for a ton of hours.

Have fun.