Customer Reviews

The Sims Castaway Stories

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is what I've been waiting for. I'm a huge fan of the Sims. I had most of the original Sims and most of Sims2. I liked those games - for a while. After you've done all the new stuff and had a couple of kids, the fun just kind of died. I have always always said that if there were some sort of directed story to the Sims that I had to play out, I'd like that so much more.

When EA came out with the Sims Stories, I was excited because that had finally happened. The first 2 titles just didn't excite me much, so I passed. They announced Castaway and I couldn't wait. It was released first on platforms, but I *hate* Sims platform games. The graphics aren't as nice and the gameplay is always lacking. So, I waited for the PC version.

It's very fun and very *new* as far as Sims go. There are familiar elements, but also great new twists. I highly recommend this title to people who, like me, love the Sims but have lost interest over the years. It's totally renewed my Sims playing.

The *only* drawback, and it's kept me from playing all the way through, is loooooooooooooong load times. At first I thought it was my computer, but since I have a great graphics card and tons of memory and ram, I thought maybe it wasn't me after all. After a bit of searching, it seems that lots of people are frustrated with the long load times between scenes. It plays out basically as follows: Game loads, objective pointed out, load new scene for up to 5 minutes, play 30 seconds, then on to a new scene taking up to another 5 minutes. If I'd have known that before I originally posted my review, it would have gotten less stars.

Anyway, enjoy!

I got the wii version of this game for my brother and began looking for a PC version. Being an avid player of SIMS2 I was weary of trying SIMS Stories, but it turned out very well.

What's the difference between the wii and PC version? The wii game has a game version only, while the PC version has two ways of playing. The wii version is more of a challenge as far as difficulty of play. The PC version is more guided, yet still entertaining. In the wii version you get to pick your whole crew, find them during the game and you can switch which player you are. In the PC version, when you play the game, you pick your character and the rest are automatically put in the game, you can only play yourself unless you adopt or marry another character from the game. After playing the PC version all the way through, you will most likely never play again as it is more or less the same each time.

On the PC version you also have the choice of playing like you would in any other SIMS game and selecting a tropical lot to live on, then building, buying, working and interacting with the locals.

Are you a die hard SIMS fan? We are here at my house. Not a tile comes out that we don't have.

We were waiting for Castaway Stories because it's so different from the other SIMS games. This game is FANTASTIC!!! There are palm trees, beaches, monkeys, coconuts, bananas, you can swim, you can dig for treasure on the beach, you build things, you get to spear fish (ok so you might not like spear fishing but it's cool to watch the SIMS do it), there's a jungle, there are ancient ruins to explore and even a native or 2 to make friends with, or marry!!! This game is graphically amazing!

Castaway Stories is a simply, a MUST, for the SIMS fanatic!

I just bought this game even though I own The Sims 2 and all of its expansion packs (to date). Love the main sims 2.... The Sims Castaway Stories needs some work. Didn't buy the other 2 sims stories (life/pets) games because I thought they could only be redundant, but I thought castaway stories would be a good change of pace. As far as the free play mode is concerned, it is the same as the sims 2, but the story mode is just boring to me... it takes away from the fun of "create your own story" mode that is The Sims 2 franchise. I haven't gotten all the way through the story and I'm sure it will pick up, but whether it does or not really doesn't interest me whatsoever. I rather free play, and I haven't exactly done that yet so I don't know how it would be to raise a family on the island. Maybe freeplay mode for me will make up for the lame story mode, which seemed more like an extended tutorial than anything else. I give it 3 stars because free play mode will probably make up for the story mode, and the fact that is does take much less time to load on my laptop than the core game does with all its expansion packs.

This is a stand alone sims game that is not related to the Sims1 or Sims2. The story mode is the most fun I've had with a sims game in years. It consists of many puzzles to solve as you move thru the game. Some parts will have you scratching your head, but you won't have trouble solving the puzzles.

Many of the objects and some of the clothing in the game are based on the Sims 2 base game, so after completing the story mode, there is a free play neighborhood which allows you can add custom content to this area of the game.

The game play is limited in that you can't add lots to the game and there is no house bin, but you will enjoy this different Sims game. I highly recommend it.

I played tho console version of this game first and I loved it. Therefore when I purchased the PC version and found that they had taken away quite a few of the things I liked in the first place I was severely saddened.

The one thing this one does have going for it is some humor. I found myself chuckling quite a bit.

The one problem that really bothered me is that you instantly recieve things just as if you were buying them from the magic island genie. In the console version you actually have to make the items you need.

I suppose I may still play this from time to time but I sure wish I had purchased the console version instead.

This game was fun to play the first time around. However the second time around when I realized there was only one story line, I was disappointed. I thought there would be at least two, to keep you from getting bored with the game. Maybe they should make a Castaways 2, one that is a sort of expansion on what we already have. And I was sooooo excited about it!

The Sims Castaway Stories

As of this date, I have ALL the Sims 2 stuff and expansion packs, Sims 3 and Castaway and Life Stories. Out of ALL the Sims games I have... Castaway Stories is my absolute favorite!! I love love LOVE that my sims can swim in the ocean and ponds! I love the decor, I love the story line, I love the objects, the animations and sim actions! It is my favorite Sims game of all time!

If you're an adventurer, a story-lover, adore the ocean and not a hardcore gamer - you're going to love this game.

Have fun gaming! :)

I loved all The Sim's games. The Sims Castaway Stories has a very good story. I can easily plan this game for hours at a time. The story start's as you wash a shore from your vaction cruise disaster. You learn to survive on the island. As you explore the island you meet interesting wild life and native people. Are you the sole survivor from the cruise ship? Will you be rescued? only one way to find out, is to take the adventure this game story offers. you will enjoy the game.

I am an avid Sims player and have been so since the first Sims. When talking to friends about the game, I have frequently mentioned how cool it would be to have a Sims game that takes you away from the standard "doll house" suburbia scenario. I mean, how hard would it be to make a medieval Sims, you know?

So enter Castaway Stories. The concept has so much potential. No longer does your sim just exist in a house and have a job. Now he/she must survive. From climbing up banana trees to spear fishing to having a pet monkey, Castaway seemingly starts out as that breath of fresh air so desperately needed in the series. This game is completely unique from all the other expansions AND "stories." New interactions, new goals, new game focus.

This was my initial impression as I played through the preset Castaway "story." And I have to admit, it sucked me in. Then I completed the story thinking "at last, now I can really have some fun in this new environment." Sadly, this was not to be the case. This game is riddled with bugs. It's like the developers never envisioned the players using the free play option. As soon as I started to do normal interactions like hiring a maid or having children, the game became glitchy and sluggish. My guess is that the game engine was not designed to handle more than the preset number of sims.

This guess was further supported by evidence when I went into full neighborhood view. For both the free play and story neighborhoods, you cannot add lots. As in, you can't put down extra houses, you can't put down any empty lots, you can't add extra commercial lots and you can't edit the currently existing commercial lots. Ummm... what? I could sort of understand the no editing commercial lots (it would interfere with the story), but no extra houses?!? Needless to say, this led to a very frustrating, limiting, and shallow game play. Add to it the ever increasing amount of bugs that continued to pop up as I tried to expand and build.

So... yes. That's pretty much the sad and depressing tale of Castaway Stories. I should note that my experiences were based on laptop play. I have not yet tried to install the game and play it on my desktop. My laptop had far more than the minimum specs for the game and still these issues cropped up. Perhaps this game is not quite so laptop friendly as advertised?