The Sims: Vacation Review
Vacation breathes enough life back into The Sims to make it interesting again, though it's really at its best when used with other expansion packs.
The Video Review
Managing Editor Andrew Park describes what your sims can do out in the sun with the fourth expansion pack for The Sims.
At this point, there isn't much to say about The Sims that hasn't already been said. Maxis' innovative strategy game, which is all about simulating the lives of little computer people, was released in 2000, and since then, it's become incredibly popular--as well as a breakthrough commercial success. And up until 2002, no less than three expansions had been released for The Sims, and each was a good, solid add-on that might not have solved all the problems of the original game but always added lots of interesting new options to play with. And fans of The Sims did just that--they played the game incessantly, downloaded extra items for their homes, chatted about the game on Internet message boards, and built custom downtown areas with the most recent Hot Date expansion. It's hard to imagine that a game this popular and this widely played--even one as interesting as The Sims--could continue to be played and enjoyed all these years by so many people without getting at least a little stale. But it's 2002, and the fourth expansion for The Sims, Vacation, does breathe enough life back into The Sims to make it interesting again, at least for a while, though it's really at its best when used with other expansion packs.
Vacation lets your sims call a travel agent on the phone and go on one of three vacations: a camping trip, a winter resort trip, or a beach trip. And like the previous expansions, Vacation really makes only a few significant additions to the core game, but these do help keep The Sims interesting. First off are the new vacation areas, which, like Hot Date's downtown areas, let you take your sims outside of their homes. All of Vacation's new areas come custom-built with items such as carnival games, snowboarding half-pipes, and volleyball nets, but just like in Hot Date, you can completely clear out one or all of the preset areas and fill it with whatever new items you like.
Vacation packs lots of new items that can be used for both your resorts and your sims' homes, which should help give fans of building custom areas lots of new options, especially when used with the Hot Date or House Party expansion. That's because many of Vacation's new items are group activities that work well for your own nuclear family of sims. They also work great for dates and parties. Vacation's new group activities include things such as building a snowman, scavenging with a metal detector, and fishing on a short pier.
The other major addition that Vacation makes to the core game is souvenirs--items of varying value that your sims can win through playing carnival games or discover through using the new metal detector. They can also be awarded souvenirs by a resort area's vacation director or can simply purchase them. And just like many of The Sims' other goals, like advancing in a career track or improving their attributes through practice, you can treat winning souvenirs as a goal to work toward or take the easy way out and pick up some cheap ones at a gift shop. Of course, the most difficult souvenirs to acquire are the most worthwhile--they add considerably to your home's "room" value and can provide other bonuses too. Once you've acquired souvenirs, you can set them up on a souvenir rack in your sims' homes and use them as another group activity--that is, standing around and admiring your souvenir rack. This is a good way for your sims to entertain guests and an even better way to keep them occupied if you're throwing a party with the House Party expansion. Souvenirs ultimately provide another kind of goal for players to aspire to, and meticulous fans will want to collect them all.
The Sims: Vacation Quick Links
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- GameSpot Scoregreat
Player Reviews
Critic Scores
- IGN 8 / 10
- Gaming Age B-
- GameZone 9.5 / 10
- TechTV 3 / 5
- Game Vortex 8 / 10
- ESC Magazine 6 / 10
- Mad Gamers 8 / 10
- Gamers Europe 6.5 / 10
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