In terms of graphics, stability, humour and what have you, it's pure Maxis gold.
There's not much to say about the concept, as it's fairly straightforward. Pick a pre-existing family or start a new one, give 'em a home buisness or call to purchase a Community Lot, and that's it. Your Sim family is the proud owner of a buisness. Where it gets trickier is when you have to choose the nature of said buisness, and when you're faced with then need to setup the buisness' required infrastructure.
See, you'd think a cash register's a requisite for all buisnesses, right? Wrong. You'd think you can get away with your concept of a greasy-spoon eatery selling greaseballs and other cholesterol clogs... Well, no. You can run cafeterias, but not restaurants proper. There's certain limits to the expansion's promises of creativity. While it can be frustrating for some, getting used to it takes very little time.
That's the main problem. A quick go-to on certain types of buisnesses would have been appreciated, as well as a more involved explanation of the different rules commonly assignable to hired Sims in any buisness (like Restocking, for instance). This makes the creation of certain scenarios difficult. Starting a hair salon is ridiculously easy, whilst maintaining a bakery isn't quite obvious as it seems.
What really makes this EP slightly difficult to approach is the fact that all crafted or purchased items are placed in the buisness owner's inventory (said function having been introduced by Nightlife) I've tried to issue the restocking tasks to hired Sims in my bakery, for instance, and those "stockers" simply stood around and did nothing, while my shelves were being cleaned of their wares. What are you supposed to do? Have the owner Sim walk up to a restocker and hand him some items? It's never explained!
In fact, the only way I was able to start to involve myself in more complex scenarios than hair salons was after I came upon a FAQ on EA Games' support pages, which addressed several of these "gameplay issues"...
This obviously underlines just how much of an undertaking the management of a store can be, when placed alongside your Sims' regular jobs and/or student needs, AND their personal needs and desires! The level of required micromanagement goes up tenfold, and this EP will obviously test the mettle of even the most organized and efficient Sims 2 players out there.
Of course, considering the nature of the game, the abovementioned aggravations should be considered as challenges. As otherwise, this offering is just as fun as any other pack to date, and is rife with little gismos and gewgaws that aren't readily apparent. Given time and effort, for instance, your robot-crafting Sim will grow capable of creating Servo, the ultimate slave and/or companion any Sim household needs. Remember him from the Livin' Large EP for the first game? He's the robot you could buy that would dilligently perform any and all tasks around the house.
The fun part is, Servo can create more Servos, if he grows talented enough at the robot station, which should allow you to dream up your own robot invasion scenarios...
Overall, a must for all Sims fans, especially those who are willing to put some time and effort into deciphering just what can and can't be done, and how to embark on the rather demanding task of running a buisness.
Frankly, if you can make it to "Esteemed Establishment" without any cheats and without the buisness being a hair salon, you've got my congratulations.