This game is one of the most addictive games ever. Pick it up and you will not stop playing it.
So why do I give this game an 8.5? Well, it's not too good at being a piece of software. Every so often (I'd say every 10-15 hours of play) the game will crash and quit. I usually lose about 90 minutes of progress here. This is the only real fault of this game, but it makes me give this game an 8.5 as opposed to a 9.5.
This game breaks some new ground technically. The creature editors are more advanced than the Sims by far.