Electronic Arts have released “The Sims 2: Castaway“ worldwide. While most of the features you’re used to in The Sims series remain, your Sims will be forced to leave the comfort of their homes behind them and start anew.
Help your Sims build a life from scratch after washing ashore on a deserted tropical island. Overcome the forces of nature to help them become the ultimate survivors and thrive in this undiscovered paradise while unearthing clues that will lead them back to civilization.
Build shelters, craft unique items, and discover many useful treasures and ancient mysteries hidden deep within a diverse jungle environment filled with plants, fruits, and even wildlife. Your Sims change as they take on the challenges of island life and learn to survive in style.
System: Wii, PS2, DS, PSP
Genre: Life simulator
Release dates: October 22nd 2007 (USA), October 26th 2007 (EURO), November 1st 2007 (AUS)
Players: 1
Developer: Maxis
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Origin: America
If you find the crashed plane wreck, you can use it for spare parts and technology, or go play with a monkey.
The game’s goal seems simple: Create a new life for your Sims on an uncharted island in The Sim 2: Castaway. Players will begin their journey by helping their Sims build a life from scratch after washing ashore on a deserted tropical island. Become the ultimate survivor and overcome the forces of nature while helping your Sims discover clues that will lead them back to civilization!
By discovering the many useful treasures and ancient mysteries and civilizations hidden deep within a diverse jungle, your Sims will discover all the things that island life offers including plants, fruits, wildlife and more! From tattered clothing to sunburned skin, your Sims will change as they take on the many challenges of tropical island life and learn to survive in style. You’ll end up being able to melt sand to create glass, hatch eggs, hunt sharks, trap rain water for showers, and much more.
Watch the The Sims 2: Castaway launch trailer.
So what are The Sims 2: Castaway’s main features?
* Stay Alive! — Help your Sim meet basic needs to survive.
* Discover Diverse Islands — Explore a variety of new environments; beaches, caves, lagoons, jungle, plains and volcanic mountains.
* Craft Everything — Create a new life from scratch. Develop tools, build shelter, craft furniture, create clothing, and make art and entertainment.
* Gather and Collect — Gather fish, trap animals, raise plants, collect shells, scavenge and decode treasure maps.
* Flourish or Escape — Build a life comfort on the island or find a way to escape back to civilization.
See the Castaway features in this video tour.
In conclusion I’d like to point out that while the micromanagement of your fellow Sims can get tiresome at times, the “stranded on a deserted island” concept works great. A very lighthearted and creative game. So how much fun is The Sims 2: Castaway on a scale from 1 to 10 monkeys? I’m sorry… I meant to type coconuts, no, I mean points.
FUN FACTOR – 7.5
If you like playing The Sims 2, and enjoyed watching the Tom Hanks movie Castaway, you’ll love this! A very relaxing experience. It will give players of all ages over 20 hours of playtime to get Lost in.
Graphics – 7.0
Menus and animations look sharp, but the Sims textures and game world visuals are generic and blocky.
Audio – 7.5
Tropical, Tribal, Tunes.
Ingenuity – 8.0
The point-and-click Wii Remote controls work great to build things and navigate the creation menus, although you should prepare to hit the Z-button a lot to pick things up. The fact that you can instantly warp to anywhere on your map you’ve already explored makes the game very accessible. While the game’s set up to be relaxing, it does mean things can also take a while to get done.
Replay Value – 7.5
There’s lots to collect in this single player game, but since you can choose to play it as an mostly open-ended game with some goals, there’s a varied experience to be had. You get to build, hunt & gather, interact, reach objectives, and explore the islands. It’s a fun balancing act between maintaining the basic necessities of life and keeping your Sims entertained. Just be careful what you eat! 😳