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Genre: Sim

Format: DVD

Developer: EA Games

Mac Publisher: Aspyr Media

Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.3.9, 1.2GHz G4/G5, 256MB RAM, 2GB free disk space, ATI Radeon 9000 or NVidia GeForce FX5200 with 32MB VRAM, DVD drive, full version of The Sims 2

Review Computer: 800MHz iMac, 256MB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX video card; and 1.5GHz 17" PowerBook, 512MB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (AGP 4X) graphics processor with 64MB of DDR SDRAM

Network Feature: No

Processor Compatibility: Universal (with v1.2 Rev A patch)

Price: $34.99

ESRB Rating: T (crude humor, sexual themes, violence)

Availability: Now

Official Website: thesims2.ea.com/about/ep1_index.php

Nightlife is essentially an expansion for The Sims 2 that combines elements of two expansions from the earlier Sims game: Hot Date, and, to a lesser degree, the Urbz. In Nightlife, your Sim can escape from the suburbs of Simville and visit (or move into) the city, with its romantic evenings, clubs and vampires.

Yes, vampires.

Let's break down what Nightlife brings to the table, shall we?

Dating:

Probably the biggest lift from Hot Date (and, I imagine, the most requested), Nightlife expands the social arena beyond chatting in the kitchen before you try to feel up your neighbor. But, as with all things Sim, your primary obstacle is not your inhibitions, it's the clock. You start your date with a certain amount of time to get your partner interested enough to continue it. Make the right connection, you get more time; the Pole Position theory of dating, if you will.

The dates are remarkably easy to go on, provided the Sims in question have anything in common (and you aren't, you know, intentionally screwing things up...but isn't that most of the fun in the Sims, anyway?). You're given a variety of choices when interacting with your date (beyond the normal gibberish conversations they have in the core game), including finding out what she wants to do. Now, I hate to make rash generalizations about the socialization level of computer programmers, but the idea that you could just ask your date what she wanted to do, have her tell you, and then do that struck me as somewhat laughable. Planning, people, planning.

Of course, the ultimate goal here is for a WhooHoo (the (incredibly tame) Sim equivalent of sex), and Nightlife gives you more that a few new locations for that, including the new photo booth object (photos not included, alas), and cars.

Cars:

The really weird thing is that it took an expansion about living in the city to get automobiles for the Sims. But, there they are. If your Sim can afford a car, they can scoot off to work at the last minute (giving them extra time at home in the 'burbs), and driving into the city.

Beyond that, they function as sort of a room unto themselves. Sims can listen to the radio in them, enjoy the comfort of a luxury model, and, of course, make out in the privacy of their own love-mobile. I can't help but wonder if The Sims 2: Chevy Van can be far behind, with add-ons for shag carpeting and waterbeds. We'll see.

My favorite change is that you can actually move into the city, with its wide variety of entertainment options and socializing. This may be personal, however, as I grew up in a town that's claim to fame was the largest indoor carousel. So, you can imagine how rockin' that was on Saturday night. There's another Sims expansion for you: The Sims 2: Cruisin', where you sit in a parked car all night, listening to Styx and talking about how things will be different after you graduate and move to New York. But I digress.

Nightlife also gives you the opportunity to organize group outings, and as anyone who has every actually organized a group outing will tell you, it's a big pain in the ass, because everyone else expects you to do all the work. If you can manage to pull one together (which is a bit easier than it sounds, since you can now organize friends into groups and call them up at once), getting them all on the same page once you get to the location becomes a juggling act as you try to get them all interested before they wander off. Plus, there's the added nightmare of making sure that everyone is compatible within the group. Again, assuming you're not trying to sabotage the evening; inviting two people out for the same party whom you know are going to fight may be sick and wrong, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't entertaining as well.

Finally, while the Sims has been criticized for glossing over some of the more serious aspects and consequences in their games (child neglect, alcohol consumption in college), it's refreshing that they've finally made a stand, and, in Nightlife, highlighted one of the great dangers of city partying: vampirism.

There are vampires haunting the city late at night; one part sexy seducers, and one part goofy as all get out. Stalking the streets (literally, cape over nose) and going "bleh, bleh," the vampires are looking to rock it till the break of dawn, literally. And if you let your Sims cozy up to them, you risk getting a hickey you won't soon forget.

The nice part about being a Sim vampire is that you don't have to worry about eating or taking care of your other physical needs. You can shake your thang for as long as you like, provided that you make it back to your coffin (yep, you have to buy one) before the dawn's early light and it's Ash Wednesday every day of the week. The drawbacks are that since you can't go out in the day, having any kind of conventional job is impossible, so you'll have to resort to getting a job at night (cutting into your social life, which is the whole reason to become a vampire) or trying your luck at the poker table.

One big drawback to Nightlife (especially on my one-year-old Powerbook) is that since there's more going on around you, the computer has to keep track of more stuff. That means slowdowns. Lots and lots of slowdowns. And, as always, there is the love/hate relationship with the clock, which gives the game a sense of urgency, but also cuts into the fun.

Nightlife is a dream come true for the player who's less worried about building a dream home and more interested in Sim interactions. With over 100 new objects and a completely new terrain (not to mention the dating aspects), players who are more fascinated by another life than another home will find this expansion a must-have. Fortunately, I'm a player that would rather have his Sim get into all kinds of sticky social problems than try to figure out how many pixels away from the lamp the sofa should be.

Strengths: Expanded interaction, new objects, vampires!
Weaknesses: Slowdowns. Group functions hard to coordinate.

Bill's been using Macs since the late 80s. When he's not making smartass remarks to amuse Kirk Hiner, he enjoys fighting for the user.