The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack
by Electronic Arts
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Video Game Reviews of The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack
Customer Review: Some good, some tedious
Summary: 4 Stars
This expansion adds some good things, like extra aspiration slots and multiple aspiration locks, some good new items and social interactions (Hang Out in particular is nice so that you don't have to babysit your sims' chatting).
The college part, however, is tedious. It's optional, of course, but your sims do get some reward for going - the extra aspiration slots are available only to college graduates, as are the new jobs. The thing about it is that, in the non-university portion of the game, a day of sim time is roughly equal to about a year of a sim's life (baby phase is about 2 days, toddler about 4, child about 8, teen about 14, adult about 27, and elder [unfortunately] lasts somewhere between 30 and 33 days). While the correlation between sim days and years is not exact, it's close enough.
The university part, however, is eight semesters, each weighing in at 3 sim days, plus an optional 3 days after graduation before you have to leave campus. Using the 1 day = 1 year idea, your sims go to college for somewhere between 24 and 27 years!! The problem is that Maxis chose to focus way in on a small portion of the sims' lives, where they really aren't doing very much besides studying.
I don't play the Sims 2 regularly, but when I do play it I usually start out sending a few sims to college and then progressively getting more and more sick of how much that portion of the game takes over. I either just stop sending my sims to college or I use a cheat object to get things over with in a more timely fashion. This expansion would have been far more tolerable if they had not tried to break it down into four years with two semesters each. College should only go for about one quarter to one half the time that it actually takes, and unfortunately, that makes it very boring after you send a couple sims there, especially if you have any interest in keeping the various sims in your neighborhoods aging at a somewhat realistic pace relative to each other.
One other point of note is that the dorms put a serious performance burden on the game. My normal households run pretty smoothly, but the dorms are really choppy, probably because there are usually some 12-15 sims in them at any given time.
Bottom line: the items and interactions that come with this expansion pack do make it somewhat worthwhile, but the University portion itself was not thought out very well. It tends to bog down gameplay more than help it, unfortunately.
Customer Review: A whole new stage of life!
Summary: 4 Stars
The university pack brings to life the fun of university. It is up to you to make your Sims study or party their years away. I loved the new items and universities. However I do find that it can drag growing up to an adult out a bit. But I accept that for the added game play and new items etc. I would recommend this as a good addition to any Sims game. Customer Review: Story about this game
Summary: 5 Stars
Jimmy and Mandy just moved into collage. They started to study right away. Jimmy was getting tired so he took a nap. It was a school day. Hint: Everyday is a school day in collage
Mandy tried to wake up Jimmy but no use. Mandy went off to class and rasied her GPA to about a C+. When Mandy got home, Jimmy was awake. Mandy and Jimmy talked for about a sim hour. After Mandy and Jimmy were done talking, Jimmy watched tv while Mandy studied.
Hint: Studying is known as research in this game.
Mandy studied really hard and got her GPA up to a B. The next day after Mandy went to school again and Jimmy stayed home, Jimmy got a phone call. It was his teacher. His teacher said that Jimmy would be expelled if he did not come to school tommorow. The next morning, Mandy was studying. And Jimmy was sleeping. School came, Jimmy did not go and he got expelled. Now Mandy is all alone.
Hint: After somebody is expelled they become an adult.
Mandy did reaserch until her GPA was an A+. After collage was over in 8 semesters, Mandy graduated and became a lawyer.
The End
Customer Review: Great expansion pack but it is time consuming
Summary: 3 Stars
I am really glad I bought this and it adds a lot to the SIMS2 - it is neat to see children created in the neighborhood go one to college. It is more interesting that the nightlife expansion pack I bought earlier. Although college has lots of opportunities it gets dull after a while and it almost feels like you are slaving in college yourseld. Customer Review: Best Expansion Pack EVER!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love it! If you have gone to college you might like it more than others. I bought Nightlife before this one, and though Nightlife is okay, University is AWESOME. It is like a seperate game by itself where as Nightlife is more of an add-on to Sims 2. There is so much to do at University I think I will be stuck to my computer chair for the next three days! LOL!