Sims 2 Castaway (Nintendo DS) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Games casting you as a person stranded on an island have been getting more and more frequent releases as of late, presumably to tie in with the hugely popular TV show Lost. The DS has seen much of the action, with Konami having released 3 iterations into their Survival Kids/Lost In Blue franchise, and yet again we have another title focused on the subject, this time from EA in the form of another expansion for the hugely popular The Sims franchise. But with the previous title in the series on the handheld being less than stellar, is this one going to be a survivor?

Gameplay

The Sims 2: Castaway starts in typical fashion: you'll create a caricature from a set of options, albeit rather limited in this game, and then begin the game. This time, however, the caricature creation takes place at the dockside and once finished, a cutscene kicks in to provide the story for the game. You're Sim will turn to wave at a leaving ship but when it sounds its horn, you'll fall off the docks into an open box on a boat and be trapped inside. The ship leaves and unfortunately gets caught up in a storm, tossing the crate containing your character overboard and eventually washing up on a seemingly deserted island. It does seem a little jovial but it's a rather light hearted and innocent story to project the gameplay from.

Now stranded on an island, it's up to you to build a shelter and a fire to pass through the night but from this point on, it becomes about survival, although in a basic way. The 6 bars that are attributed to 6 emotions return in the game and survival revolves around maintaining these but also progressing to the point where you have the right tools that can eventually aid you in leaving the island and returning home. Yet it's survival of a basic form as there are always plenty of opportunities to maintain these bars across the majority of the island terrain you will explore. It becomes more of an adventure game, though, as you'll want to head out and explore as much of the island as possible, picking up items that can be of use to you, and this becomes more apparent when you encounter some of the islands other inhabitant, of which there are a couple of Sims littered across the place. When you meet them, they'll tell you briefly, through speech bubbles, how they become stranded on the island and then it becomes a case of helping them get hold of certain items so that they like you enough to trade some of the things they have. It's seems a little strange at first but you'll quickly realise how important this element of the game is to explore as certain items can only be procured through trading with the other characters and getting these items can make the difference between being stuck in the earlier areas of the island or passing through the jungle and getting to some of the more interesting places, as you'll need to combine certain things to make tools necessary to progress.

So the game brings together elements of survival with adventuring yet much of the gameplay involves undertaking small, rather basic yet fun, mini-games. For example, to gain food you can either collect bugs, as a quick and easy answer to hunger, or once you get hold of a spear or make a fishing rod you can go fishing. At these instances, a mini-game kicks in and you'll have to tap the touch screen amongst other things to get what it is you are wanting. They are basic but they manage to be enjoyable as they only occur for a short period of time and this quick change in the gameplay gives you just enough to make you want to come back to it after a little more exploring.

In terms of length, the main story is of an amicable length but like the best survival games, you don't necessarily need to adhere to any time frame for getting off of the island. There's always more to see and more to do once the story finishes and many will find it much more pleasing to check that out rather than end the game abruptly.

Controls

Just like The Sims 2: Pets, the entire game is played by way of the touch screen. However, unlike the aforementioned title, this one actually controls extremely well. The touch screen controls have been fine tuned over those in Pets and now walking around the locations are much easier, with only a single tap needing to be made this time instead of a tap and then selecting from a menu. It still would have been nice to have had the d-pad available as a control option for moving the Sims around but this setup still works well enough. Again, the d-pad is relegated to the controlling of the camera and in some ways, it's an improvement over Pets but in others it seems about the same. The control is definitely sped up but the panning in and out doesn't work well at all, only moving a small margin in and out and a greater berth of movement would have been nicer especially when it comes to having to do activities which require you to interact with the water. The mini-games make simplistic use of the touch screen, with sliding and tapping being the order of the day, but they control much better than those in Pets.

Graphics

Character models are very similar in design to those you'll have encountered in any of the other Sims 2 titles on the console. From afar, they look decent, but get up close and you'll see how rough they are, an attribute that transfers over to the game's items. Luckily, the developers have kept the camera zoomed out to the point where the characters all look respectable. They're also animated well, undergoing motions and movements that seem very natural, although some of the more occasionally used movements still look a bit on the robotic side. The island is split into three large sections, but none of them are particularly of any grand scale. The game tries to fool you into thinking each area is large by making plentiful smaller areas for you to travel between but the illusion doesn't fully land. Still, the variety and detail that has gone into creating the areas, from jungles to beaches to caves, is applaudable with everything looking good at the set camera distance. Little touches like the trees and bushes being blown in the wind or the way in which the weather or the day and night cycle change the visuals slightly makes for a pleasant visage and one that is a joy to play through.

Sound

For the early sections of the game, you'll virtually be alone to yourself in the game and have the only audible solace in the form of the waves crashing or creatures in the jungle making noises. These are all done extremely well, helping to create the atmosphere of really being stranded. Music is introduced later on when you find a radio which has been washed ashore but the music is simple and not particularly great. But it again attributes to the atmosphere of the changing circumstances as you get a grip on life on the island. Speech is once again represented in the franchise staple of Simlish, sounding as kooky as ever and adding a light hearted nature to the proceedings.

Dual screen

Gameplay takes place on the touch screen, with this being used to control it entirely and it's put to good, if simplistic, use. The top screen still houses the 6 standard Sims bars for various attributes but is also used to portray the time of the day; a very helpful inclusion this time around and as such a great use of that screen as changes on here will affect the environment on the touch screen.

Final comments

After the debacle that was The Sims 2: Pets, it's good to see the franchise get somewhat back on track on the DS. Castaway takes another step away from the norm and while it maintains many of the aspects we've become accustomed to seeing in the Sims titles, it feels more like a survival adventure title rather than the usual. The move into the stranded style of survival gameplay may be a little slack jawed but it works in the game's favour creating a pleasant title that you can play at your leisure and you'll still see many of secrets and options that the game has to offer.

Pro: Enjoyable, if laid back survival, adventure, environments are well designed, touch screen controls are greatly improved over the last game
Con: Character models are still a bit rough, story doesn't last a huge period of time, customisation options are very limited
Final score: 6.8

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