Review of The Sims 2 Seasons: The Sims Now Have Weather!

Weather has been a major want ever since the first Sims game was developed. Maxis however had fans waiting for years till finally they release the expansion pack that would include weather. FINALLY!
I had a twinkle in my eye when I first saw the box for sale for $29.99 at my local gamestop. I opened up my wallet without so much a thought.
SO HOW WAS IT?
Well firstly let me talk about what the newest additions are. With any Sims 2 expansion pack you always get new clothing, new objects, and new decorations. The Sims 2 Seasons adds all of this. You have a whole new wardrobe, however like all Maxis expansions, the new clothing is always usually very ugly, and does not fit right graphically with the rest of the game.
The clothes you get with this expansion pack however are pretty well done compared to what Maxis had been throwing at us in the past. But the wardrobe lacks. There are only about 5 or 6 new fall/winter themed outfits for the girls, and 4 or 5 for the boys. Bah! The summer clothing is non existent, and so is spring.
The best thing about the new clothing is that your Sims will change into them when they go outside. However you must make sure you buy the coat rack for this to occur. Without the coat rack your Sims will go outside in whatever they are dressed in.
This is bad... and it is bad because in the winter if your Sims goes outside wearing say a bikini, they risk freezing to death. If your Sim turns blue, he will freeze to death unless someone comes outside to break him free of the ice. If your Sims does make it inside without turning into a frozen block, you may want to give him some hot chocolate to warm him back up to normal temperature.
The same rings true for summer time. Your Sims can now overheat. There new thermometer which will be placed next to their faces on the bottom screen will show their temperature. To cool a hot Sim off you can prompt them to go swimming, or to go inside to make some lemonade.
NEW ITEMS:
You will find a few select items sprawled throughout your furnishings menu. However most of them do nothing but sit there looking ridiculous. There will be snowmen, jack-o-lanterns, scarecrow and other various season themed pieces. None though for me looked nice enough to care about or make note about.
Some useful new items however include the juicer, and hot cocoa machine. The juicer can be used only when a Sim places in fruits or vegetables. These fruits and veggies can only be obtained by growing them in the garden. I will cover this feature further on.
You will also be getting a new barbecue grill, and now you can go fishing in the pond. Your Sims can grill the fish they cook.
THE NEW POND:
As I had just mentioned earlier, you're Sims can now go fishing, the more they fish the better they will get at it, and can even earn badges. These badges are meant more for bragging rights, as they prove to be useless seeing how there is no career in fishing. Most of the time though expect your Sim to catch garbage and boots. It's a random chance for fish, and the time wasted is more frustrating than not.
Now from here you would think it would be more useful to use the pond for ice skating in the winter time. NOPE! This was an annoying new feature, the ice skating rink is completely separate, and takes up a lot of room. There is also a roller rink, the actions are the same though. Your Sims put on skates and twirl around the new rink. I thought it would of been more charming to allow them to skate on a frozen pond. Sigh.
The only way you can fit a rink in your home is if you waste an entire level on it. So build your home with 3 levels if you must have the rink inside. If you must have it outside, build the home with a lot of extra outdoor room. You're going to need it; for the garden.
THE GARDEN:
This seems to be the main purpose for the entire game, gardening. You can now make a garden in the new garden section. You drag the dirt tile over the lawn and make your garden any size you want. From large to small, it;s up to you. Next you can add a greenhouse to protect the plants from bugs. You can make the green house easily by dragging it over the garden and making it the size you want. Next you add the green house roof, and the door. You can also add lamps to the ceilings, and sprinklers to water the gardens for you.
You then will prompt your Sim to garden. They will add soil, or plant tomatoes. You want to add soil first for healthy plants. The more your Sims tends to the garden the better they will become. As they get better more vegetables will be available for planting. However you must get good to get the new plants.
There are also fruit trees you can tend to. Apples, oranges, and lemons. You can also place these in the greenhouse if there is available room. Its advised to do so. If you place them outside, you will be tending to them more often seeing how bugs will attack them almost every moment they can.
Once you have a good garden going, you can call on the phone to become a member in the Gardner's club. Once you call and accept evaluation, a group from the club will come over and grade your garden. It is recommended to have them come 'before' you plant anything. I know that sounds weird, but if they come over and you have a big garden odds are you will have sick plants. Sick plants lower the grade.
I call the garden club before as I am planting my first garden. That way they come over and my saplings are all healthy babies. If you get a good grade they will give you a gift to put anywhere on your lawn.
That mystery gift is a wishing well. With this well many cool things can occur. I don't want to blow the surprise, but I will say this, if you need some cash, make a wish, feeling lonely, make a wish... get the hint. You can wish for numerous things using this well, and most of the time the outcome is good. However wishes can backfire, so don't over wish.

WEATHER
SUMMER:
Summer season is just like an old standard version of the game. Nothing looks different. However this is the best season for plants and trees to begin growing larger.
In the summertime your Sims can also go outside and go lightning bug hunting. If your Sim is lucky they will catch one and put it in a jar inside. The jar will glow, but be careful, the bug will die in a few hours if not released.
You can also hunt for butterflies. The same thing happens when you catch one. Your Sim will put it in a jar, and bring it inside. Only it won't glow.
Your Sims can also go swimming during this season.
SPRING:
Rain and thunder happen a lot in rain, and if your Sim goes outside to splash and play in puddles you run a high risk of electrocution. TIP: STAY OUT of the jacuzzi during a storm. The odds are very very high to get electrocuted by lightning. I have lost numerous Sims this way. The main problem with the Sims has always been that a visiting Sim will stay in the jacuzzi for days at a time, and not leave. Usually it will be a visiting guest who gets zapped. Once they try to run they get zapped again, hopefully someone with a high liking for this Sim is on the lot to plea for their life, otherwise they'll die. There is also a random chance of a tree getting zapped and catching on fire. The fire will go out quickly though, and there is no need to call the fire department.
FALL:
In the fall leaves will pile up on your Sims lawn. You can rake them in piles and play in them, or add them to your gardens compost bin if you bought one. This compost is used as free soil. So it's best to compost it.
Other than that there is not much more to do in the fall.
WINTER:
It snows. Obviously. You can have snowball fights in the snow, make snow angels, and snowmen. You run the risk of freezing, so keep a close on on your Sims thermometers.
MUSIC:
The music in the Sims remains the same as it always had. There is a new jingle as the game loads, but other than that nothing sticks out as new in the actual game.
GRAPHICS:
The graphics in The Sims 2 Seasons matches that of the Sims 2 game itself. It is nothing spectacular, but the graphics are pretty well done. Snow looks and sounds like snow when yous Sims walk over it, rain makes the sound of rain, storms are spectacular, and the lightning zaps are impressive. The leaves that fall look realistic.
OVERALL:
The game lacks, you only get 4 Sim days of each season which makes things change too quickly. The majority of the game in my opinion focuses more on the garden than the seasons. This game should of been called The Sims 2 Gardening. The new objects are nothing spectacular and you don't get many at all. I'm not saying this expansion is horrible, it's probably the best one Maxis has released yet. But like all Maxis expansions and Stuff packs, this game lacks.
RECOMMENDATION:
Sims 2 Seasons is cool if you can find it on sale. Otherwise I wouldn't waste the $30.
System Requirements:
-Full version of The Sims 2
-Mac OS X version 10.3.9
-1.2GHz PowerPC G4 or Intel processor or higher
-256MB of RAM (512MB recommended)
-32MB video RAM (ATI Radeon 9000 or NVIDIA GeForce FX5200 or higher)
-2GB hard disk space
-DVD drive
WHERE TO BUY IT:
Any local gaming store, walmart, target, bestbuy, or online at www.thesims2.com