Keep filling up those hours, guys!
Seven must be the lucky number in the Sims universe. Makin' Magic was the seventh and final expansion of the original core game, and it completely overhauled the conventions of the game to make playing it a definitively different experience (if you chose to take advantage of the new features). Although Free Time, the seventh expansion for The Sims 2, doesn't quite go that far, there are new features that mess with the rules of the game, making the experience feel much fresher.
First, let's address the gimmick of the expansion pack. The idea here is that your Sims have been diligently working away on their relationships, jobs, and family happiness for some time now. Once home, a Sim basically had two options: work on a job skill or relationships to get promoted, or improve on his mood meters so he doesn't die. (I can hear you hardcore fans yelling at me that that's way oversimplifying it. Remember, we're all hardcore fans of the game here too; I don't deny I'm oversimplifying.) If your Sim was already set for his job, and his mood meters were decently high, there simply wasn't anything more to do.
Free Time is here to alleviate the boredom by giving your Sims ten types of hobbies to check out when they're otherwise bored. As always, the hobbies are blended seamlessly into the rest of the experience, and can even be used to help your jobs. For example, you can use the "tinkering" hobby to mess around with electronic devices. Not only does this increase the Sim's fun meter, it increases his mechanical job skill as well. So rather than the boring methods of studying the skills, you can get some hands-on experience with the job skill instead.
The hobbies can be used to, possibly, make money on their own. Tinkering your own stereo won't accomplish anything, but you can use it to restore old cars, and then sell them for decent profits. Other hobbies including dancing, sports, games (meaning digital and others), and more, each of which has at least one way to make some cash for your efforts. Best of all, there is plenty to discover and do, and you're never limited to any one specific hobby. You can have Sims participate in all ten, or just focus on one; although the game somewhat forces you to specialize, because ignoring a given hobby for too long will make the Sim's enthusiasm for it fall.
Most of the hobbies include the option to create something, and then further customize it. The aforementioned old cars can be repainted several different colors, and you can even make some customized clothing at the upper levels of the arts and crafts hobby. The customization options are not nearly as deep as we'd like them to be (it would be awesome if we could design the clothing in a layer system like for pets' fur), but any variety is better than none at all.
Hobbies also have the advantage of being accessible by Sims of all ages, which has always been a sticky problem with expansions in the past. After all, children couldn't really take advantage of the romantic features in Nightlife, so that expansion basically left families out in the cold and relied only on romantic adult Sims. Here in Free Time however, even children can discover the fun of soccer or gardening, even if they can't quite take it the levels of adult Sims.
Still, believe it or not, the gimmick is not the strongest change to the game. Electronic Arts has added a new meter for the Sims' every day lives. Called the Lifetime Aspiration meter, this essentially measures how well the Sim is enjoying his life as a whole. Operating like experience points in a role-playing game, it goes up every now and then when your Sim achieves his daily wants, and when he has a life-changing event (marriage, kids, etc.). If it tops off, the Sim will permanently be in a good mood for the rest of his life.
That's similar to a system already in the game, but the new system differs slightly. Every time that meter "levels up," you can buy a personality perk for your Sim that changes the game's rules for him alone. These perks can range from permanently doubling the learning speed of all job skills to making the Sim's mood meters decay at a slower rate. With the right combination, an extremely happy Sim can stay up for a long time and accomplish many things that simply would not have been possible before.
The new systems give an odd trade-off. We've done nothing but praise the interface of The Sims series since it released years ago, but the new meters and buttons required to make all this new stuff work has cluttered the interface. Veteran Sims players won't get confused (we already know at a mere glance what means what), but new players really won't know what the hell is going on for awhile. The hobby screen itself, while placed logically, is a little buried and not easy to find if you're just starting out.
The sounds, graphics, and music are in the same style they've always been. Naturally, just how much that's a good thing or bad thing is up to you; it's obvious the graphical engine is aging, but really, comparing the models here to something like Crysis is just unfair. For what it intends to do, the graphics of The Sims are more than adequate, and the animations are extremely well-done as always.
Closing Comments
Typically I've closed these reviews by saying, "This expansion pack won't convert any non-players into Sim fans, but..." I think that's going to be true for the rest of the life of the series: if you have followed the series and you're not a fan by now, you'll never be one. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Free Time will go down as one of the most significant expansions for The Sims 2. It definitely blows away Bon Voyage, and is arguably even slightly better than Seasons simply because of the new content. The now-slightly cluttered interface hurts, but not nearly enough to turn off players; it just takes a little time to get used to. If you have The Sims 2 at all, regardless of your other expansions, be sure to grab this one as soon as you can.
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