Product Description

Each game in The Sims Stories product line is a standalone product and does not support expansion packs or stuff packs from The Sims or The Sims 2 game collections.

The Sims Life Stories - You decide how their life stories unfold.

The Sims: Life Stories is the first release in an all-new product line called The Sims Stories. Play through all the great moments of your Sim's life in this easy-to-play, laptop-friendly version of The Sims. In the new and engaging directed Story mode, you take your Sims through a unique and entertaining storyline full of romance and dramatic twists. You even unlock cool rewards along the way as you achieve set goals. In open-ended Classic mode, you create Sims and then choose how they'll fulfill their dreams through life's biggest moments. Stay connected by using your own IM and email while playing.

• Direct their lives in two complete stories in all-new story mode
• Create your Sims' own stories in classic mode
• Live life's most memorable milestones
• Easy play for laptop users
  
   

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3519 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2007-02-09
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
The Sims Life Stories is the first release in an all-new product line called The Sims Stories. Play through all the great moments of your Sim's life in this easy-to-play, laptop-friendly version of The Sims. Also Coming Soon to The Sims Stories Line: The Sims Pet Stories invites your Sims to care for and train loveable but unpredictable pets, and in The Sims Castaway Stories you help your Sims make a new life in an unexplored deserted island paradise. All releases in The Sims Stories line offer two fun ways to play, directed Story mode and open-ended Classic mode, and are designed with laptop-friendly controls that let you play even when you're on the go!

Designed to be laptop-friendly, The Sims Stories are accessible and fun for everyone. The Sims Stories are standalone entertainment experiences that do not require companion products from The Sims library just pick up your laptop and play!

The Sims Life Stories, introduces an all-new Story Mode with two stories that follow the lives of Riley Harlow and Vincent Moore, two very different characters who have reached similar crossroads in their love lives. A comic romantic plot centered around engaging characters guides players through twelve chapters of this one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. Players can take their Sims through unique and entertaining storylines filled with romance, intrigue and dramatic twists. Will female lead character Riley ditch beau number one to marry and have kids with beau number two? Will successful entrepreneur Vince ever find love, or the culprit who's been foiling his heart-earned efforts to find it? Players can discover these answers and more, or enjoy classic open-ended Sims gameplay.

Customer Reviews

Oh no! Another sims game!
I only heard about the Sims life stories a couple of weeks ago and was (for the first time ever in my Sims gaming history) unsure as to whether I should put my hand in my pocket for yet another Sims game.

The reasons I was put off?...Well yet another Sims game with minor changes? Come on Will Wright and EA stop doing this to me! and making me spend all my money (and time) on the Sims! It boasted of this new story mode which sounded like a great idea yet I couldn't really find that much information over the net about what this "story mode" actually entailed, which made me wonder if it was just basically like another add on disguised as this wonderful new version. (which it is really, but sssssshh!) Well finally the Sims devil that sits on my shoulder convinced me to buy the game yesterday and I was actually quiet surprised...

The game, exactly the same as the original Sims 2. So if your use to all the excessive items from countless expansions this may seem a little bare and going back to basics. BUT! the story mode actually lived up to more than I expected. Are you a big fan of the Sims but find yourself building countless families, doing the same things with them, not really getting anywhere and then finding the next time you load the game your already bored of the family? Sound like you? Then you probably will benefit from the Sims life story. At last some structure and actual game play so you feel like your moving on somewhere. I wont go into too much detail and spoil it for people who haven't brought it yet but if you've ever played the Sims on another console where you have to complete goals and indeed have a storyline to follow, basically, in a nutshell, this is what the Sims life stories are all about. A naughty, naughty way to make you spend more money on a feature which should have been included in the Sims 2.

To sum up, if your an avid Sims fan, buy it, you will like the story mode. If your looking for new objects and a totally different game don't bother or wait for it to come down in price so you don't feel cheated. My worry is after I'm use to the story mode, is it going to put a dampener on the original Sims 2 when I get hold of the much awaited Seasons add on? I really wish this could have been an add on to the Sims 2 series but there we go *cough* more money for Will Wright *cough*! Do I think its worth buying it? I've been glued to it for 5 hours now and the lovely Riley has just wet herself whilst taking the handsome Mickey out for dinner...how embarrassing!.......Yes, I'm totally hooked.....

Sims with out the freedom
I got this sims when it was first released. I tried it once and put it in the cupboard. Discovering that Sims Pet stories is out soon I decided to get Life Sories out again and this week, months after I originally purchased it, and I tried it again. I was suprised that I actually liked it.

I found that it had a more basic ideology than the Sims 2 series - you don't have the individual control to make the decisions for your sims lives. You have, instead, to achieve set life goals, eg hug, tickle, go shopping, fight, etc, and the basic, underlying story is preset. Once I understood this principle I enjoyed the game.

I agree with a previous reviewer who said that this should have come out before Sims 2 as training package. Getting use to the controls takes a bit of effort but I like the press "G" for Greet, press "H" for eat when your sim is getting hungery.

And there are NO CHEATS (so far). The SIMS 2 maxmotives cheat won't help you here when your sim is in trouble.

Overall, back to basics can be fun.

A great disappointment - less a game than a play-by-numbers
When I saw this latest edition to the sims I was extremely hopeful - I own The Sims 2 and all it's expansions but I often find that the lack of goals can make it a little too open ended and I lose interest. When I saw there was a new version out which had real story lines I thought I may just have found my perfect game... but then I started to play it.

The storyline is rigidly fixed so there's no room for making choices and you are basically reduced to the person who clicks buttons to make the game advance. Now obviously you could say this of any game but here it's taken to extremes. When a new goal is set it's not unusual for the game to tell you preciesely which menu buttons and options you must click to achieve it - for example if Riley wants to go on a date to y with x the game tells you you must click the telephone, choose transportation options, select x and then select y from the menu. This takes any aspect of free thought out of the game; it may as well be a movie for all the choice/thought you put into playing it.

Overall I'd say this was a nice idea but not enough thought was put into it. If you want your games to quite literally spell out everything you need to do and offer you no alternatives then this is just perfect and you'll love it. If you prefer to be able to affect the story line and like being given options as to how you complete goals then this is most definitely not your game; stick with Sims 2 and make up your own goals and you'll find it far more rewarding.