The Sims 2: Castaway DS

The idea behind The Sims 2: Castaway on the DS is nothing new, in fact, it’s most certainly overused and clichéd. Yet this game manages to make a tired and old idea feel refreshed and enjoyable.

The Sims 2: Castaway starts of with the Sim falling into a crate, which then is loaded onto a boat, and the boat in turn has an accident and the Sim is stranded on a desert island with nothing but the clothes on it’s back. This tired storyline is then given a little twist as unlike most games that use this plot, such as Lost in Blue, it’s not just being able to build a shelter and find food to survive – you need to make sure everything is kept up to scratch.

In the usual The Sims style, you need to watch your comfort, hygiene, bladder, energy, hunger, and general happiness bars as all of these things will affect the Sim in either a positive or negative way; depending how good you are at looking after them. Controlling the Sim in the DS version is very reminiscent of the old point and click adventure games on the PC many moons ago, as there is very little control from the D-Pad or any of the control buttons. The touch screen governs everything, and this dependency on the touch screen can be a little infuriating at times as it’s hard to make the Sim do multiple tasks in order, unlike the PC version of The Sims games.

Nevertheless the Sims needs need to be taken care of, and this is very easy as everything that’s required can be found in abundance across the island. With survival being so easy, it shifts the main focus to exploration and there is more then enough to explore. There are three islands, the main one and then two side islands and the scale of the islands is impressive. It will take a Sim around a day to get from one side of the main island to the other side, and that’s without stopping to gather food, take care of itself or speak to the other crash victims.

Talking to other victims is essential as they will be the ones to give you the abilities to get yourself off of the island, which is the primary point of Castaway. This is normally done by fulfilling their requests, which can be as simple as finding some chillies on the island, or as complicated as finding rare items and bugs for them. The more you help people the more abilities will be granted to you and that will in turn aid the departure from the island. Not to mention fixing up half of the infrastructure on the island in the process.

With so many different areas, and so many mysteries on the islands it’s a shame that there wasn’t more room to explore and more storytelling to be done. After all, a desert island Sim should have plenty of mystery and intrigue around it, even if it does have that laid back and enjoyable feel. That being said, each Sim has his or her own story and they are all explained throughout the game. There is never a text bubble narrating the story and the gibberish that the Sims speaks is incomprehensible, there are image captions above the characters heads as they are speaking and it’s clear what they’ve been up to.

Considering the size of the islands, they actually look good. With top notch graphics on the whole, and not many repeating backgrounds and textures it gives Castaway a very distinct and enjoyable feel. Although it’s a shame the same can’t be said about the food or the Sims themselves. With the fruit the berries are often little more than a few colour pixels on the bush and the Sims look very blocky and pixelated close up. Which is why you rarely see the Sim at close range. Even when talking to another character the view is panned back.

The lack of customisable options, which really defines The Sims series, is missing from this game. Sure, the ability to change clothes, add hats and just generally change the basic appearance of the Sim character is there, but the ability to customise the surrounding areas and the house is missing. There are a few rocks here or there where things can be added to make it look a little different but the idea that every other game out there looks the same is a bit of a let down.

In terms of music it’s a pleasure to the ear. With a very lively soundtrack the waves of the shore are clearly audible at the same time as the birds singing in the background. When spear fishing the sound of the spear entering the water is clearly audible and sounds realistic as with most of the sound effects in the game. There’s no one memorable sound or song, but everything is top notch, but ultimately forgettable.

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Final Verdict - 7/10
Although there is nothing really driving the storyline forwards, the game is enjoyable throughout. Most people aren’t going to spend an entire day sitting their playing the game, but the laid back and comforting idea behind the game is brilliant for just sitting back and relaxing for an hour or so after a long day.