When it comes to the addition of new clothes and hairstyles, the developers have not gone too wild here in the Create-A-Sim (CAS) stages. The selections that they have made are in theme with the three different resorts but there could perhaps have been some more. Nevertheless, they have left enough scope for recolouring by the community by provided some very useful meshes.

Although various fansites have created jewelry before, these have mainly come in the form of "spectacle mutations". The official addition of Jewelry is one that I see as a very major addition and would say that the community has been after for quite some time. However, I do think that teenagers should be allowed to have piercings. Although you can see things clearly during CAS, if sims are buying jewelry from stores or stalls, the display is too small to indicate what they are actually buying or trying on. Apart from getting myself a bigger monitor or using a magnifying glass on the screen, I do not have an idea on how this can be modified.

The new additions to the Turn Ons and Offs (TOOs) are a major improvement. It adds a lot of variety but I do feel that these are long overdue. I would have liked to have seen smaller but more frequent additions to the TOOs over the previous three expansions instead of just adding a large bundle here. Nevertheless, it has been done at last and it is a welcome change.

The three resorts incorporate the build and buy mode additions as well as most of the live mode additions. A lot of work has been put into these additions so players can create their own custom resorts around the three themes of Mountain, Far East and Island. The gestures, dances and massages have been clever ideas and well and simply incorporated. Inappropriate use of them is something your sims will find. Not everyone appreciates being bowed to as trips to other resorts may reveal.

The different resorts have all been well-built both at ground and neighborhood levels, using their appropriate collections very well indeed. I especially like the Far East set and I think a lot of the community will appreciate the new pagoda roof sets. The creators no longer need very complicated tutorials on creating them although I'm quite sure that some of them still will in the same way that others create domes from tutorials and not just use the dome roof style from Open for Business.

There are many additions from the different resorts that fit in well in the neighborhoods too. Massage tables can work as a business opportunity, not unlike the makeover chair from OFB. One new addition that is not really themed to any resort is the grand piano. This appeared in the first expansion for The Sims and its arrival in TS2 is long overdue.

From the first expansion ("University"), an insert has been included in the box advertising the next expansion or stuff pack. "Bon Voyage" being the sixth expansion is no exception. It posts an ad for SimCity Societies which is the latest incarnation of SimCity, from which our beloved sims were ultimately spawned. SCS has just been released.

Getting back to "The Sims 2", the insert advertises The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff, which will be the sixth stuff pack for The Sims 2.

Give your teen sims all they need to express their unique styles! Show some attitude with the new outfits and hairstyles and spice up their bedrooms with "Goth", "Thrasher" and "Socialite" themes. Whatever their taste, they can now flaunt the style that reflects their personality.

By the time you read this, this stuff pack has already been released as well ... and it contains a new insert as well. It refers to the next expansion which still has not been named, nor are there any box shots of it.

Now your Sims can enjoy hobbies! Your Sims can have fun taking up a variety of creative, intellectuual or active leisure-time pursuits. They can even meet Sims that share their interests and expand their social relationships. Develop your Sims' skills while they pursue their true pastime passions. Will your Sims stumble reaching for new goals or find a new sense of fulfilment?

COMING SPRING 2008!

This description bewilders me as to what they have in mind and what they are going to pull out of the bag. As this is what may be the penultimate expansion pack for The Sims 2, I wait in anticipation for something groundbreaking. Of course, we will be here to keep you posted of the news of its development and review it when it is released

To summarise, although it may need a reasonable system to run and a few bugs still need fixing, this expansion is very good indeed. It may not be to everyone's taste but for those who were looking for a successor to The Sims: Vacation, this is it and more. I have been engrossed in it. I still have not found everything that there is to find, I still need to explore the beach, make better sandcastles and find that buried treasure. Like any good vacation resort, it makes me want to go back again and again. I find it to be an ideal complement to the previous Seasons EP and I recommend it. The different resorts with their different characters and the vacation mementoes to be picked up along the way gives your sims a purpose with goals to complete, enough to last them until the next expansion comes out.

So, get yourself this expansion, send your sims on vacation and wish them a "Bon Voyage"!

Dag dag!