Our colleagues at SimsZone in Germany have been lucky to play a (test) version of the game. They got a copy from EA, and have posted the first parts of their preview today. For the first time ever, they tell something about the installation procedure. Instead of grabbing a coffee during the install, with the Sims 2 you can play a "Grow your Sims" mini game while waiting for the game to be copied to your hard drive (2.65Gb at least). The game starts off with a memory clone, in which you have to match some images. After that there's a trivia about the development of the Sims 2. After another memory game, you're presented with the results. According to SimsZone it does get boring after a while, but it's not needed for much longer and it's a nice addition to the otherwise boring installation.

When starting the game, their first impression says that everything's alive in the new game. Sims also move in a smoother way than before. It doesn't even come to its right in screenshots: "Whoever watches the game in action will not be surprised, but astonished." Controlling the game is easy, despite the large number of new features and improvements. The tutorials should familiarise you enough with the camera control, as it is something to get used to. For Sims 1 players there are 2 tutorials which highlight the changes since that game. That's about all SimsZone has to say until now, but they've promised more articles in the next few days.

Of course the preview is posted together with a bunch of screenshots of both the installation as in the game. You can check all of them out in their Sims 2 Preview special. Of course when new info arrives on their site, we'll let you know.