Nightlife has officially been released today, and more and more people are now receiving their copies. The free Hot Rod car given with pre-orders can now be downloaded, websites are starting to post their reviews, and EA has also launched a Mix Master mini-game. The game is a sort of memory game, where you have to repeat a sequence of scratches on a DJ set in the right order. More release news can be found inside...
The release has also been announced in a press release, which also mentions the Sims 2 itself has sold over 5 Million units worldwide so far. Tim LeTourneau is also quoted saying that Nightlife "gives players everything they need to expand their Sims' social life and experience an ultimate night out on the town."Another thing that EA is providing now the expansion has been released, is an updated Customer Support section. If you need help with the new features and objects of Nightlife, you can check the customer support section for info.
One little thing that has changed silently, is that the cheat-code to disable the blur has been deactivated and will no longer work in Nightlife. This might be due to the issue Jack Thompson raised early this summer.
Reviews are also popping up, and the first are by IGN and GameSpy. One thing IGN mentions is that it's hard to screw up a date if you want to. As long as you ask your date what he/she wants to do, and do it, then you'll have a fine date. The new Pleasure Seeker aspiration track isn't that interesting to the reviewer though, and didn't add as much as other parts of the game. The ReNuYuSenso Orb reward is more interesting as it lets Sims change their aspirations. Like the Pleasure Aspiration, the editor also doesn't like the music in the game - a matter of taste. Overall IGN gives the pack a score of 8.2 out of 10. Read the review for details.
Something both IGN and GameSpy mention, is that the game doesn't have "as much meat as University" (GameSpy). Contrary to IGN though, GameSpy says the new soundtrack is solid, like it was in University. Also mentioned are the newly introduced bugs. Some of the old ones still exist, but Nightlife also has its own set. The disfunctional Karaoke machine isn't mentioned, although players are already complaining about that a lot. The problem with that is that the sound file is corrupt, and thus you can't hear your Sims sing. All in all, GameSpy says the expansion is not a must-have as it doesn't have any bold changes like a new life-stage as in University, yet all little additions make it worthwhile. With a score of 4 out of 5 stars, the game didn't do bad. Read the four-page review if you're after more details. Naturally both reviews also include a host of new screenshots the reviewers made themselves.
Of course we'll keep you updated in the next few weeks as more reviews appear online. Once we've received our copy, we'll also start working on bringing you our own review as soon as possible. Thanks to SimParool and SnootySims for several links and info.
Written at 00:38 on Wednesday, 14 September 2005 by ChEeTaH.
