In closing, The Sims 2: Castaway is a unique approach to the series and is one of the more pleasant simulations to have come out this year. Whether that is a good thing or not is entirely up to you. Overall, the sounds help give off the impression that you really are stranded on a far-away island. Unlike the last few Sims games which borrowed a lot of music from previous versions, Castaway brings along a tropical island set-list, with a lot of songs you'd expect to hear at the beach. While the visuals may not come off too stunningly, the audio department fares a lot better. However, it really doesn't look too bad for a game this late in the Playstation 2 life cycle. There could have been a little more detail on the islanders and the land occasionally gives off a very "sketchy" feel to it. Characters are a little smaller than in early installments and the environment has a mix of both 3D and cel-shaded graphics. Whether it is traversing to a nearby part of the island to look for new arrivals or strengthening your relationship with the other Sims, the core community element of the Sims series is still there and better than ever.Īlong with a new setting and task system, the game also features a new visual style. Nevertheless, it is the interaction with the other islanders that really shines as the centerpiece of the game. Also, upgrading your individual attributes will come naturally, as you continue to improve while going about your daily life. As with those, you always have some small thing to maintain, such as health, finances, building materials, and food, but they are easy enough to keep tabs on. If you can occasionally look past the repetition in some of the objectives, you will find a relaxing game experience similar to that of the Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing series. Though the game thus far sounds like nothing more than a collection hunt, Castaway never really goes overboard with it. Also, the game only lets you know when you have gotten a new skill once, making it even more difficult to keep track of just what you can and cannot do. The issue here is that sometimes you will get confused on what job to perform to raise a certain skill. These "levels" are broken into different categories, and by performing different tasks, you will raise each one depending on the factor involved. Alongside showing you what items you need and where to acquire them, the prints will also explain what skill level you need.
Each manual you find will contain plans for creating different tools such as: larger houses, clothing patterns, furniture, and more (looks like you weren't the first group to have crash landed here). These books, along with raising your individual attributes, will be the primary way of improving your Sim. One of the main things you will be doing while trekking through the island is searching for skill books. In addition, the world in the game is also open, although there are no taxis or subways to move through the area, you can walk around the island.As said earlier, Castaway revolves a lot more around exploring the environment than previous simulation titles. There are wild animals that you can interact with. Unlike other versions in the series, in this part, the characters cannot marry and have children, but they do not get older even though their hair may grow longer. During the game, you will meet other characters, communicate and create a relationship with them. In the beginning, you can customize the appearance of your first character then do everything to survive such as finding food and creating hidden places or make your own clothes, etc. Join the game you will control a bunch of characters. The plot of the game revolves around the characters present in a train sunk after an accident, they drifted onto a small island and must find ways to survive and develop society here. The Sims 2 – Castaway is a life simulation game and is part of The Sims series developed by EA Redwood Shores, which was first released on October 22, 2007.