Review: Sims 2: Castaway (PSP, PS2, Wii, DS)

The Sims: Castaway puts your sim on an island and gets him to fend for himself.

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For a while the sims were confined to the cities, to the urban wilderness.

One sim, though, felt he needed a little more excitement so he took to the high seas in a yacht.

Unfortunately, the yacht was lashed by a terrible storm and our sim ended up deserted on a tropical island, to start from scratch. He was a castaway (cue Gilligan's Island theme music).

Sim 2: Castaway does just what the title says: puts your sim on an island and gets him to fend for himself and rebuild his life.

Initially, the career you decide for your sim will decide what skills they start with after they wash up on the beach.

Castaway is pretty much like the other Sims games: collect resources to help build a better life. The more resources you collect (palm fronds, leaves, vines, fruit, driftwood, fish), the more plans you'll be able to access, meaning you'll be able to build better structures, clothing and tools, which will then be used to make bigger and better things.

Your sim can explore the island and will come across animals and other sims. Also, make sure you keep an eye on your sim's vital signs -- whether he's tired, hungry, bored. If you know how to play The Sims, you'll do just fine.

Graphically, Castaway manages to capture the look of the PC version of The Sims nicely - but the camera plays up at times and there are animation glitches.

In a nutshell it's The Sims on PC shrunk down for the PSP. If you have the time and patience for it, it's worth a look.

- © Fairfax NZ News