I would not say that The Sims 2 has the greatest soundtrack I have ever listened too. The soundtrack is what you would expect from a game in this series. I do feel they could have done a bit more to make offspring look like they are related, but not at the expense of just all looking exactly the same. The only negative that I really have about the visuals is that sometimes the children and grandchildren can just look the same. Everything still has that same “Sim” look to it, but things are more detailed this time around and things also seem a bit larger which is something I liked. The visuals of the game are much improved from the first game. There is a ton of stuff you can use in this game to make your dream home, new scenarios, jobs, neighborhoods and there is just a ton of stuff to keep your Sims and the others that are around busy. At the time The Sims 2 was a game that improved on its predecessor and all of its expansion packs in pretty much every way you could imagine. While it has been surpassed why what would follow on from it. The “gameplay” is enhanced greatly from what the previous game offered.
While it is not a groundbreaking feature now at the time this was a really big deal. What is really cool is that this game introduced a new system where Sims “genes” would be passed down so that they could have children and grandchildren. For example, Sims can now age and they go through a few different “ages” before they die. This game features some things that make the lives of The Sims feel more real, fulfilled, and just overall better. Instead The Sims 2 like what came before it has you create the story.
One of the things that I always liked about this series was how most of the time there is not an actual “story” to play through. Well even though this game as I write this is well over a decade old, it holds up very well. The Sims 2 came out when I was in college and the girl I was dating at the time (now my wife) insisted that we got the game day one! The first game was a massive success and many people myself and my wife included were excited to see how they would expand upon the formula.