'Free Time' is the seventh in the series of eight Expansion Packs for The Sims 2 (see my other reviews for the last one, 'Apartment Life'). This pack, which came out in February 2008, adds an array of new features and enhancements.
The main new feature added by this pack is that of enabling ... Read review
Advantages: Lots more fun for your Sims (and you!), new hobby-related objects and community lots Disadvantages: May slow down lower-spec PCs, some annoying repetitive animations
'Free Time' is the seventh in the series of eight Expansion Packs for The Sims 2 (see my other reviews for the last one, 'Apartment Life'). This pack, which came out in February 2008, adds an array of new features and enhancements.
The main new feature added by this pack is that of enabling your Sims to enjoy hobbies and other leisure time pursuits. Sims can now be 'creative' in various new ways: Cooking, Music & Dance, Sports, Fitness, ... ...animation depicting them being 'In The Zone' when practising their pursuit. For instance, if you have a Sim who has maxed out their talent for Music, when they pick up the new violin that comes with this pack and play it, they will magically change into formal dress and be surrounded by a glowing white aura and sounds of disembodied cheering and applause (I find this rather spooky, actually!).
'Free Time' is the seventh in the series of eight Expansion Packs for The Sims 2 (see my other reviews for the last one, 'Apartment Life'). This pack, which came out in February 2008, adds an array of new features and enhancements.
The main new feature added by this pack is that of enabling your Sims to enjoy hobbies and other leisure time pursuits. Sims can now be 'creative' in various new ways: Cooking, Music & Dance, Sports, Fitness, Nature, Science, Gaming, Tinkering, Arts & Crafts, and Films & Literature.
Each Sim will now have a particular 'talent' that they favour, and developing that talent will eventually make them a master of it, with a new animation depicting them being 'In The Zone' when practising their pursuit. For instance, if you have a Sim who has maxed out their talent for Music, when they pick up the new violin that comes with this pack and play it, they will magically change into formal dress and be surrounded by a glowing white aura and sounds of disembodied cheering and applause (I find this rather spooky, actually!).
This pack also adds 'Secret Lots', each one associated with a different hobby, which can be unlocked once your Sim shows enough promise in their particular talent. For instance, if your Music & Dance Sim shows enough enthusiasm and talent for their craft, a representative of the relevant Secret Lot, a local dance studio, will show up at the Sim's house and give them a invitation to come to the dance studio anytime they like. They simply get in their car, or call a taxi, and visit the lot as they would any other community lot. Here they can carry out their hobby to their heart's content. I find the dance studio particularly fun, with random Simmies doing a 'dance till you drop' everywhere, and sometimes your Sim can meet a new romantic partner there!
There are loads of new objects to go with all these new hobbies. Arts & Crafts Sims can use a pottery wheel or a sewing machine, Tinkering Sims can work on an old broken-down car and try to fix it, Gaming Sims can purchase a selection of new computer games (including a mock-up of The Sims 3!) to play and even join network gaming competitions. For Sports Sims, there is a basketball hoop, and Fitness Sims can purchase an exercise bike or a ballet barre.
In one of the most fun and amusing hobby-related features, there is now a Cooking Contest Table at which your Cooking Sim can enter a cooking contest with other Sims (the others will be 'chosen' randomly by the game itself from among other Sims in your neighbourhood) and see if they can win it - the animations for this are really cute. Below is a screenshot from my game, a cooking competition between Bree from Desperate Housewives, the keyboard player from Rammstein, a baddie from ‘Deus Ex’, and Bella Swan from ‘Twilight’ (I do like to have an interesting mix of characters in my game!). True to life (well, true to TV, anyway), Bree won, for her excellent cherry pie.
On the subject of new animations, your Nature-inclined Sims can go bird-watching or bug-collecting - the latter allows your Sim to collect interesting specimens of the various bugs they find - and Fitness Sims can practice Tai Chi. Sims can also now talk to each other about their hobbies.
However, also on the subject of new animations, there are a few that you may find become annoying after a short time - there are several new gestures of fidgeting, whistling, cracking their knuckles, and reaching back and pulling their ankle up behind them and standing on one leg, which are cute the first time you see them but very quickly get way too repetitive (much like the gestures that the Sims learn on holiday in the Bon Voyage expansion). If these animations prove to be too much for you, you can eliminate them with a hack from http://www.simwardrobe.com - download the file called SW-Stop-All-Hobby-Related-Idle-Gestures.zip. That’s what I ended up having to do!
There are also five new careers: Oceanographer, Entertainer, Architect, Dancer, and Intelligence Agent, and a new Neighborhood called Desiderata Valley, which comes complete with a dedicated Cooking Contest community lot. As with the supernatural characters added by previous expansion packs, such as werewolves, vampires and so on, this pack adds Genies. A gypsy may give your Sim an Aladdin's Lamp containing a Genie - if so, he will grant you three wishes, but be careful what you wish for!
Secondary Aspirations are another new feature, giving your Sim more complex aspirational goals. These include a new Grilled Cheese Aspiration, a bit of silliness that will make your Sim obsessed with grilled cheese sandwiches, to the extent of painting pictures of them, making and serving them to everyone, and boring other Sims with talking about them (often causing the other Sim to stick his fingers in his ears and do the 'la la la la I'm not listening' gesture).
In addition to those mentioned above, there are several other new objects for your Sims to have fun with - they also get a train set and get to choose and place whatever features they want it to have (mountains, lakes, and so on), a new pool table, a classic Moog-style synthesiser to play electro music on, and even an ant farm.
All told, this is a fun and worthwhile addition to your Sims 2 expansion collection. I have all of the expansions and would not want to be without any of them!
Advantages: Adds a lot to the game, speeds it up Disadvantages: A bit buggy at the moment
...those moments in between comes the latest expansion park, Free Time.
For me, Free Time has been exactly what I was looking for. It can be hard work managing the lives of your families, but once you've got all that out of the way, well, there isn't exactly much for them to do. While there are games like chess for your sims to enjoy, I just wasn't convinced that enough people in reality enjoyed chess for my sims to take that much interest in it either. ... ...Before we get on to the hobbies and the new things they bring, let's start at the basics. As with most expansion packs, a new neighborhood is there for you to play in if you so wish - and for once, it's a neighborhood I'm really happy with! I have a very hard time with lots, I can never seem to find any that are just the right size for my Sims. But the game brings along several new lots, and I have found one that is perfect for all of my families. ...
hi_nicola 10.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Sims 2: Freetime Expansion Pack (PC)
Advantages: Your sims no longer have a life, as they spend all day watching ants Disadvantages: You don't have a life as you spend all day watching your sims
...you prefer, they can play the violin, or "Don't Wake the Llama", or they can draw, or they could even spend all their time working their way to the top of the new career tracks, but isn't that missing the point of a game called "Free Time"?
The key feature of FreeTime is the hobbies. There are 10 areas of interest to build, and your sims has a natural proficiency in one of them. The areas range form Science and Nature to Arts and Crafts and Film ... ...etc.
As well as the related additional items, there are, of course, additional random items. In FreeTime, this comes in the shape of a whole new set of nursery stuff, for your baby sims. This is an alternative to the plaastic fantastic stuff they've put up with since the base game, and is wooden and traditional. There are also new carpets, rugs and walling, in baby pink and blue and soft green and yellow; very cute.
It may seem like there's not ...
Galadriel1010 24.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Sims 2: Freetime Expansion Pack (PC)
Advantages: new objects, new aims, new gameplay Disadvantages: can run quite slow on low spec computers, annoying animations
The sims 2 Freetime gives your simmies the chance to pursue their hobbies and become masters in their fields. For example you choose one main hobbie sector for them to major in so to say for example Arts and Crafts or gaming and then you will follow all the actions related to this. For example arts and crafts can get more points in their field through intereacting with arts and crafts objects i.e. easels, piano's, guitar's etc. When they get enough ... ...gloves and new items for the house. Anything your sims make can be kept or sold on, so if your sim is good they can make a little bit of money out of it. Also when your sims becomes master of his/her field they will get a certain aura around them and when they are practising in it you will also hear applause and get the sense that this is what they're good at. There is also a cooking shown down object for those sims who like cooking and want to show ...
kathcake 11.11.2009
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Review of The Sims 2: Freetime Expansion Pack (PC)
Advantages: Excellent add on role playing game. Very addictive Disadvantages: NONE
...am a huge fan of the Sims 2 and have all the expansion packs and stuff packs which have been released. Sims 2 Freetime by far is one of my favourite expansion packs. Your sims now have 10 hobbies which they can take part in :
*Arts and Crafts
*Cuisine
*Film and literature
*Fitness
*Games
*Musica & Dance
*Nature
*Science
*Sports
*Tinkering
Each sims hobby is choosen for them by the computer once you have created your sim and the sim has ... ...it by taking part in the activities they enjoy. Each Sim is given a bug box in their Inventory which they can display in their homes and collect beetles, spiders and butterflies which all count towards the Nature enthusiasm.
Two new Talent badges are also availiable within the game Sewing and Pottery, items made by the sims can be used in the Sims 2 Open for business and earn the sims extra monies. There is also 5 new career paths to follow within ...
loopeyuk 16.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Sims 2: Freetime Expansion Pack (PC)
Advantages: News job, hobbies and aspirations Disadvantages: only 5 new jobs created
...my Sims 2. I think the additions are great. There is even more bright and modern furnitures to add to your home. There is 5 new jobs created and extra aspirations. I am enjoying the challenge in fufilling my sims hobbies and the secret locations you get to when you show dedication to a particular hobby.
Sims are able to discuss their hobbies, practice and search the internet, the more enthusiam you have the higher the points go up. This game is ...
mummyd83 07.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Sims 2: Freetime Expansion Pack (PC)
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