First off, it’s necessary to point out that keeping a tiny electronic version of yourself in your pocket is in no way creepy. With that cleared up, we can go on to tell you that The Sims 2 on PSP is an excellent conversion of the millions-selling PC game – even though it’s almost nothing like it. Instead of a halfhearted port of the addictive peoplemanagement simulator we were playing on our PCs last year, what we have here is an entirely new third-person adventure game based loosely upon the Sims 2 concept. You’ll still have to care for your Sim, keep him or her fed and rested, and work towards their aspirations, but these are now secondary objectives as opposed to the entire point of the game. The Sims 2 on PSP is really about uncovering the mysteries of Strangetown by talking to the residents, solving their problems and discovering their deepest secrets.

Before you begin, however, you’ll need to create your protagonist. The customisation options here are, predictably enough, not quite as comprehensive as those of the PC version, but they still allow you to create a decent approximation of yourself (or whoever else you might like to play as). Once created, your Sim finds him or herself trapped in a very weird place when their car disappears from outside a wayside gas station. What follows is a substantial adventure as your Sim endeavours to get their car back and work out exactly what’s going on in Strangetown.

The Sims 2 displays a very dry sense of humour right from the start. From the Sims’ trademark cartoonish way of interacting with each other to your character’s responses to the witty item descriptions and scenarios, the game will often raise a smile or a laugh. The scenarios are often delightfully bizarre (the man with the problematic robot wife springs to mind), and solving them is all the more entertaining thanks to the humorous way in which they are presented. The Sims has always been famous for its universal appeal, and this game’s humour and style will hold some appeal for anyone.

The game is controlled in real-time as opposed to the remote interaction of the PC version, which suits the format perfectly. It certainly makes things simpler and more immediate – walking up to a TV, for instance, brings up a menu of options to choose from, and character interactions are much simpler – but it also occasionally leads to confusion when there are two items very near to each other. The controls in general, however, work much better than might have been expected – pressing L and R cycles between available items and goes a long way to prevent frustration.

It’s when you begin interacting with your fellow town inhabitants, though, that the game really starts to show how different it is from other Sim games. Selecting either ‘Talk’, ‘Flirt’ or ‘Intimidate’ leads to a small mini-game where the player effectively engages in a game of word-association, except with pictures. It involves matching the symbol above the other Sim’s head with the closest related symbol from a choice of three – rocket with spaceman, for instance, or dresses with make-up. It takes a little time to learn what pictures go with which, but it’s nonetheless an effective feature and averts the tedium of having to just sit and watch while Sims interact.

Players might bemoan the lack of more complex inter-Sim interactions (‘Talk’, ‘Flirt’ and ‘Intimidate’ certainly look slightly dispiriting on their own next to the stupidly enormous wealth of actions available in other versions of the game), but social interaction really isn’t intended to be the focus of the game. Instead, it’s about performing tasks and solving problems in order to uncover secrets. Each inhabitant of Strangetown has their own story and their own little ways in which you can help them. You’ll be doing everything from rescuing kidnapped garbage men to hacking scientists’ computers and threatening people for information in order to help your bizarre neighbours – and you’ll have to keep your Sim happy, healthy and welleducated if they’re going to be able to do much at all.

All in all, The Sims 2 is a thoroughly charming game, the Sims elements adding extra depth to an already enjoyable adventure. There’s certainly enough intrigue about the town and the entertaining characters to keep the player interested and keen to uncover all the game’s little mysteries. However, it does risk becoming formulaic; although there are always at last three or four different avenues of investigation open to the player, uncovering mysteries often just boils down to ‘go here, do that, talk to him, retrieve that and come back’.

Although you have to build up your character’s skills in between so that they are able to carry out particular tasks, it all becomes a little bit repetitive after a while. The game’s occasionally straightforward nature does nothing to ruin its charm and addictiveness, though, and consequently we cannot help but recommend it. The Sims 2 is one of the best adventures you can buy for your PSP, and for fans of The Sims’ trademark style and humour, it’s a must-have.