The Sims Superstar

Published by EA Games
Developed by Maxis
Platform: PC CD-ROM
Released - Out Now
Price : £19.99

You have to give credit to the developers of The Sims. For three years now they've kept the game fresh and have constantly dominated the PC games sales charts and that is a phenomenal achievement. They've kept our interest in the game by releasing themed expansion packs that forever broaden gameplay and give longstanding players something different to do with their Sims. If I'm not mistaken this is the sixth expansion pack for The Sims and yet again it introduces new concepts and refines existing ones that are already in the game.

As the title would suggest Superstar is all about giving you the ability to make your Sim a star. As with other expansions: Hot Date, Vacation and Unleashed, a new location has been added, Studio Town. Studio Town is where all the glitzy, celebrity Sims work and hang out. Studio Town is split into 9 different areas for you to visit. Each of these areas has different facilities for your Sim to train to become a star. You simply phone for a cab to take you wherever you want to go. Like the Hot Date expansion it'll cost you 50 simoleons to get a cab to any of these regions.

You can't become a celebrity Sim overnight though, it has to be worked at. It's also worth noting that it's the first career in The Sims where you can actually see your Sim work. Being a star is a full time career and once you make the decision to head for the big time you'll have to quit your current career, should you already have one. The road to fame and fortune begins with a search for an agent that you can find in The Studio Town Insider, a daily paper that is now delivered with your daily newspaper. Once you have an agent it's off to Studio Town to begin your road to stardom.

It's not possible to simply walk onto a movie set and launch yourself to stardom. Initially you'll only have access to the Karaoke stage and the open microphone. To progress in your quest to become a star you'll have to improve your star rating. You begin with no stars and have to progress, in half star increments, until you reach the maximum of five stars to have access to all Studio Town has to offer. Photo shoots, TV commercials, soap operas and music videos are just some of the activities your Sim could be taking part in on their road to the top. You can't step onto a movie set until you have four and a half stars so it's going to take time for your Sim to make it onto the silver screen.

Like in all of the Careers in The Sims, initially you'll only be paid silly payments of twenty to thirty simoleons but as you progress and gain more stars you'll earn money that is plenty enough to keep you in style and allow you to mingle with the elite Sims. The Studio Town Insider shows you the list of who's hot in Studio Town and one of the goals of Superstar is to get among this top ten and be seen with them as much as possible. Once you've made it as a star you'll be asked for autographs and you might even have an obsessed fan that follows you around everywhere. It's even possible to win a Simmy Award if your star rating is high enough. There are two types of award. There's the Achievement Award and the Performance Award. One thing you have to consider with the Performance Awards though is that if you have built up your stars concentrating on one specific category (out of Music, Fashion and Acting) then you're more likely to win a Performance Award. Even the paparazzi are present and will go out of their way for a picture when you've hit it big.

In addition to the Superstar specific items and characters (including Marilyn Monroe and Christina Aguilera) you'll also find other additions to the game. There have been new wallpapers, and floors included which is always welcome. There are new lifestyle items such as personal steamers and satellite dishes that enable you to have double the amount of TV programs for your Sim to choose from. If you have The Sims Unleashed installed you'll find that more pet skins have been added and there's even some extra material for those who have The House Party expansion pack. If this is your first expansion then you'll notice too many differences to mention here but one of the major pluses is that it adds three extra neighbourhoods which gives you even more potential to create a whole new bunch of Sims. If you're rolling in the money you can even hire a Butler but at five hundred simoleons a day he certainly doesn't come cheap. The phone book is now much improved and it's far easier to understand. If you choose to 'call neighbour' a menu now appears and you can choose whom you want to phone rather than having to go through a whole load of menus as you did before. In total there are over 150+ items that have been added in The Sims Superstar.

Was there ever a game more deaf gamer friendly than The Sims? We think there isn't and Superstar does nothing to change this. As with The Sims all conversations use icons rather than speech or text so deaf gamers are on an equal footing with hearing gamers. All information that is given out is done via text so again there are no problems.

The Sims Superstar is certainly one of the best expansions for The Sims. To be the sixth expansion for the game and still offer something completely different is a remarkable achievement. It's great being able to see your Sim at work at long last. All the new items and features that have been added will certainly please longstanding fans of The Sims and will help keep their interest until the hugely anticipated The Sims 2 is released early next year.

Overall Game Rating: 8.5/10
It may be the sixth expansion but it's also one of the best and offers fans of The Sims the chance to make their Sim a star.

Deaf Gamers comment:
No problems at all. If only other games were this deaf gamer friendly this website wouldn't be needed.

Many thanks to Jo Upton at EA for enabling us to review this game.