The Sims: Unleashed

Expansion

The Sims: Unleashed is the fifth expansion pack for The Sims, designed to offer truly lively animal friends, with all the fun and responsibility that comes with pet ownership. Apart from introducing pets into the game as Sims and not objects, Unleashed also offers new careers including Chef, Circus Performer, and naturally, Veterinarian. The expansion also adds 125 new objects, for both pets and people. For the first time, Sims can grow vegetables in their own garden plots.

Released: 3 October 2002
Platforms: Windows macOS
Genres: Life simulation Role-playing Simulation Strategy
Developers: Maxis
Publishers: Electronic Arts
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Fantasy Comedy Sandbox Romance
Engine: proprietary engine
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB T PEGI 12 USK 0

About

The Sims: Unleashed is a 2002 expansion pack developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts for The Sims. The fifth expansion pack for The Sims, Unleashed expands the game's neighborhood to include a community area named Old Town which allows players to purchase pets, including cats and dogs, and farm their own produce. Unleashed was announced by Electronic Arts in June 2002 and released in September, with a Macintosh port of the game published by Aspyr Media in December. Upon release, Unleashed received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the scope and variety of the gameplay additions in the new neighborhood and pet mechanics, although expressing disappointment at the limited degree of control and gameplay mechanics involving pets. The concept of owning pets would be later re-introduced in The Sims 2: Pets, The Sims 3: Pets, and The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs.

›Story

Sims can teach their puppy where to "go," or hire the Pet Trainer character to help with housebreaking. The local Pet Show is the place to display prized animals and impress the judges with obedience, temperament, and tricks. Pets also provide a new way for Sims to make new human acquaintances, as a walk in the park is a good way to meet other pet-friendly neighbors. In addition to canine and feline companions, The Sims: Unleashed also lets Sims purchase parrots, lizards, turtles, and other pet shop companions who may require less constant attention.

Keywords

management
micromanagement
dog
cat
mind control
parrot
sleeping
fictional currencies
gibberish
interactive achievement awards 2003

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Unleashed expands the default residential neighborhood of The Sims with a new commercial district, Old Town, increasing the number of community lots from 10 to 40. Old Town features new lot types, including pet stores, gardening shops, and food service areas. Players can also rezone lots for residential or community use. As with community lots in other expansions including Hot Date, Sims can access Old Town lots by calling for transportation.

The expansion introduces 125 new items, including 30 new pet and gardening objects, and objects for community lots. Five new careers are also introduced, for Animal Care, Circus, Culinary, Education and Fashion career paths.

Reception

Unleashed was a commercial success upon release. The expansion was estimated by NPD sales charts as the 2nd best selling computer game of 2002 by units sold, outperformed only by The Sims: Vacation, and the 6th best-selling of 2003. The game also topped monthly sales charts, including NPD charts in the United States, ChartTrack and Virgin Megastores charts in Europe, and IEAA sales charts in Australia.

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Unleashed received "generally favorable" reviews from critics. Critics generally praised the scope and variety of new content. Describing the expansion as making the game feel "brand-new", Elizabeth McAdams of Computer Gaming World commended the "variety and sheer size of the expanded neighborhood". Describing the expansion as the "best so far", Rhianna Pratchett of PC Zone praised the game's "hefty" additions as providing "a touch of the innovative spark of the original game".

Awards

D.I.C.E. Award for Simulation Game of the Year2002

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Windows	23 September 2002	North America · North America 24 September 2002 · Europe 3 October 2002 · Europe 4 October 2002
macOS	1 January 2003	North America · Europe 1 March 2003