The Sims 2: Night life

A Few Drinks with your mates, a bit of bowling and the offer of probably-not-legal substances from a mystical lady who lives in an alleyway -it's clear that The Sims 2: Nightlife is the result of arduous research and monitoring of my own nightly habits.

Yep, here's the next link in the chain of Sims 2 expansion packs, adding, just as you'd expect it to, a whole bunch of new things for your Sims to see, do and ingest. Nightlife's new features revolve around the addition of a downtown neighbourhood which contains restaurants, bars, nightclubs and a worrying amount of bowling alleys, all of which are available as virtual dating venues should you wish to fling yourself ever further into that pit of anti-social doom that can only come from watching little computer people get it on with one another.

Alternative nightlife activities are also explored with the addition of vampires, allowing your Sims to become creatures of the night, stalking nubile young ladies and prancing about in capes trying to bite people. Plus, you can now buy cars, so your Sims no longer have to rely on taxis to get around.

Unsurprisingly however, there's no real added depth to the original gameplay, and behind tlie complex conversation options you'll find the same game you were playing before you installed the expansion. Except with more bowling.