Sim Fans - Is Sim2 worth it?

Here's the thing - I hate the direction that computer games are going. Everything is 3D model and I just find it too tedious to even bother with it. Last game I bought was Zoo Tycoon2 and the 3D effects were just too much.

I've always liked The Sims and have a bunch of the expansion packs. Is Sim2 going to be a bunch of over-3D effects that take away from the game play?

Thanks!

but the charm palls quickly, it seems. Maybe I'm just jaded to the Sims. It plays a little bit differently than previous Sims games; you now have goals that you may (or may not) achieve, and fears to be avoided. These can be random tihngs that just happen, and it really does keep the game more interesting than it was in the past.

You can also take care of more things via the telephone now, which makes tedium less annoying, and the character eats and poos while at work, as well as increases his social meter. This makes things a bit easier, too, and the family tree option during character generation means no more sleeping in seperate beds until you "fall in love"- your mom and dad characters are already married, and the kid is already theirs.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 is another fun one. In RCT3, you can finally ride the rides- including the coasters you build in the sandbox.

If you have a PS2, get one of the Katamari games now. No gamer should be without one of these if they have a PS2.

Another fun game is "The Movies", which also lets you create your own crude animated shorts- with actirs and costumes, even. You can also add you own dialog and export it (takes a looong time) to a .mpg video.

Civilization 4 is another 3D game that doesn't exploit the 3D aspect of the engine beyond showing off a real nice turn-based strategy game. This is a deep one; you can end up spending a lot of time tweaking your towns to just what you want. This game, I believe, also includes an email mode, where the game calculates your turn and packs it into a file you can email to another player, who then imports the file and makes his turn. You then do the same, and play continues like that.

I only mention all these because it seems as if you want game that doesn't use the fact that it's 3D to the detriment of the game itself. I have each of these, and they're all a lot of fun, each in their own way.

Try finding a local computer shop- NOT a chain store- that employs young people and ask them if you might be able to see a couple games in action, and see what they tell you. More likely than not, they'll have something there they can demonstrate to you.