*****

The Sims 2: H&M Fashion pack is an add on that requires the original Sims 2 game to play and it is centered around clothes shopping; specifically H&M.

In this review, I will provide the 'facts' first; that is the information provided by EA; and then I will provide my personal information and opinion - something that EA will likely not want you to see.


--The Facts--


-The Dispute

When this pack was first released, there was a lot of dispute about EA releasing a pack and making money from gamers as well as advertising revenue from H&M. While this isn't illegal, it also isn't particularly ethical and a lot of gamers avoided the pack for this very reason.


-Specs

The stuff pack requires at the very least:

OS: Windows Vista, XP, Me, 2000, or 98

Installed: The Sims 2 for Windows

CPU: 1.0 GHz or faster

RAM: 256 MB or more

Disc Drive: 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Hard Drive: At least 350 MB of free space

Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible

Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible
Video card must have 32 MB or more memory and one of these T&L capable chipsets:

ATI Radeon 8500 or greater;
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or greater



-Clothing

As you might expect, the pack contains a variety of new outfits (around 40 in total) for sims to be 'fashionable'. They come in a range of different styles though most of them tend to be somewhere on the line between modern and retro.


-Buying & Building

The pack contains everything that you would need to create a super-stylish clothing store including sleek display racks, specialty lighting, changing rooms, display cases, display models, and suchlike. There is around 35 objects in total, not counting new walls and floors.

A few of these items are H&M branded, but a lot of them aren't making them more flexible for players to design their own clothing stores.




--My Opinion--


-The Dispute

In the beginning, I was part of this bandwagon too, but I couldn't bring myself to completely condemn the pack until I had tried it first. Although the ethics were questionable, the pack may have had enough credibility to stand up on its own two feet; sadly my faith in EA was dashed somewhat by this aspect.
I believe that it would have been more ethically sound had EA reduced the price of the stuff pack in relation to the advertising proceeds they were undoubtedly receiving.


-Specs

The specs can be deceiving. Meeting the minimum specs alone will not allow for decent gameplay, if at all. In my experience, the sims 2 requires a computer that is as powerful as possible. It is common Sims 2 community knowledge to take the specs they give you and multiply them to provide the 'real' minimum specs. Below is a more accurate estimation of the specifications you will need:

OS: Windows Vista, XP, Me, 2000, or 98

Installed: The Sims 2 for Windows

CPU: 2.0 GHz or faster

RAM: 1 GB or more

Disc Drive: 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Hard Drive: At least 1.5GB of free space

Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible

Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible
Video card must have 32 MB or more memory and one of these T&L capable chipsets:

ATI Radeon 8500 or greater;
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or greater;


-False Claims

EA claim that with this pack one of the main functions of the pack is to allow the player to - and I quote - "Design a fashion runway where your Sims can showcase their favorite outfits on the catwalk.". In actual fact, this is not possible in any way other than 'using your imagination to pretend' so I don't really so much think of it as a 'function' as much as I think of it as a blatant lie.


-Clothing

Frankly, I don't think that the outfits are much good. Most of the outfits are ones that I will never use. While I wouldn't call myself a fashion guru, I tend to have a good idea about what looks good and what doesn't.
Furthermore, the number of outfits is too low and too restricted for a fashion centralized stuff pack.
Although the items are presumably based on actual H&M clothing, I have yet to see any real-life counterparts for any of the pieces in the game.


-Buying & Building

I will be honest; the shop items look great. However, for the most part the 'look' is the only thing it has. Contrary to what I would have liked, a lot of the fancy display stands are exclusively decorative objects that are only viewable; they cannot be used in the same way as the clothing stands, making them pretty much useless.

Although building a H&M store can be fun perhaps once...maybe even twice...the title lacks to provide the very staple of Sims 2 gaming; allowing for creativity. The branded items are restricted to building H&M establishments and they are useless otherwise.


-Conclusion = So, is it fun?

For about five minutes, the game does provide mild entertainment, but it has no long term value unless you really like the clothing. I will occasionally use a few of the items from the pack; but not enough to warrant what I spent on it. Perhaps actually including the 'fashion runway' system that was falsely advertised with the pack would have given the pack some much needed credibility; but my final word is simply 'avoid'.