Virtual Families Review

Virtual Families Review

Review by Mick

Virtual Families is another game in the Virtual series. In this game you get to control the lives of a family. They have careers, kids and a house to maintain. Your presence is known in this game and your sims will send you emails letting you know how things are going. While playing you can direct the actions of your sims, but frequently they will do what they want anyway. Like all of the "Virtual" games Virtual Families continues to progress even when you are away.

Tutorial Gets You Going

You start the game by selecting whether or not you would like help starting the game. This is the tutorial for the game and is somewhat useful, but if you are familiar with these games you won't need it.

Variety of Characters to Play

You will then have to select your starting character. There is a large list of characters that all have different jobs, interests and life goals. You just need to pick a character that matches what you want to do in the game and you're set.

Wedding Bells

Shortly after you start you will begin receiving marriage proposals via email (romantic right?). You can accept or reject these proposals, but make sure the person is a good match because there is no undo. Once you are married you can begin your family. Your virtual family will take care of themselves for the most part, but you will need to help them clean, buy food, heal them when they are sick and upgrade the home.

Easy Contorls to Manage Life Tasks

Interacting with the game is very simple and only requires the mouse. You can pick up and start the sims on a task, go to the store and take care of your sims all with a few clicks of the mouse. Your sims will have jobs that you can work on to earn money and promotions. Money can be spent on several different things: upgrades like TV's or exercise equipment, medicine, food or general items.

You also have the ability to condition the behavior of your sims. You have a hand that scolds and a hand that praises. When a sim does something that you like you praise them and they are more likely to do that, but if they do something you don't like you scold them.

Standard Graphics, Subpar Sound

The graphics in Virtual Families are pretty standard for the genre. The most detailed aspect of the game seems to be the lawn. Everything else is 2D and not really spectacular. The sound is a little lacking in this game. The people spend most of their time saying “oh!” and that's about it. The music is really strange and becomes annoying after awhile. It is easy to turn the sound off but the game feels empty when it is completely quiet. Overall the graphics are on par, but the sound is lacking.

A Slow Moving Game

The biggest issue with this game is the speed at which it progresses. Everything goes relatively slowly even with the game progressing while it is turned off. Earning money takes a long time and is necessary for many things like food and medicine. When you are playing there really isn't that much to do so you can't play for more than 15-20 minutes.

Conclusion - Recommended for Those Who Like People Sims in Short Spurts

Virtual Families is an entertaining family simulation game. The game continues even when turned off so you never know what to expect the next time you turn it on. Easy controls and family friendly gaming makes this a great game for anyone to play. The small issues with sound and the minimal player interaction don't detract so much as to prevent this from being a good game. Try it out today and see for yourself.