The Sims: Hot Date
Encyclopedia
The Sims: Hot Date is the third expansion pack
released for the strategic
life-simulation
computer game
The Sims
developed by Maxis
and published by Electronic Arts
. It was released on November 14, 2001 with overall positive reviews thanks to the addition of a downtown area outside the neighborhood, which became the set up for upcoming expansions packs in which new areas where added; it also served as the inspiration for The Sims 2: Nightlife
.
and is probably the most significant addition that's ever been made to the game.
Sims can now use their telephones to call a taxi that takes them to downtown SimCity, which is composed of lots that can be shopping centers, recreation areas, restaurants, or nightclubs. While a Sim is on a date, the Sim can be controlled, but not actually give orders to its date.
Downtown features lots of brand-new, downtown-only items, like food vendors, clothing stores, picnic areas, and duck ponds that Sim couples can use to keep themselves busy, and a few new items, like the restaurant booth seat, that'll let them get to know each other better.
All the time spent downtown takes place independent of time at home; in other words, Sims will get hungry, tired, and bored as usual during the time they spend downtown, but once they get home, the clock will actually reset to the time when they left.
This makes having both a relationship and a job (which still typically takes about six hours out of a sim's day) not only possible, but a lot easier than before.
expansion packs at its point of release, and critics praised the new downtown area.
Hot Date was received 86% and an 85% averages from aggregate sites Game Rankings
and Metacritic
respectively.. The Armchair Empire gave the game 9.2/10 points saying "Where Living Large and House Party were basically enhancements to the original, Hot Date completely revamps the gameplay by making it possible to focus more on social and romantic relationships and for the first time get away from the Sims house."
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
released for the strategic
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
life-simulation
Life simulation game
Life simulation games is a sub-genre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual lifeforms...
computer game
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
The Sims
The Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
developed by Maxis
Maxis
Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It was released on November 14, 2001 with overall positive reviews thanks to the addition of a downtown area outside the neighborhood, which became the set up for upcoming expansions packs in which new areas where added; it also served as the inspiration for The Sims 2: Nightlife
The Sims 2: Nightlife
The Sims 2: Nightlife is the second expansion pack for The Sims 2, which was released on September 13, 2005 and September 16, 2005 . It was released for Mac OS X on March 27, 2006...
.
Gameplay
In addition to many new items for households, the new downtown area is Hot Dates most significant new addition to The SimsThe Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
and is probably the most significant addition that's ever been made to the game.
Sims can now use their telephones to call a taxi that takes them to downtown SimCity, which is composed of lots that can be shopping centers, recreation areas, restaurants, or nightclubs. While a Sim is on a date, the Sim can be controlled, but not actually give orders to its date.
Downtown features lots of brand-new, downtown-only items, like food vendors, clothing stores, picnic areas, and duck ponds that Sim couples can use to keep themselves busy, and a few new items, like the restaurant booth seat, that'll let them get to know each other better.
All the time spent downtown takes place independent of time at home; in other words, Sims will get hungry, tired, and bored as usual during the time they spend downtown, but once they get home, the clock will actually reset to the time when they left.
This makes having both a relationship and a job (which still typically takes about six hours out of a sim's day) not only possible, but a lot easier than before.
Reception
Overall, the game was judged to be the most substantial of the The SimsThe Sims (series)
The Sims is a video game series developed by Maxis and later by The Sims Studio, and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the most successful video games series of all time...
expansion packs at its point of release, and critics praised the new downtown area.
Hot Date was received 86% and an 85% averages from aggregate sites Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
respectively.. The Armchair Empire gave the game 9.2/10 points saying "Where Living Large and House Party were basically enhancements to the original, Hot Date completely revamps the gameplay by making it possible to focus more on social and romantic relationships and for the first time get away from the Sims house."