The Sims 2 Pets review

As in Sims 2, this game has a 'free will' setting, meaning that you can more or less leave your Sims to their own devices without anyone setting themselves or their possessions on fire. Unfortunately it does still mean that you can struggle to regain control of them once you have a specific command to give them, such as, say, teach the dog to bring in the newspaper.

Now, we enjoyed the create-a-pet section, don't get us wrong. It was fun adding extra weight and hair to one of the 35 pre-made dog breeds on offer. And it's certainly cute being able to see the animals twitching and dreaming in their sleep, as is going through the traditional 'fetch the ball' fake out and watching your Sim making wittery Simlish "Loser!" exclamations when your dog goes after a ball you haven't thrown.

Above: Sometimes your pet will run after someone else's ball. But you can't make them do it