The Sims, as we all know, is a huge hit. Having sold millions of copies, the series appeals to just about everyone. While I am not personally a huge fan of the series, as I believe it becomes fairly repetitive after a few hours, one must give The Sims some respect for being a game that your mom or sister will sit down and enjoy, whereas most games are not that interesting to the general public. The key is that people can relate to the Sims; they do everyday normal things, they have households similar to our own, and they act in a manner that we can, to some degree, relate to.

It is surprising that there really aren’t as many Sims-esque games slapped together for a quick buck as one might think, then (barring the game’s many expansion packs). Singles: Flirt Up Your Life is in fact the only game I can think of that closely resembles The Sims. You pick a family (or, in this case, roommates), move into an empty home, fill it up with goods, keep your characters content, and improve their relationships with each other. You never really have access to anything outside the house, and when your people leave the house for work, you don’t go with them. Their hygiene, energy, hunger and so forth gradually become worse until they shower, eat, and sleep, to name a few things. It’s uncannily – but not surprisingly – extremely like The Sims.

It’s funny, then, that in some respects, Singles actually surpasses the Sims. The game is presented in full 3D, which is a nice departure from the four cramped viewpoints we are used to. The camera can be manipulated exactly as you want it, allowing for swinging and dragging and most certainly zooming. The game also boasts a number of nice little touches. Almost every action you can do, when you are about to select it, will notify you of which attributes that belong to your players will go up or down. Getting a shower will carry a icon indicating your hygiene will improve, while having to fix the toilet will probably ruin your happiness but improve your mechanical skills. It’s much nicer than having to guess what the advantages and repercussions of each action are. On another note, your characters can actually change clothes, instead of being stuck in the same outfit for eternity.

And, yes, if you so desire, your characters don’t have to wear any clothes. Singles’ Adults-Only rating is gathering no small amount of hype for the game. It’s only available in downloadable form, which may be a good choice from the publisher in order to avoid problems with little Jimmy buying this “naughty” game at Electronics Boutique while mom was trying on a dress. Truth be told, though, the game isn’t really all that “naughty” – true, there is full nudity, but unless you really have a thing for computer models that look slightly more fleshed out than mannequins, you truly aren’t missing much. While you can undress your characters at any time, you can’t do the “wild thing” until you’ve spent several hours building up your roomies’ relationships via flirting and kisses and such. And, sorry guys, while you can have lesbian relationships (though oddly, not gay relationships) all of the sex is purely under-the-covers – and only in one position, at that.

The game has some decent AI, which makes it a less frustrating than The Sims. Your people will patiently wait outside the bathroom instead of making a mess all over the carpet, and they obey your commands a little more strictly overall, rather than just “taking them into consideration.” This means you can focus on actually playing the game and improving the character’s relationships – ultimately, the goal of the game.

The only problem is that the actual relationship building consists of clicking a few commands and watching the same things happen over and over and over. There are no interesting conversations to listen to; your people speak in gibberish (guess where that came from). All of the animations for flirting, gossiping, and the like are unimpressive and quite boring after the fifth time. As you do all of this more, other commands will become available to you, from making out to getting it on in the bedroom. Again, though, after trying any of the commands a few times, you’ve basically seen it all. The game becomes extremely tedious.

The graphics in the game aren’t bad. It’s in full 3D, and this definitely helps considering the game’s rather mature going-ons. Everything looks decent and runs at a decent clip. There are a fair number of objects for you to purchase, and while most aren’t that exciting, you can do some neat things with interior decorating. There are a lot of floor and wall options, and getting just the right lighting along with nice furniture will not only look nice, but make your little guys happier. As for the character models – they don’t look bad, but with their clothes off, there’s nothing really special to see here. Everything is quite stationary, and not nearly as “adult” as the “Adults-Only” rating would have you believe.

The sound is bearable. Sound effects aren’t much to speak of, aside from your generic clanging and banging, shower nozzles and toilet flushing, and noise emitting from the television. Voice acting is – well – I can’t say for sure whether it’s good or bad, as it’s simply a bunch of gibberish. As a whole, it works, although I think the game would have been much more fun if it carried some conversations with good dialogue. The music is reminiscent of some elevator muzak, not being really fun or boring – just kind of there. It didn’t bother me, but I wouldn’t think of looking for the soundtrack.

Overall, Singles: Flirt Up Your Life is tough to recommend. It’s not a bad game. It borrows a lot from The Sims – and I mean a lot – and actually does it one better in many respects. On the other hand, though, what you’re left with is a relationship building game with some mature elements. The relationship building part is quite boring after some time, and the mature part isn’t going to blow your socks off. If you’re into these sort of simulations, you’ll enjoy it. If you aren’t, this game isn’t going to change your mind. If it sounds intriguing, I would advise downloading the free demo. It won’t appeal to many, I’m sure, but fans of The Sims may be inclined to enjoy it as a nice alternative to the behemoth that is Will Wright’s franchise.

Gameplay: 6.0
The overall balance of the game feels nice thanks to some decent AI. While this makes the large unique relationship aspect of the game stand out, you’ll find that the relationship system is actually quite tedious and dull after a few hours.

Graphics: 7.5
While these graphics aren’t stunning by any means, they do a more than adequate job here, and the game looks a lot fresher than The Sims. But if you’re looking for hardcore pornography, as the ESRB rating suggests, you aren’t going to find it here.

Sound: 7.0
The game’s sound effects, background music, and “gibberish” voice acting are not really bad nor good. It’s all appropriate and adequate, but nothing I felt I needed to turn up my speakers for.

Difficulty: Medium
The game isn’t particularly hard, but it is time-consuming.

Concept: 6.5
This game borrows a LOT from The Sims, as if it weren’t evident in the review. However, it’s not all bad since the game does a better job with much of the material. It’s own innovations, however – like the relationship system – are rather poorly implemented.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 6.8
Singles: Flirt Up Your Life is an interesting product, as it is one of the few AO-rated games to come along in recent times, and also one of the surprisingly few Sims rivals in the gaming world. The game isn’t half bad, but it really becomes quite tedious after a certain amount of time. Sims fans might eat it up, but those indifferent to games like this won’t find too much to like that will change their mind.