Reviewed: June 24, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Eidos Interactive

Developer
Rotobee

Released: May 24, 2003
Genre: Simulation
Players: 1
ESRB: Adults Only

7
9
5
6
7.1

System Requirements

The only other game to ever stir up this much adult controversy would have to be Acclaim’s console release, BMX XXX, that featured naughty mission designs and MPEG video clips of exotic dancers (Xbox only) as unlockable rewards. But while that game failed, simply because it tried too hard, Singles presents sex with a little more class.

Designed like any reality show you are likely to see this year (probably on Fox), two random individuals of your choosing are thrust into an apartment. You are the casting directory, choosing from a variety of male and female couples of different lifestyles, ambitions, attitudes, and personalities. If you really want to spice things up you can even create a same-sex version of the “simulation”.

I’ll be the first to admit that I do NOT like games like The Sims. Never have and never will. Not that they are bad games, but somehow simulating the “life experience” just seems like a waste. I’d rather live life than play it. I play games to experience things I can’t do everyday, so why pay $40 to simulate a character who has to go to work, keep up the house, and do all those other mundane tasks I’m trying to escape from by playing games.

Given my dislike for the genre you’d expect I’m the least probable person qualified to write this review, but it’s for that very reason I chose to do it. If a game like the Singles can not only get my attention but also captivate my ongoing interest for several weeks then everyone else is going to love it.

The game is surprising in its realism, at least as far as the dynamics of relationships go. When you first start the game your couple is thrust into the same room, one is moving in, unpacking their belongings, and getting situated. Just like any simulation, economic, dating, or otherwise, there is a complex set of variables that are always in a state of flux.

There are numerous status bars for personal comfort as well as indicators for relationship dynamics. These are all updated in real-time as you play the game and interact with the other character and your surroundings. If your hunger meter dips into the red zone it’s probably time to fix some dinner. Body odor got you (or your roommate) down? Time for a shower. And you can either use the clock or your energy meter to determine when it’s time to hit the sheets.

For the first few days you can plan on hitting those sheets alone. No matter how charming you are you are going to have to slowly build trust, romance, and sensuality before you can go all the way. During that time you can pick and switch between characters and interact with the other through a simple set of context-sensitive icons.

Many selections are locked at first and will only become available after you have slowly “earned” the right to click them. Others will be unlocked but unavailable due to the current dynamics in the relationship. It’s easy to tell jokes or flirt the very first night but making out on the couch isn’t even an option. You can even create some embarrassing situations by walking in on your roommate in the shower, on the toilet, getting dressed or just streaking around the apartment.

With the focus on the relationship aspect, much of the normal “sim stuff” (mundane tasks) are handled for you. Characters will eventually go to the bathroom or prepare their own meals and go to bed when they are tired assuming you don’t do it for them. This leaves you free to plot your own schemes for enriching the relationship.

Naturally, you will want to test the boundaries of the program…err…I mean relationship by doing extreme acts. I barged in on my female roommate while she was on the toilet and was most amused when he held his nose and waved his hand in front of his face. I then cracked a joke by clicking the Tease button and found that girls aren’t amused when you comment on their toilet habits – especially since we had only known each other for three hours.

Singles is as much an exercise in home repair as it is dating. I’d swear this game was co-developed by “Tim Allen’s Tool Time”. I’ll concede to the fact that most people starting out in life don’t have the best appliances, but the crap that came with my apartment broke on a near-daily basis. Purchasing new appliances, furniture, and items to decorate with is more about freeing up your spare time than aesthetics.

Much like real-life, keeping the relationship going after you have achieved the “gold” is nearly as much work as getting there in the first place. Adolescent gamers will undoubtedly get their hands on this game, and much like their first peek at a Playboy, will get all exited over the rendered scenes of intimacy, even though they are quite tame by modern day standards. Older gamers, especially those involved or previously involved in serious relationships might just find a surprisingly accurate mirror that reflects some of their own experiences.

I was impressed with the flexibility of the game. Almost every object has multiple functions. You can click on the couch and sit or sleep. Turn on the radio and you can dance to party music or jam to some rock and roll, which just so happens to be the game’s background music. You can cook, clean, wash dishes, sleep, shower, change clothes, and interact with your partner on a variety of levels and these options only grow as you collect more material wealth and nurture your relationship.

And yes, there is nudity, but in no way is it presented in a sexual manner. All intimate encounters are under the sheets and both characters even shower in their underwear, odd since you can strip them down to full frontal nudity and run around the apartment. It’s humorous to get caught streaking and flee to your room with cheeks (the ones on your face) blushing bright red.

My only real complaint was that all attempts at establishing a relationship take place at home. There are no opportunities to go out to dinner or to the movies. We don’t see our characters at work so we can’t cheat with our secretary or the boy in the mailroom. The characters and situations are much like a tightly controlled experiment, or better yet, my previous analogy of a TV reality show.

Singles comes with two unique environments; an apartment and a luxury beach house that you can unlock after you complete the story mode. There is also a sandbox mode that lets you play interior decorator to your heart’s content. It’s too bad there aren’t more items to make this mode more substantial that it is.

The characters are the focus of the game and they are exquisitely modeled right down to the most private of parts. You can even see real-time emotions in the highly detailed face textures of each character so you know exactly what they are feeling.

The environments are nearly as good as the characters. You have multi-room buildings and the walls will vanish when necessary so you can keep track of your roomies. There is a small catalog of items you can shop for, appliances, electronics, artwork, furniture, and clothing. It’s a given that no two homes will ever look alike. You can purchase anything you can afford and place it anywhere the game permits.

There are some nice special effects. Some are as simple as the slowly changing night and day cycles while others are as clever as the shower steam that masks any nudity or smoke from a range fire in the kitchen.

You can pan around the house, zoom in with the wheel and rotate with the cursor keys to get that perfect angle on the action. The menus are all easy to read as are the icons that appear in the thought bubbles and floating menu prompts. It’s a very clean and functional interface.

There is no intelligible speech in Singles, but rather a unique hybrid of sim-speak with some German flair. I even thought it might have been German at first until I researched the issue and found out differently. While I would have preferred to hear the dialogue I fully understand that with ten characters and thousands of lines it would have been a massive undertaking for a game that isn’t likely to be a huge commercial success.

Of course the challenge goes beyond that, since you can mix and match your couples for maximum diversity, thus creating a tougher uphill battle to the bedroom. Looking for the ultimate challenge? Put the lesbian and the gay guy in the same apartment and try to get those two to hook up.

If you aren’t sure about the game or think the concept might wear thin you can download a playable demo and try it out yourself. If you like the game you can pay your $30 and download the full game with all of the scenarios, complete cast, and full catalog of items.

Singles is a unique but somewhat shallow approach to the complicated scenarios of establishing a relationship or simply nailing your roommate. It’s a bit predictable since there are firm rules in place and you have instant access to the results of your efforts. Plus, you don’t have the random psychotic nature of the female species to deal with. Show me a dating sim that charts those five magic days of the month where you need to move out and you’ll have a true relationship simulation.