The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack game

The Movies was one of 2005’s most desirable games, offering the chance to create your own film using a variety of elements.

The ability to post these on the internet made it an instant success, although it did fade away somewhat once repetitiveness kicked in. This first expansion pack adds a host of new features that should revitalise it.

Playing in some respects like The Sims, this Stunts & Effects expansion pack you have to recruit deranged meatheads to undertake your stunts.

This is highly entertaining, making them attempt more and more insane actions, which inevitably can end them in hospital, which you have to build to heal them. Naturally it takes time to evolve them into skilled souls that can handle devastating Hollywood explosions.

The game has been tweaked to make movie-making easier and ultimately more fun, with new editing facilities, improved camera techniques and a range of new sets and props.

The new camera is particularly inspired, allowing you to create fantastic panning shots that even Orson Welles would be impressed by.

While the game still has a few gripes – it takes longer than some might wish to create something that resembles a decent film and there’s still a lot of management to ensure actors behave themselves – it’s undoubtedly a brilliant expansion pack and we’d be shocked if it’s the last one.

Related reviews 
The Sims 2: Open for Business 
Verdict: Open for Business will appeal to Sims fans wanting more. For the rest of us, the joke is beginning to wear a little thin
Rating: 3/5
Price: £20