By any normal measure, we?d be done with The Sims by now.

Whatever dollhouse lightning Will Wright managed to bottle in this soap opera simulator has kept the franchise active long after the original hit the stands in 2000, so it is with some trepidation that we turn to the seventh, the latest and, possibly, the final expansion pack in the endless line of The Sims 2 add-ons. The Sims 2: Free Time hopes to entice you back to the game with the promise of new and improved hobbies. Yes, we?ve waited four years since The Sims 2 first came to life in 2004 so our little simulated families could get serious about collecting bugs and working on hot rods.

Once again we dive head-first into mini-world of imaginary people put through a series of escalatingly weird situations that would make a TV writer blush. I?m sure there are some Sims players who just try to put together a happy family with dad on the career path, mom at home watching the kids and working out, but surely those idyllic creators? efforts pale in the face of the massive numbers of Sims players who just want to build up their little computer people so they can crush them later.

Yes. The Sims 2 remains interactive entertainment?s version of watching TMZ on late-night TV. You know you need to go to bed, you know that what?s in front of you is devoid of any meaningful content, and yet it is totally entraining. You don?t need to know who Paris is dating, but you can?t stop looking. You don?t need to see if your Sim can get the hot mom next door into bed, but damnit, you?re gonna try.

Now, you can spice the same old fun with tales of architects who can?t stand oceanographers, and listen to blowhards who only want to talk about their tinkering hobby or go on and on about the cooking contests they?ve won.

The 10 new hobbies included in this pack include tinkering, cooking, fitness, sports, nature, science, music and dance, film and literature and, obviously enough, games. Sure, lots of these activities have made cameo in The Sims over the years and through the various expansion packs. This time, though, tinkering doesn?t just let you fix the toaster, it can lead to an obsession with remodeling junk cars. Expressing your creative side doesn?t just prop up your your Sim?s need for fun by slinging a little paint or pottery, now you can immerse yourself in the arts so deeply that it makes other needs easier to meet and might even lead to a little cash for your creative output.

In Free Time, simple hobbies just got complicated.

New careers also open the door for new fantasies. Tracks in entertainment and dance, life as a spy, wet suit wonderment in oceanography and a long-awaited chance to Mike Brady-out as an architect keep things interesting.

A feature sure to entice long-term The Sims 2 fans -- and leave the rest of the world scratching their heads -- is the idea of secondary lifetime aspiration. Now a Sim can want to reach the top rung of the corporate ladder and find true love. Meeting these aspirations provides items which, presumably, make life simpler. In addition to the previous addition of surreal characters such as vampires and robots, Free Time unleashes a wish-granting genie.

Detailing every single option in a game like this is about as useful as itemizing every item on every aisle in the grocery store. Sure, Free Time brings some new features to the game, but under the hood, it?s the same old Sims. Discovering that you can buy and customize a model train set for your home is novel, but that?s a sideshow to the main event, which remains the pleasure of exploring banal American middle-class life.

In that sense, finding Free Time on the shelves of your local computer game retailer isn?t all that different from discovering your local Furr?s Cafeteria has added lime Jell-O and chimichangas to the buffet: new flavors for sure, but then again, it?s not like you were at a loss for choices in the first place.

This leaves the longtime player with the excitement of having new stuff to do in a familiar setting. Having the chance to set your Sims to playing The Sims 3 or Spore on their teeny-weeny computer is cute enough to justify the price of the expansion. For anyone new to the series, this expansive library of options is easily overwhelming.

Just do the math. If you?ve kept up with each and every upgrade to the game over the years -- which means you have amassed six previous expansions, six stuff collections and a bill that ranks on the order of what you?d probably drop on a nasty World of Warcraft habit -- then you really don?t need much reason to add Free Time to the collection. All those expansions and packs amount to thousands of possible combinations of Sims on vacation, Sims with pets, Sims in winter coats, Sims that trick-or-treat, Sims celebrating Kwanzaa, and on and on.

On the other hand, if your copy of The Sims 2 sits on a dusty shelf someplace and it?s been years since you wrecked your peaceful Sims neighborhood by starting up a lesbian affair with the local astronaut?s wife and the daughter of their friends down the street, then Free Time acts as a reminder that this game still has juice.

Ultimately, Free Time is like a new season of "The Simpsons." You know the characters, can count on the humor, and don?t need a bunch of innovation getting in the way of enjoying an old friend. If Free Time is remarkable in any sense, it?s because The Sims 2 is still ridiculously entertaining all these years later.

This review is based on pre-release code final code provided by the publisher.