Hello there fellow Simmers! As my first post, I thought a good start would be a review on the base game of TS3. Yes, I know it was released over 2 years ago, but it's never too late to influence others to join the cult right?
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| The Collector's Edition of TS3 |
I got a Collector's Edition, which came with a bunch of pretty nifty stuff like the plumbob thumbdrive seen above, as well as redeemable items on The Sims 3 store online. Other than that, as I pre-ordered the game, I could attend the Launch event at Iluma to redeem the game. I came in the dress code (which was to wear something green), so I got a free poster. I was also amongst the first 600 simmers there, and that earned me a cool Sims 3 t-shirt!
Moving on to the review now,
"Let there be Sims". This was the phrase plastered on buildings in LA, on double decker buses in Singapore during the course of the highly anticipated wait for the third installment for the game. For the past decade, the Sims franchise has stayed at a prominent spot in the world's top ten best selling PC games - having sold over 100 million copies of the game worldwide. That's a whole lot of Simmers out there. Although it is possible to argue that the majority are females who treat the game as a virtual dollhouse, there's more than that. It's about living a life different from your own, whether you will create your dream family living in a mansion or ruin the lives of Sims and dump them at a trailer park to rummage through rubbish, the possibilities are infinite. In the case of the Sims 3, it is a balance between the fresh and the familiar. Seasoned Simmers will feel like welcomed guests, as for the stranger to Sims, here is a big warm welcome to the family.
In the Sims 3, the Sims still speak the familiar Simlish, some sound effects are recycled, the tunes that accompany the Buy and Build mode are also rather familiar, the hidden jokes in the loading screen have a degree of similarity, and the game play is still about getting a job, getting married, raising a family before moving on to the next generation.
So what is the difference between the Sims 3 and its predecessors?
Now, the game does not simply revolve around a single household, and you no longer have to stare at the loading screen each time your Sims go downtown to shop. This new found freedom allows you to seamlessly move around the neighbourhood. Your Sims can no go anywhere in town in a blink of an eye. Now, with a single click you zoom out into the map mode before zooming back in to your individual Sims again. Perhaps your bookworm Sim could go to the library while your genius Sims challenges his co-workers to a game of chess in the park, and your other Sims - the friendly one, is making new friends at a barbeque party at the beach.
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| Example of a male Sim I made in Sims 3. |
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| Example of a female Sim I made in Sims 3. |
This brings about the next big change. When creating your Sims, you can not only pick 5 different traits for them making Sims more human-like than ever, you can now alter their weight, muscle mass, vary hair colour, eyebrows, eye colour, favourite food, favourite music and the list goes on and on. The newly introduced traits will affect the Sim's life. For example, a kleptomaniac and evil Sim would probably choose the criminal career path, and an outgoing charismatic Sim would make an excellent leader of the world, whereas a family oriented Sim might probably choose to stay at home and raise 6 children.
All these changes really led lifelong fans like me to wonder how we could have possibly enjoyed playing the previous installments.
Although there are numerous hits, there are still misses. Ignoring several bugs in the game which is common amongst EA games; the graphics are not as promising as I thought it would be. Yes, the Sims look more realistic with softer features; and yes, the graphics in the game are more detailed, from the shadows to the book covers as seen from the window display of the bookshop. Yet, the graphics are not revolutionary, neither is there a drastic improvement from Sims 2. Whereas there was obvious start differences between the Sims that suffer from pixelation in the original Maxis made Sims and the 3D lifelike Sims in Sims 2. Although the graphics are pretty amazing, it was still disappointing that the makers did not push the bounderies even further.
There are also noticeable holes that previous Sims expansions have filled, such as pets to own, seasons and different weather, casting magical spells, and opening your own business. However, I dare bet that the creators are simply waiting to release Sims 3 expansion packs and earn more Simoleons (§). Other than that, the performance of the game play is smooth and almost never sluggish.
The Sims 3 is more than simply a better playing Sims experience, it is impeccable. It never fails to deliver the trademark Maxis humour and is highly entertaining at all times. Although there is still some room for more innovation and growth, it will not fail to deliver the winning formula.
Overall rating - 9.0
Even without online content, there is enough in the game to get you hooked. Keeping your Sims happy is now highly entertaining rather that irritating. This re-incarnation receives a 2 thumbs up!
PS. If you haven't gotten it yet, now is a great time to get it as prices have fallen and there are really good deals available now like the Sims 3 Deluxe which includes the Base Game and the Ambitions expansion pack. So what are you waiting for?
So the next Sims 3 expansion pack will be the Sims 3 Pets. It is coming out this fall, 18th October for North America and 20th October for European Union countries, as for Singapore I'm not too sure.
