The Sims 3 couldn’t have arrived at a worse time. The weather is actually (gasp) nice here in the UK. The sun has been out for three days solid. As it’s been lovely weather I decided to lay a lawn in my garden, something I’ve been meaning to do for about a year. Then I decided to demolish my bathroom. Needless to say, it’s been a busy weekend and the prospect of doing exactly the same thing in a computer game really didn’t appeal. But hell, I did it anyway! I’m just that kinda guy!
When I say I’ve spent a little bit of time with The Sims 3, I mean a little. But it appears from the few hours I’ve spent giving my Sim a beard, cycling to work, meeting men with “no sense of humour” at the beach, tinkering with ovens and wandering the neighbourhood, that the latest in the Sims franchise is bigger, better and bolder.
The world has expanded. Wander out of your house and you’ll no longer see the limits of the world, but a clock tower in the distance or the surrounding hills. Instead of buying expansion packs to wander to the market, it’s all here in The Sims 3. I was invited to a cooking competition to show off my culinary skills. Sadly, the oven set on fire and a rather ugly lady fire fighter came to help.
My Sim has traits, wishes and opportunities, that make him feel more defined than in previous games. My Sim feels more like an extension of me, rather than just a pixellated bugger wandering around the screen. I was pleasantly surprised that my Sim could stay alone a lot longer and not have that freaky, freaky friendship bunny turn up. Mind you, there’s still a painting of the floppy eared freak you can purchase for your wall, just in case you want a reminder of the horrors of loneliness.
The great thing is, if you’re a fan of The Sims, you’ll feel right at home. There are numerous gameplay improvements, especially around conversations and the ability to decide what to do at work, that round out parts that were lacking in previous titles, but the core of the game feels very familiar. Whether this is a good thing, I’ll have to see. EA have focused more on The Sims 3 online this time around. I noticed that I have £6 to spend on things for my Sim online. Here come the micro payments…
It’s interesting too, the more the world becomes alive, the more places there are to visit, well, where’s the limit? I wonder if The Sims franchise will go fully online, turn into some sort of huge social experience, where users make the content and the stories?
It’s not all good. I’m massively disappointed that EA have chosen not to render genitalia for a third time. I think The Sims 4 should have rendered genitalia. As you can see though, I managed to up my “handiness skill” while handling Mr Handy. Handy.
It’s great to play The Sims again. It’s still perversely satisfying. More soon…
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