(Old review – from the original HNTDAAB) Publisher: EA Developer: Maxis Year of Release: 2009 Platforms: PC I’m going assume everyone reading this has played the Sims at some point....

(Old review – from the original HNTDAAB)

Publisher: EA
Developer: Maxis
Year of Release: 2009
Platforms: PC

I’m going assume everyone reading this has played the Sims at some point. It’s become such a cultural thing that if you were to even mention gaming in a public conversation, this is the game most people would think of. So what does this latest upgrade bring to the series? And is it really worth buying at all?

For the non-existent person who is sat on the internet and hasn’t got a clue what the Sims is, let us enlighten you. The Sims is a series of effectively life management games where you control the lives of one or more Sims though their lives, including relationships, jobs and doing all of your fantasies to the poor innocent people you control on the screen, you sicko. The other thing with the Sims was the huge number of player made content available to the rest of the community.

So what has EA added to the formula in order that they won’t get lynched by the hordes of fans? Well one of the main changes to the game is the introduction of a two layered wishes system. The upper layer is the lifetime wishes, which are chosen when you create a sim. This is the Sims overall aim in life, be it to become a rock star or even the leader of the free world. As well as that, there are also everyday wishes which pop up regularly during the days in the game. By achieving these they add to your lifetime happiness which allows you to then give your character lifelong buffs. Another new idea is opportunities, effectively quests that also contribute towards your lifetime happiness. Speaking of buffs, the game also gives you buffs and nerfs based on your Sims mood. These bonuses are known as moodlets and can be either devastating to your Sims life or make them last for even longer.

The games also had another major improvement in the world. EA has knocked the walls down and made neighbourhoods linked together, requiring only one load time. This makes visiting the community lots a lot more interesting and worthwhile, as there is no risk that maybe there will be nothing useful there and you have to sit through another huge load time to go home. As part of this, Sims can now buy transport such as cars and bikes to store them on their lots. Additionally, there are now more items that Sims can stash in their inventories such as stereos and guitars.

Sims 3 have also seen a big improvement in its graphics. Your Sims are now approaching Uncanny Valley territory, and look slightly scary roaming around their world. This can be seen most in the updated create a sim which now includes more sliders to make customization easier and a new styles tool, allowing you to theme your clothes to your wallpaper and furniture. This is a great new feature, making it a lot easier to make a good looking set without having to have a million different downloads. In terms of modabilty, the game also includes much greater integration with both the community downloads and a new micro transactions store set up by EA. Both of these are great but the

So overall, is The Sims 3 actually worth it? Well it really depends on how much you spent on the Sims 2. If you only picked up the main game or maybe one or two expansions then yes the Sims 3 is a lot better and should be a purchase. However, if you bought all the expansions for the Sims 2 then the sheer drop in content between a fully expanded Sims 2 and a copy of Sims 3 means the newer game isn’t actually better. But if you’re a new player then this is the edition for you – its closer to a game than ever before. Overall though, its just the Sims but slightly updated.