The Sims 3

Goodbye Montsimpa, hello Sunset Valley with its museums, its beach and its city centre… You will have a new setting to explore, but as usual, first things first and that is to find a roof. And guess what? Things have changed here as well. You can now rent your house either empty or furnished (which will be a little more expensive). This is a bonus for players that prefer to quickly get into the subjects life, with this being an options that once again allows you to personalize your choices.
As for the controls of the players, the game play’s concept hasn’t changed. You simply have to evolve your Sim through his career (after you have found one), complete his dreams and short term objectives. You will still have to buy objects, meet other Sims and pick up some skills in areas that interest him. The player will feel at home right from the beginning, even with the new features in the game play, while new players will find explanations throughout the game. Maxis have provided an explanation sheet about all of the aspects of the game which can be displayed if you want. It’s not possible to get lost in this kind of game, but a few subtleties can sometimes slow you down. This is where the small instructions come in handy. You will also have to get used to the new interface, which hasn’t really changed fundamentally. A few aspects have been moved around but it shouldn’t take long to find what you are looking for.

The freedom is what hit us the most when first moving around. Now, with a simple click you will have an overall view of your town with the houses of other Sims marked along with community areas, museums, the beach, the town hall, cemetery, etc…. To go to one of these areas you will simply have to click on the symbol, with numerous choices then being showed before a taxi arrives to collect you. Gone are the load times, as you simply have to call for a taxi to take you from one location to another. The movements are natural: the taxi will take you wherever you want to go. We are surprised to see that the Sims cars have the capability of moving through each other without any accidents being registered. The effect is surprising the first time, but then you get used to these collisions. Even the pedestrians have nothing to worry about, as the cars go right through them as well…

The Sims movements are now also pleasant. You move where you want, with new activities on offer, like the possibility of going to the beach… Everything has been simplified so that it is faster and leaves you more time to enjoy the game. This is a very good point, as the downloads that continually interrupted the game were rather exasperating. This ease of access to the different points in the town will also push you to move your character more. And we won’t hide our enjoyment that after a hard days work there is nothing better then going to take a drink besides the beach, or a massage at the local heath centre.