Such an addictive game (The Sims 3 (PC))

Member Name: rz1234

Product:	The Sims 3 (PC)
Date:	28/09/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ability to travel quickly between places in the neighbourhood

Disadvantages: Do not have features of past expansion packs

I bought The Sims 3 as I had enjoyed playing past Sims games.

The box advertises that the game comes with free SimPoints, which allow you to buy additional clothing/furniture etc online. At first I thought this was going to be another way of them making money (like with past expansion packs), however there have been some free items made available, as well as a number of items created by other members of The Sims community which you do not have to pay for. The game allows you to customise the colour and texture of pretty much everything, so for somebody like me who enjoys playing the game but isn't so good at the creative side, this is great.

Whilst it is disappointing to not have all the features of past expansion packs (I particularly enjoyed the Open For Business pack in The Sims 2), there is a lot that has been maintained, and the new features make it worth starting over again.

You are now able to do things like fishing and gardening, which I have really enjoyed as it adds extra elements into the game rather than just the skill points. The downside to this is if you are like me and like to get everything done, you will need to turn ageing off in order to get it all done. You can however choose how long the game should last (altering the lifespan of the sims) which is a nice touch.

Whereas before you would have a number of households in one neighbourhood, the game now works with one household to a neighbourhood, but you can have more than one version of each neighbourhood so you can create as many families as you like. Whilst I was not too sure about this idea at first, it has grown on me, and it is good that you can't wreck your other households by doing something stupid.

My favourite feature has to be that you now can just click a button to go elsewhere in the neighbourhood - no more waiting ages for a taxi to come, waiting for the game to load, spending a few minutes on location only for your sim to feel tired and have to return home leaving you to go through it all again. Whilst this has led to some things being restricted (you can for example go into the library but not the restaurant) it makes the game feel better. I have had this game for a few months now and still find it addictive enough that I keep coming back for more!

Summary: An excellent game, if you liked past The Sims games you will love this