30 days day 12 - whatever tickles your fancy

12. Whatever tickles your fancy

Today I want to talk to you about The Sims 3.

Now I have been an avid fan of The Sims 2 for around two years now... that can’t be right, but I started playing around October 2009 so it must be...:O

I have tens of families, hundreds of people, I’ve nurtured countless babies into elders, taught them to walk, sent them to university, given them homes and jobs and weddings.

So imagine my excitement to try The Sims 3 – a whole new game which has been changed so the neighbourhood is completely free, no more loading screens to go to shops n stuff. All the promotional videos and pictures make it look amazing, revolutionary...

Now I have tried it a total of two times. And both times... I got bored. Yes me who can play The Sims 2 for literally 12 hours of the day and more if let loose on it. I’ve tried the new create-a-sim, I’ve tried the free neighbourhood. I’ve tried going to visit people, and putting furniture on a 45^o angle.

My conclusion... The Sims 3 is Not an upgrade to The Sims 2 – it’s a souped up version of The Sims 1. It’s clunky, the graphics are pixelly even on high levels, you can visit the town freely – but there’s nothing to do when you get there, the menu system is suddenly hard to navigate, for some reason my Sims head is tilted to the side permanently when I click on something for her to do. All the Sims look the same – a version of that round faced, empty eyed look. All my Sims 2 people look different!

They have concentrated far too much on their new fancy graphics, it feels as if they’ve compromised on other things. Someone who loves the immersion in the virtual world of The Sims 2, should not get bored by a newer game in the same series!!

I will give it a few more goes I think, perhaps I’ll try family life – make a few babies, see how I get on with that. I want to try some of the expansion and stuff packs too, maybe the base game is just boring and it’ll get better with more added to it.

All in all I’m mostly inclined to stick with The Sims 2 for now. It satisfies my virtual needs. Perhaps number 4 will be better?