he Sims 3: World Adventures Expansion Pack Review
The latest expansion pack for The Sims 3 is is sure to reignite your relationship with your digital family.
Format: PC
Developer: EA Black Box
Publisher: EA
Released: Out now
Score: 8/10
Allow me to introduce you to Dave. Dave is a slender, 6' tall man with brown curly hair. Very pleasant chap. Bored with the hum drum of everyday life, Dave sets his sights on having an adventure. Fancying himself as a bit of a Lara Croft, Dave heads to Egypt for a spot of tomb raiding where he hopes to find an ancient relic to sit on his mantelpiece at home and become a humorous talking point at one of his legendary dinner parties. After finding a tomb to raid and dodging a few fire traps, Dave happens upon a secret door behind which lies an ancient sarcophagus. Prizing open the front to see what treasures await, Dave is unexpectedly cursed and turned into a Mummy. Unable to reach the healing Sphinx's tomb in time, Dave unfortunately perishes, leaving behind a loving wife and never finding his relic after all. Silly Dave. Dave, of course, is my Sim and this is just one of the many (pre-death) adventures we had in EA's stunning new expansion for Sims 3, World Adventure.
At the heart of these adventures, you’ll be sending your Sims to three new fictional towns of Shang Simla, Al Simhara and Champs les Sims (I see what they've done there) set in Egypt, France and China. World Adventures does a wonderful job of transporting you to these fictional towns, not only presenting you with some stunning scenery but tying in everything from the architecture to the sound track to really set the style and tone of each locale. Gone are the days where a new location was a simple re-skinning of old material without anything else of significance to alter the game. The Sims: On Holiday this is not. Each new town is lovingly realised with excellent attention to detail meaning that you’ll spend hours getting lost, exploring the weird and wonderful locations and chatting to the town’s folk.
Upon arrival at each of your holiday destinations, all the essentials you'll need to get started are given at base camp. Acting as your home away from home, base camp offers your Sim all the amenities it will need in order to survive across the pond including food, showers and a place to rest its weary head after a hard days exploring. Here you are presented with the job board which displays the open adventures and quests to keep you busy whilst on your travels. Whether it’s collecting rare minerals or exploring an ancient tomb, there is always plenty to keep you occupied.
Length of stay is dictated by the level of your visa which you upgrade via visa points. These points are accrued through meeting the objectives and quests on the adventure board and give the game an almost RPG feel to the proceedings. Higher grade visas not only extend the amount of time you get in each town, but also open up new adventures and could even see you to buying a holiday home.
One of the greatest departures for the series comes in the form of the tomb exploration found in each town, turning any fledgling Sim into a veritable Indiana Jones. Inside the tombs you take direct control over your Sim to solve simple block pushing puzzles, bypass traps and discover hidden doorways. Further pushing the RPG elements, certain skill levels are needed to negotiate different hazards. Whilst not in keeping with the usual style of play found in the Sims series, the exploration and tomb raiding do offer a good change of pace and will keep you searching every nook and cranny until you discover the long lost treasures of Al Simhara.
No Sims expansion pack would be complete without a whole world of new furniture, outfits and skills to get to grips with. World Adventures doesn’t scrimp in this area either providing a fantastic new set of skills for your Sims to learn. Whether it be learning the way of the dragon as a kung fu master in China, refining their culinary skills with nectar making in France or honing their photographer's eye, your Sims are sure to come back with a wealth of new skills to impress, well, other Sims. Another new feature on offer is the chance to go underground and build a whole new basement to your beautifully created architectural masterpiece. Now you can expand your pixelated dollhouse into the ground and create your dream basement. *cough* games room *cough*.
In a bid to fend off post holiday blues, EA have made sure the adventure doesn’t come to an end when touching down back in Sunset Valley. Intertwining the original Sims 3 with its expansion, the two worlds combine to offer even more, subtle content that rings throughout the main game in little touches which are sure to captivate. Souvenirs decorate your homes whilst guests can be invited over to taste the delights of your nectar making skills. Even your new found foreign friends can pay you a visit should the feeling take you.
If you’re a Sims fan and looking to reignite your relationship with your digital family then World Adventures is an excellent addition, jam packed with new content and gameplay. Far from the expansions of old, World Adventures is a more ambitious project and these ambitions it realises with all the ease and charm we’ve come to expect from the series. From the finely detailed characters and locations right down to the music and humorous jabbering of your on screen chums, one can’t help but fall in love with Sims all over again. At £29.99, this 'expansion pack' doesn't come cheap and bizarrely costs the same as a stand-alone title. If you're willing to foot the bill then the sheer amount of new content on display is sure to make this a reunion to remember.
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