THE KING OF ALL LIFE SIMULATIONS RETURNS!

To be the best selling PC franchise of all time, you need to be able to tap into a market that very few games are able to. You need to be able to create a game, that will get the attention of a wider audience. An audience that might not be dedicated hardcore gamers. That's what The Sims franchise did perfectly, and the latest installment is about to hit PC's around the globe. So what is there to get excited about?

It's worth noting that I had already wrote up a preview for The Sims 3 some months back, but of course EA delayed the game to build up a better marketing campaign. The delay frustrated some, but it was understandable and gave new developers EA Redwood Shores more time to polish the title. Now we are less then a month away from it's Worldwide release, and there is quite a lot to discuss. A number of the improvements found in the latest installment, have been eagerly anticipated by fans ever since EA first unveiled The Sims 2 all those years ago. These include a open seamless neighbourhood, changes to the personality system and brand new design tools for the creative fans to enjoy. While it might not seem the great leap that The Sims 2 was over it's predecessor, the improvements are very much welcomed by most fans and some of the smaller less noticeable changes could also see the way gamers play change dramatically. 

The new seamless and load screen-less neighbourhoods will potentially make the biggest impact on Sim fans. Now gamers no longer have to suffer the boredom of loading screens as everything is seamless integrated into one large and happening town. The developers themselves have stated that this will change things dramatically, especially when one considers that time is no longer set to one specific house. As you play and your sims grow old, so does everyone else in the town. The development team have also stated that Sims living in your town will not just grow older, but will also get married, have children and take part in many other expected activities. Thankfully if you like things to be in your control, the game will also allow you to limit what town sims do. 

This change alone could make The Sims 3 a hit or miss affair. There are those that enjoy the randomness that often occurs in The Sims franchise, while there are some who enjoy being in control and seeing everything evolve through the click of the left mouse button. So while randomness could produce many interesting tales, you could also miss key parts of a certain sims life and that could frustrate some of the current Sims fanbase. Of course we will have to wait and see how that eventually turns out, though it does look promising. One other area that as seen some improvement, is in the personality system that we first saw in The Sims 2. While it provided a certain degree of customizability, it never truly provided the deeper character integration that fans were eager to see. The new system seen in The Sims 3 is quite something, you can now create unique personalities in your favourite sims. From the extremely insane and pure evil, to the scared and clumsy. The potentially most welcomed point of the new system though, comes with the ability of mixing up to five different personality traits and with up to 70 available with the original game. Well it's clear that customization is key.

One other key addition in The Sims 3, comes in the form of the much welcomed 'Create A Style' tool. This brand new tool allows create folk to have much more control over key design choices in almost everything they create. This allows for more screenshot worthy house designs and a better use of styles within the actual house. Basically allowing the creative fan to both be more creative but also provide a more unique touch of their own. I suspect any designer who enjoys The Sims franchise, Will be most eager to see what they can fully create with this new tool. There are also a few other changes in Build and Buy Mode, the old grid system found in the original Sims and it's sequel is gone. Replaced by a more direct and open layout platform that will allow house builders to be as creative as they can be. There will also be a special 'Expert' mode in B&B mode, which allows players to build even more unique looking houses without the key limitations of the normal layout grid. Some of these changes might appear small to your average gamer, but to those that find pure pleasure from designing content in The Sims. They are potentially massive improvements in there own right. 

While there is still some doubts surrounding The Sims 3, and it's debatable if this latest installment as been taken to heart by fans now that it's no longer directly developed by original developers Maxis. I believe the changes taking place are worth potential rough edges. The art design still hasn't won every fan over and even some of the smaller changes could take sometime to get use to. But there is no denying that many of the new additions are potentially refreshing and smart, with the biggest being the new seamless open neighbourhood. There is a lot of other changes I could have discussed deeper, for example the new smarter A.I systems which allow the player to enjoy the more enjoyable aspects of the game rather then helping your sim go to the toilet every couple of minutes. There have also been changed done to the job system, the way birth is handled and a reported new 'Create a Twin' feature rumoured from the Creative Camps that have been run recently. Infact it could be the smaller changes that are the most welcomed for fans, including myself.

Hopefully it will be a smooth launch for the title when it hits stores on June 2nd (NA), June 4th (Aus) and June 5th (EU). Either it could be the rebirth of The Sims franchise to a whole new generation, or it could be signs of a dying genre in games. Whatever happens, I do believe The Sims 3 offers enough unique new improvements to be worthy of it's retail price. Of course the many expansion packs are expected, but often welcomed by the huge community of dedicated (often to a scary but delightful degree) fans who I'm sure are counting the days until they can install The Sims 3 on their systems. As I said previously, there is a lot more I could have discussed, but I think this quick preview as already been long enough. So look forward to The Sims 3 from EA Redwood Shores in the coming weeks and I to will be eager to get my hands on it.
 
Thanks for Reading,
Joseph Bayliss (TrueEnglishGent)
(Twitter: JosephBayliss)