I am a huge fan of The Sims, I have been playing the game since the
very first series hit the market, and have been a fan follower ever
since. Nothing beats playing God. While I still think that The Sims 3
could have been released with more content, and additions, overall I
have enjoyed the game. However I have noticed a trend when it comes to
this game, and previous titles, like Sims, and Sims 2.
I seem to only play the game for about a month on and off whenever a new expansion pack is released.
Basically, the game has yet to become an addiction due to the lack in content and game play.
I enjoyed when they released Sims 3: Ambitions, which added some new game play, but I have for years been begging EA to focus more on our children and teens in the game. Mostly in the past they were just there, and really served no interesting purpose besides going to school or having their first kiss. That aside, they were just boring, and the lack in content designed for them was ridiculous.
The latest expansion pack hit shelves just yesterday (May 31st), and naturally I got my hands on a copy and was excited to see what this expansion pack would offer.
Now in the past, expansion packs usually packed a lot of new extras. While extra content is always a plus, fans look for extra game play, new features, and new social interactions or movements.
Generations offers a little bit of both, but for me, things just seemed to have fallen short. In fact, the only thing I really like the most is the new capability to adjust aging. You can extend your Sims lives with the new lifespan tool that has been hidden in the options section of the game. You can basically adjust it so your Sim baby only stays a baby for a day, or longer if you want. Or if you want to extend your childhood years, you can do that too. I especially was grateful for this, seeing that I did not want my Sim to get old yet.
So What Do You Get Then?
When I first loaded the game for play, I was excited with the new start up screen. It reminded me of some sort of summery/fall mix, with a cool winding tree bending all around the screen in black. It looked like a sweet tattoo. It gave off this season vibe though, and I'm thinking, 'oh joy, weather must be in this one!'.... Uhm. No such luck folks. No weather but perhaps this screen start up is a glimpse at the near future?
At any rate, I did not want to create a new family of Sims, so I just started my game up where I left off, with my family of 6. A husband and wife, 2 children, 1 teen, and a homemade robot.
The game bothered me to check out the newest features with tips on what I could expect to find in the newest expansion pack.
A quick glance through all of the new features, and I was excited. Kids could play pranks and get punished. Depending on the level of severity, the punishments would differ. Teens now could prepare for prom night, and weddings would include bachelor/bachelorette parties for newly engaged Sims.
The focus seemed to really be on children and teens though, which is something I have been waiting for. Still though, we could use more outfits for children and teens. Not only that the teen department is still lacking in excitement.
Anyhow, I strolled around and played the game for quite a bit over the last 2 days, and I have mixed feelings. This expansion pack is definitely one of the lesser favorites due to the lack of new game play, and fans of the series will find this one to be one of the most lackluster expansions in the series thus far.
Teen Party's
Randomly during game play I was given a free 2 day vacation for all the adults in my home. I knew what this meant, home alone for my teen and child Sims. Home alone= party time! So naturally I hosted a teen party.
These parties are more interesting than teen Sims, as adults cannot ground themselves for partying to hard or making a mess. The engagement party feature is neat because your Sims will party on like never before, and it adds an interesting new twist to the party scene in the game.
New Social Interactions
I like the new social interactions such as gift giving, or give flowers. You can give other Sims flowers, or gifts. Gifts all depend on what is in your inventory.
A fun new Sims I also liked is Ghost Story, where your Sims have the option to tell scary stories to other Sims. It really draws a crowd in when you are ghost story telling, which is neat.
Sharing Memories
This feature is probably the most annoying feature any expansion pack has ever had. Every and any little thing your Sims do will pop up at the upper right side of your screen letting you know of such memories, and if you want to share it. Most will say no, or disable this annoying pop up that occurs Sims very 30 seconds. However before you disable it, share them on your Sims 3 exchange page in order to unlock free content.
Children Additions
The new additions for children are noticed, but again, lackluster. There is a new toy box that allows your children to dress in costume and play pretend. It does not add any sort of skills, so using it is relatively useless as well. It is fun watching them play pretend dressed up in dinosaur outfits, or princess wardrobe, but again, its fun factor only goes as far as you are willing to sit there and watch.
The tree house provides a new method of play, and if you have one in the yard your Sim children will be drawn to it when left unsupervised on free will. It is annoying though, to find that they are ALWAYS in it, and never really doing much of anything else. They even have the option to sleep in it, which they will do, constantly.
There is also a new playground, hopscotch game for them to play outside, a sandbox and a few new floor toys for them to interact with.
Baby Sims come with a doll that can turn into an imaginary friend, and with the chemistry lab, you can transform that imaginary friend into a full time member of the household. I guess this feature is one of the best ones so far that I have found. That is if you want an odd creepy looking doll clown thing roaming around as a normal Sim would.
Other
Other new additions you will find within the game are gnomes that also age supposedly. You would have to wait long term here to see any effects. I have not noticed any new or strange behaviors in my gnomes though.
Body hair has also been added, if that means anything to you.
New clothing and objects for the home have also been added. Nothing stuck out as remarkable in my opinion though. I do however like the added hairstyles. You will not get many, but the ones included are decent enough.
Clothing is horrendous. I think the only thing acceptable for in game use would be the new skirt for teen girls. Other than that, everything looks dull and lacking in detail which aggravated me considering the nice sets we got with the last expansion pack.
Overall:
This expansion pack should have been priced $10.00 lower than what is is being sold for at this time. I like it well enough, the new features are just OK though, and they really could have poured a bit more into this one. I am hesitant to see what comes out of the next expansion pack, and bummed that I was all excited for Generations, and all it delivered were a few new features.
I seem to only play the game for about a month on and off whenever a new expansion pack is released.
Basically, the game has yet to become an addiction due to the lack in content and game play.
I enjoyed when they released Sims 3: Ambitions, which added some new game play, but I have for years been begging EA to focus more on our children and teens in the game. Mostly in the past they were just there, and really served no interesting purpose besides going to school or having their first kiss. That aside, they were just boring, and the lack in content designed for them was ridiculous.
The latest expansion pack hit shelves just yesterday (May 31st), and naturally I got my hands on a copy and was excited to see what this expansion pack would offer.
Now in the past, expansion packs usually packed a lot of new extras. While extra content is always a plus, fans look for extra game play, new features, and new social interactions or movements.
Generations offers a little bit of both, but for me, things just seemed to have fallen short. In fact, the only thing I really like the most is the new capability to adjust aging. You can extend your Sims lives with the new lifespan tool that has been hidden in the options section of the game. You can basically adjust it so your Sim baby only stays a baby for a day, or longer if you want. Or if you want to extend your childhood years, you can do that too. I especially was grateful for this, seeing that I did not want my Sim to get old yet.
So What Do You Get Then?
When I first loaded the game for play, I was excited with the new start up screen. It reminded me of some sort of summery/fall mix, with a cool winding tree bending all around the screen in black. It looked like a sweet tattoo. It gave off this season vibe though, and I'm thinking, 'oh joy, weather must be in this one!'.... Uhm. No such luck folks. No weather but perhaps this screen start up is a glimpse at the near future?
At any rate, I did not want to create a new family of Sims, so I just started my game up where I left off, with my family of 6. A husband and wife, 2 children, 1 teen, and a homemade robot.
The game bothered me to check out the newest features with tips on what I could expect to find in the newest expansion pack.
A quick glance through all of the new features, and I was excited. Kids could play pranks and get punished. Depending on the level of severity, the punishments would differ. Teens now could prepare for prom night, and weddings would include bachelor/bachelorette parties for newly engaged Sims.
The focus seemed to really be on children and teens though, which is something I have been waiting for. Still though, we could use more outfits for children and teens. Not only that the teen department is still lacking in excitement.
Anyhow, I strolled around and played the game for quite a bit over the last 2 days, and I have mixed feelings. This expansion pack is definitely one of the lesser favorites due to the lack of new game play, and fans of the series will find this one to be one of the most lackluster expansions in the series thus far.
Teen Party's
Randomly during game play I was given a free 2 day vacation for all the adults in my home. I knew what this meant, home alone for my teen and child Sims. Home alone= party time! So naturally I hosted a teen party.
These parties are more interesting than teen Sims, as adults cannot ground themselves for partying to hard or making a mess. The engagement party feature is neat because your Sims will party on like never before, and it adds an interesting new twist to the party scene in the game.
New Social Interactions
I like the new social interactions such as gift giving, or give flowers. You can give other Sims flowers, or gifts. Gifts all depend on what is in your inventory.
A fun new Sims I also liked is Ghost Story, where your Sims have the option to tell scary stories to other Sims. It really draws a crowd in when you are ghost story telling, which is neat.
Sharing Memories
This feature is probably the most annoying feature any expansion pack has ever had. Every and any little thing your Sims do will pop up at the upper right side of your screen letting you know of such memories, and if you want to share it. Most will say no, or disable this annoying pop up that occurs Sims very 30 seconds. However before you disable it, share them on your Sims 3 exchange page in order to unlock free content.
Children Additions
The new additions for children are noticed, but again, lackluster. There is a new toy box that allows your children to dress in costume and play pretend. It does not add any sort of skills, so using it is relatively useless as well. It is fun watching them play pretend dressed up in dinosaur outfits, or princess wardrobe, but again, its fun factor only goes as far as you are willing to sit there and watch.
The tree house provides a new method of play, and if you have one in the yard your Sim children will be drawn to it when left unsupervised on free will. It is annoying though, to find that they are ALWAYS in it, and never really doing much of anything else. They even have the option to sleep in it, which they will do, constantly.
There is also a new playground, hopscotch game for them to play outside, a sandbox and a few new floor toys for them to interact with.
Baby Sims come with a doll that can turn into an imaginary friend, and with the chemistry lab, you can transform that imaginary friend into a full time member of the household. I guess this feature is one of the best ones so far that I have found. That is if you want an odd creepy looking doll clown thing roaming around as a normal Sim would.
Other
Other new additions you will find within the game are gnomes that also age supposedly. You would have to wait long term here to see any effects. I have not noticed any new or strange behaviors in my gnomes though.
Body hair has also been added, if that means anything to you.
New clothing and objects for the home have also been added. Nothing stuck out as remarkable in my opinion though. I do however like the added hairstyles. You will not get many, but the ones included are decent enough.
Clothing is horrendous. I think the only thing acceptable for in game use would be the new skirt for teen girls. Other than that, everything looks dull and lacking in detail which aggravated me considering the nice sets we got with the last expansion pack.
Overall:
This expansion pack should have been priced $10.00 lower than what is is being sold for at this time. I like it well enough, the new features are just OK though, and they really could have poured a bit more into this one. I am hesitant to see what comes out of the next expansion pack, and bummed that I was all excited for Generations, and all it delivered were a few new features.
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