Sims 3: Ambitions; Gamers First Impressions

I have been following The Sims franchise ever since the very first PC game came out about a decade ago. Wow, I am still in awe that the series has come so far, and I'm in awe that the games have managed to keep me coming back for more, with each and every new release, and expansion pack.

The Sims 3 came out a year ago, yeah it's hard to believe it was that long ago isn't it? Since then though, we have seen 2 new expansion packs, and one not so hot stuff pack.

While Sims 3 World Adventures didn't manage to make a fan out of me, and the game came with more issues than it did fun, I was in no hurry to run out and pre-order The Sims 3: Ambitions. I waited around for a bit and hit up online forums waiting to hear about user issues. Luckily nothing really came up. So I figured for the time being, it was safe to go ahead and buy a copy of the game.

Once I had the game in hand, I went ahead and began playing it. I didn't waste any time.

The first thing I noticed that they had added with this second expansion pack, was the new town TwinBrook. I decided to start a new game here in TwinBrook to get a feel for it, and see what the town offered.

First and foremost, visiting TwinBrook made me miss my custom made town, that I spent hours putting together. After poking around the unfamiliar town, I decided it was one I wold not play often, if at all. It seemed to back woods for my liking, as my custom made town is all beached out, with palms and Miami homes to match it.

Granted TwinBrooks is an interesting town, it is also one where I would expect some Michael Myers Sim to pop out and hack up my Sims. The rustic old broken down train yard is especially interesting.
You also have a slew of new buildings like a junk yard, scrap house to trade in your scraps, sculptures, and inventions at. A new firehouse is also included, with other buildings of interest. I did not get to fully explore all of them yet, but I noticed that a lot of the extra building in TwinBrooks is just for show, and there is no interactions involved with them. I was especially miffed to see that the airport was completely inaccessible.

Basically TwinBrook is a sight for your eyes, with not much to do. Well except for take on new professions.

I tinkered with 3 professions, fashion, Architect and ghost hunting.

When it comes to ghost hunting, the very first few jobs capturing ghosts was a lot of fun, but it loses its charm rather fast, and then just gets boring.

Your Sim will work 5 days out of the week, at night, and you simply scroll out to see where there are haunts. Sometimes you will also get called to do jobs. Once complete you then have to take your captured spirits over to the science lab to trade them in for money.

It's a lot of work, and there is no way to tell when your shift is over, so you can stop catching ghosts whenever you want, or you can continue to capture them long past your scheduled shift time. I don't really like this aspect of the game though, because I lost track and worked overtime for around 4 hours. Not that it matters, but it loses the lifelike feel of clocking in and out.

There is also no set job place for ghost hunting, you sort of just hop in your car, and go on a hunt.
As this review is my first impressions of the game, I have not gotten yet to fully explore the firefighter profession, or investigator.

With the fashion profession, your Sim basically heads to work when scheduled to work in Lou's Tattoo Parlor. With each shift you will be given an assignment to complete. You get paid if you finish, and if you fail your client ends up with a bad hair cut or silly tattoo. You are given a list of things the client wants done. It's easy enough, but the thing I don't like about it is that if you have made all of your Sims in your town to your liking, you may have to change them around in order to complete your job for the day.

Tattoos in the game are a new fun twist, but if you are a frequent visitor to modding sites, likely you already have a library of tattoos. The ones in the game though are done really well giving you a nice array of options to place the tattoos. You can re-size them, color them, and even increase and decrease how dark the ink is on your Sims skin.

All in all I like the tattoo aspect of the expansion pack, but don't like having to change my Sims looks around in the fashion section.

Anyhow, your Sims can also opt to be self employed, but now they have to register with City Hall. I like this addition because it makes your artists, writers, and tinker Sims feel more important, and they even get recognition.

I've been exploring becoming an inventor, but the process is slow, and takes time, as would any skill you are attempting to improve for your Sim.

New workstations have been added for inventors, sculptors, construction workers, and other items for job related tasks.

On to the Architect. This job is really fun, and like fashion you will be given a list of tasks that clients want done on their homes. You are given a list, a budget, and you begin the job.

It's basically just sending your Sim to a house, and you work in Build Mode to give the client what they want, such as new doors, new windows, paint, and so on. For gamers who love building this is a fun job to take on.

Now, moving on to other additions in the game that I especially loved.
 
You will find some new hair styles, some are garbage and others like the men haircuts are done really well.

A very welcomed addition is the Chopper, which your Sims can actually ride on. There is also an addition of a longer driveway for parked cars, and I have not figured out what it is for, or why it is added, but I imagine it is for a Limo, which I have yet to see.

Other new items you will find include paintings, knick knacks, the newly added laundry items which you can use to wash clothing. Sims can also now recycle, and I think you'll really enjoy the newly added trampoline!

Seriously this expansion pack added just enough goodies for me to feel satisfied in my purchase, and not many of the expansion packs, since the very beginning impressed me all too much. This one though, they did it right, so bravo to EA for a change!

What I'd love to see next time though, is pets or celebrities! I loved having visits in previous games of actual celebrity's made into Sims.