The Sims 3

The Sims 3

Website: The Sims 3
Publisher: EA Play
Developer: EA Black Box, Visceral Games
Genre: Simulation
Platform: PC, Mac

After reviewing a bunch of bite-size games, I thought it's time I attempted a commercial game. Back when I actually have time to play games, The Sims was one of my favorite time wasters. I played the first and the second game, now I have the third game in the series and I've got swanky green bling to show for it (i.e. the thumb drive)! I'm clearly not the only fan -- The Sims has garnered an enormous fan base as well as a dedicated modding community, which is a sure-tell sign of a game's success. So what is it that is so compelling about The Sims?

Something compelling... there...

If you've never heard of The Sims, it's a game of simulated life. It's a sandbox game -- instead of playing towards a goal, you simply make up your own goals and your own narrative, even. The player controls a family of Sims, simulated people who listen to your every bidding. If you choose not to control their actions, they act on their own. Like in real life, your Sim could make a meal, have a night out in town with friends, work for a job promotion, settle down and make a family, and many others. Also not unlike real life, your Sim has needs to fulfill and there's rent to pay.

"Picnics mean no dirty dishes to wash. I don't eat at home anymore."

There isn't a "best" way to play the game but if you fulfill your Sim's Wishes (such as going on a date or eating a bowl of mac and cheese), you have more points to spend on Lifetime Happiness rewards, perks that improve your Sim in various ways. A Sim with the Steel Bladder attribute won't have to worry about peeing in his or her pants whereas an Attractive Sim gets a lot of glances in their direction. Then,you could work on your Sim's skills are not only necessary for job promotions but are also useful for hobbies like gardening or fishing. At the peak of your Sim's career, there's is no shortage of cash. When you've turned your Sim into a multimillionaire with a huge mansion filled with designer furniture and made friends with the entire town, what's there left to do?

"Blue phallic sea monsters? Not in my town!"

You could start a family, watch your little Sim babies grow up and repeat the cycle. You could explore the local crypt, become the best cook in town, find the secret to everlasting life (yes, it exists), break a few hearts, become a rockstar, design a Frank Gehry-inspired masterpiece of a building, feed your pet piranha named Pooch, catch a burglar, sculpt a bodybuilder's physique at the gym, punch your arch-nemesis, buy out the local hospital, join in a protest against mysterious sea monsters, steal candy from a baby -- the possibilities are many... but not endless. Eventually you'll play out every possible interaction and then you're left wondering: what's next?

"I could do this all day."

Well, this is perhaps what makes a Sims game so compelling. You could wake in the morning, go to work, come home to your loving family. Or you could commit arson, kick your neighbour's trash can then sleep over at a lover's place. There is a lot of freedom to create your own narrative and huge internet communities have been formed for this purpose. Mod The Sims is a website and forum where anyone could share and download user-created content for their Sims game, ranging from custom eye colors and makeup to beautiful villas and even new objects with hacked behaviors, such as a voodoo lamp that could deliver a fast and painful death to any Sim of your choosing. You could then download Paris Hilton and put her in your game where you film a movie, directing her through a series of unfortunate events eventually leading to her demise. This process of film making with games is known as machinima. The trending popularity of this has not eluded the makers of the Sims -- with Sims 3, anyone could upload the movies they created in-game to the official website. This has resulted in some creative storytelling efforts (but mostly terrible ones). The point is that the experience of creating something of your own is extremely satisfying, whether it's making a short film or hacking a coffee maker object to make it talk. You might have played the entire game inside out but you are only limited by your own imagination when it comes to playing in the sandbox.

"I think Daddy just left me a huge inheritance!"

What's more, the amount of customization in the game is staggering. The wardrobe of clothing by itself has a disappointing selection but every part of the clothing could be customized with a different pattern and color. This also applies to the floor tiles and most of the objects in the game. If you ever want to live in a world with only pink in it, you could. The game allows you to put in your own music which could be played on the radio in-game. The Sim also has customizable physical attributes so you could create your dream man or lady. Something I thought is very interesting is the use of thought and speech bubbles in Sim-to-Sim interaction and Simlish. Simlish sounds like a foreign language that makes no sense. It actually doesn't because it's entirely made up! The speech seems to be intentionally designed to be abstract so that users can fill in their own dialogue. This works extremely well because most of us have a story in mind and making the game narrative explicit will really ruin it for us. For those who are familiar with the Tale of Genji scroll, the pictorial scroll portrays the character's faces in a generic abstract style so that the viewer could fill in with their own images of the characters. Likewise in the Sims, if my Sim burns her omelette, I could interpret it as her being a really awful cook or I could pretend that she's intentionally making a charred meal for her two-timing douche bag of a husband.

"You give me the red crayon now or you'll be playing by yourself in that oven."

"Who, indeed! Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?"

The Sims 3 is a step up from its predecessors in many ways. The graphics are better and the game loads really smoothly. Previously, the gameplay is often interrupted by long loading times as your Sim moves from one place to another but this has been replaced with a vast seamless world where your Sims can move around with much ease. Also, the implementation of the Story Progression feature means that other Sims age with your controlled Sims, allowing for continuity in the narrative of the town as a whole. It's not always great though. For some reason, your neighbors have very low metabolism and hate exercise so the next time Aunt Martha comes around, you might have to widen your front door to let her in. The same wacky humor of the previous games are also present in The Sims 3. You might witness enemies engaging in slap fights, full-grown men playing tag and prancing about the sprinklers, ghosts in the house looking for a night snack, etc.

Get off my lawn!

For all the things they got right, there are still parts of the game that leaves much to be desired. Let's start with the appearance of the Sims. They are downright hideous and it takes a great deal of tweaking in the character creation screen to make them look halfway decent. Unfortunately, this means you're the only good looking Sim in a town full of deformed noses and double chins. Worse still, they are look the same even with that many options for customization.

Needs more anatomy. (Yes, that's a dude.)

Actions have little consequences in the Sim world unlike in real life and that's where it becomes less compelling to play. Most objects in the game serve basic needs like hygiene and hunger and they lack a certain "meaning" to them. It would be interesting to see objects having an effect on the Sims (other than the rather bland Mood level). Come to think about it, I often play the game like this: A beautiful Sim seduces someone with a happy family and destroys everyone's lives. There are several mysterious deaths later and new graves in my Sim's home. It's more fun to play this way because there are obvious consequences resulting from your actions. The thing is when it comes down to it, The Sims 3 is a family game and there is no way the game designers are gonna make it anymore "real" than it is.

"That child eats too much. I knew we should have gotten a dog instead!"

So it seems that the "best" way to play the Sims 3 is to play it like a sandbox game: create a narrative with your imagination and puppet your Sims to realize your story. Children do this all the time when they play with Lego bricks or dolls. The camera in the game allows you to take snapshots or videos to share your stories with fellow gamers. It's unfortunately badly designed which is a pity because it's the best feature of the game.

"And for my next trick, I'm gonna make those shorts disappear!"

A feature that could really change and improve the playing experience is to implement multiplayer. Imagine having your Sim go over to a (real life) friend's place interacting with his Sims. Actions are determined by the players instead of being hard coded into the game. A human aspect creates an experience that is social, dynamic and exciting. Of course, it could turn into a disaster if you have assholes for friends who think it'd be funny to build walls around the pool your Sim is swimming in so that he inevitably drowns.

What burglar actually dresses like that?

The Sims appeal to the basic need in all of us to imagine and to create. Because of this, the game is compelling to even the most casual gamer. It plays on something that people could relate to. Where in real life, we are bound by rules set by society; in the game setting, we are free to act our fantasies and escape. This is perhaps why the games in The Sims series are such a commercial success.

One last witty quote! Ah... nope, I ran out.

-- Benjamin