The Sims 3

I didn’t really know what videogame to do for my first review. I play games all the time, but I don’t have very many brand new (less than six month old) games. As in, zero. I haven’t bought a console game in long time, so none of those games would work. The only game that could possibly work for this assignment was a game I bought for my girlfriend over the summer: The Sims 3. The only other “sim” game I have played is an old SimCity game, which was pretty fun. I know the general idea of The Sims, and I watched my girlfriend, Laura, play it when she first got it. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect, but I figured that since I didn’t have an extra wad of money to go buy a new game, The Sims 3 was the only good option for a videogame review.

I tried out The Sims 3 on my computer. The general idea of the game is that you create a person (or family), choosing how they look, their personality, and even their life goals. The level of customization available is pretty impressive. It took me a good forty-five minutes to create characters for myself, Laura, and my best friend Bryce. I did a pretty good job of making my characters look like the real thing, and their personalities are pretty spot on. I made myself friendly, attractive, and a hard worker (just like in real life), my girlfriend a shy and neurotic artist, and my best friend Bryce a goofy, lazy musician who doesn’t take anything seriously (I mean that in the best way possible Bryce).

Next I had to pick a house for us to live in, and I settled for a middle of the road two-bedroom house. I figured that if Bryce could find a job, it would be extra income for the family, so we all moved in together. I bought some snazzy accessories with the little money I had left, but only the necessities: a chess table so that I could get smarter, a bookcase so Laura could learn how to cook for all of us, a guitar for Bryce so that eventually he could make money playing outside our house for strangers, and a computer so that I could play videogames when I got home from work.

After the life necessities were purchased, I looked in the newspaper, and luck was on my side. There was an opening in the health care field, which I promptly accepted. I was well on my way of having a happy, successful family.

I played The Sims 3 for a good chunk of time. I am not sure how long it was, maybe six hours or so, but eventually, Bryce became a rock star celebrity, and was playing concerts at the theater. I got pretty high in the medical career ladder, and was making pretty good money. Laura did have a decent job, but one of her character traits was that she hated being around people, and her job required her to socialize all day long. After her work shift, she would come home a crazy mess, and yell at my character and complain that Bryce sat around all day flirting with women and playing his guitar, and I was afraid she might have some sort of nervous breakdown. So I ended up having her quit her job and proposed to her. We had a small wedding with a birthday cake and balloons, and Bryce was telling stupid jokes and making faces at us. Then she got pregnant and had twins. I did what any good sim-“father” would do, and named my daughters after my two real life pet turtles: Slimer and Lipstick. This was the beginning of the end for my little alternate reality.

Maybe I was not totally prepared for how much of a pain in the butt having a baby would be. In the Sims 3, for me, it brings the fun factor WAY down. Having two babies made it almost non-existent. Before, it was fun, having Bryce wander into town with his guitar and pick up ladies to bring home, flirt with, and eventually get slapped by. Or throwing a party after work where all of my closest sim-friends came over to eat my food and watch me play videogames. Or the close, sweet hugs between me and my girlfriend after she cooked me dinner. Once you have a baby (or two), the whole game become changing their nasty diapers (which put my sim-self in the most awful moods), giving them bottles, giving them “social interaction”, teaching them to talk, teaching them to walk, and so on and so on and so on. There was no longer any time for Bryce to pick up women in the town, I was always tired and grumpy when I went to work because I never got enough sleep, and Laura was behind on her housework.

The game was no longer any fun for me. Before, I got to mess around, do what I wanted, and potentially ruin Bryce’s life by the stupid things I made him do. Now, there was Slimer and Listick, two young babies that needed around the clock care. I heard somewhere that if you neglect your babies in The Sims 3 long enough, a social worker would come and take them away. No social worker came for mine. Eventually, I turned off the game. It was fun while the party lasted, but once “real life” set in my alternate reality, the fun was gone for me. I can see how this game would appeal to Laura, because she likes tedious, repetitive things. Maybe I will make new characters, and start over, back in the good old days without responsibility. Sort of like perpetual high school. Until then, I’ll stick to shooting zombies.

PROS: You are able to make highly customized Sims of yourself and your friends, and then control their lives, making them do really funny things. There is a wide range of jobs, skills, household items, and character interactions to play around with. High replay value, because you can make several Sims and ruin their lives as well.

CONS: Once you have kids, life goes downhill fast. The game play can be very tedious.

GRADE: 8/10 at first, dropping to 5/10 after your Sim has a baby.