The Sims 3 Reviews

Are you goal-oriented?

Whether by reading books, listening to music, playing games, or watching movies, people have always found ways to live out their fantasies and entertain their imaginations. Gaming's always been my choice medium for this, and it's because of games like EA's Sims life-simulation series. Unlike all that other stuff I mentioned, The Sims 3 allowed me to tell my own story and explore my own personality and desires in ways that no other media could. And, most importantly, I had a heckuva lot of fun doing it.

Allow me to elaborate with the brief story of my sim Chuf Money's life.

Chuf Money moved into a modestly decorated, prefabricated, one-bedroom home. His neurotic tendencies put him under a lot of stress, and his day job in politics certainly didn't help. Fortunately, he only had to play nice at the office long enough to pay his rent, so he could spend his off-time working up his guitar-playing skills. Eventually, he made more money from that than he did from his job, so he took the musical gig full-time. He eventually fulfilled his dream of becoming a music legend -- but never settled down, outliving his long-term girlfriend and watching her die before his very eyes. In his old age, he started avoiding the phone, since the only reason it rang was to let him know another one of his friends had died. Toward the end, he adopted a son -- if for nothing else than to have someone to keep his memory alive.

Chuf's story obviously doesn't reflect my own life, but I definitely created him as a character I could live vicariously through. He did things that I'd never do -- at one point, Chuf was so much of a player that he had multiple girlfriends at once -- and I actually became quite attached to him. I tried creating other families, but I was so engrossed with Chuf (and found it frustratingly hard to manage multiple Sims' wishes simultaneously) that I always wound up coming back to him. My time spent playing as Chuf was fulfilling and entertaining... and because of The Sims 3's array of customization options, I was really able to make my experience with the game my own.

Sims 3 is exceedingly adaptable to any character you'd ever dream of making. Not only can you design a unique-looking Sim, but you can create personalities that actually make them unique. You pick five traits -- from a list of over 60 -- which form your Sim's personality and determine her or his Lifetime Wish. This overall goal includes such lofty ambitions as rock stardom, career criminalism, or even just becoming the most popular guy in town. It's something you certainly don't to follow, but it provides direction for those who want it, and also grants a constant sense of gratification as you come ever closer to fulfilling it.

Thankfully working toward your Lifetime Wish doesn't necessitate a one-track mind, as the game constantly doles out smaller, personality-driven tasks. For Chuf, these included "make the bed" or "earn a skill point in Guitar." Meeting these smaller goals rewards you with Lifetime Happiness, which you can spend on perks and abilities that make life easier (such as longer-lasting food, heightened attractiveness, and the power to throw awesome parties). I really loved this feature; it kept me engaged, and helped the daily grind of Sim life stay fresh. Also, it's an additional layer of customization with which to help your Sim fulfill their life's desires.

Beyond customizing Sims' appearance, personality, and life goals, creative players with a desire to craft custom environments get an easy-to-use editor. Inspired players can create houses as realistic (or as fantastic) as they can afford with the allotted budget, tweaking a piece of property all the way down to the depth of the dirt itself. You can also customize your neighborhood's layout, moving properties and families to different areas on a whim. The range of options is actually pretty intimidating to me, but players who live for this sort of thing get a pretty awesome toolset to work with.

And while fake lives and urban planning can keep me busy for days, The Sims 3's online features look pretty promising as well. The options to upload your creations and share them with the online community, buy new stuff in the Sims Store (for real Earth dollars, of course), create and edit your own movies, and download other custom creations should mean plenty of longevity, though ultimately it all depends on how active the community gets. In any case, the Sims 3 team's given us a plenty of reasons to keep coming back, the inevitable cavalcade of expansion packs notwithstanding.

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