Review: The Sims 3 – Generations Expansion Pack (PC/Mac)
By Wayne Webb
The Sims 3 Generations is an expansion pack for this the original game and takes the standard Sims 3 experience and adds the concept of lifecycles for your Sims. Start as young as toddlers or as late as Senior Citizens and then work your way through Simulated Life.
I am not a huge fan of the Sims in any of their previous iterations even though I applaud the technical achievements and attention to virtual detail. However these kinds of games suck up swathes of time in your real life to play a virtual life. It's not just a case of set and forget – if you want to play it properly you need to pay attention to your Sims’ (your virtual people) needs and desire,s or things go awry and their life crumbles away.
Life for these new options of Toddlers and Seniors is as you'd expect, the babies do virtually nothing but need to be cared for, and Seniors are looking for more life experiences and part time work. Children for some reason seem to love pranks – not sure whose idea this was – but it makes it seem a little less lifelike and a little more Dennis the Menace.
Another new option is the "Share" element. When something significant happens – and these happen with surprising regularity and repetitiveness – then you can share it out to your Social Network (i.e. Facebook). These "shares" get posted on your wall, but unless your friends and you are in a race to see who is the best Sims 3 player then these get tiring pretty quickly and soon become another notification option that gets in the way of playing the game.
If you're a fan of Sims 3 and are looking to add new experiences and pathways into your game then the expansion pack will extend the life of your game and will give you plenty of interesting things to sink your teeth into. It's not a game changer though. It's still pretty much the Sims 3 – but with new elements that give a twist on the theme, but don't add any real depth.
Pros: Choose age, grow Sims, new experiences and pathways, social network integration
Cons: Only an expansion pack, no massive changes, for the fans only.
3.5 Shacks out of 5
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