The Sims 3: World Adventures (PC)

Despite being the first expansion pack released for the Sims 3 series, this particular game is one that I only very recently purchased. I must admit that the initial advertisements and information about the game did appeal to me on any sort of level. I didn't think that the addition of a few vacation destinations would really bring much to the table in terms of vastly improving gameplay. As it was, I was actually disappointed that the first expansion took this angle, as I felt that there were a number of more important areas that focus should be brought to. It was for this reason that I only recently decided to add it to my collection, really only so that I could have the complete series.

I have to say, that I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this game expansion. There was far more content included than I had been led to believe, and many of them had delightful exotic themes that really brightened up my sims' properties. The option to go on holiday did not detract from my sims' lives as I had previously assumed would happen. In fact, there was a surprising element of realism introduced through this expansion that really seemed to enhance my experience of the game as a whole.

As for the more detailed qualities of the game, these were also fairly excellent. The three destinations, based on France, Egypt and China, are extremely realistic and quite beautiful really. I really enjoyed sending my sims round the cities, exploring and meeting 'local' sims, designed to look like natives of each respective country. The social options here were something that I was not expecting, and my sims were able to befriend other sims from all walks of life. On top of this, sims have the ability to wander throughout the cities and explore ancient artefacts and ruins. This is so different to anything that the sims series has seen before that I instantly loved the diversity that this expansion added to my game.

I was initially worried that, as has happened with most of the sims games in my experience, the novelty would wear off far faster than one would like it to. However, I am still enjoying sending my sims on holidays with relative consistency. The addition of 'adventures' while on holiday is a really inspired idea in my opinion. By giving your sims challenges while abroad, it stops one from getting bored. I always find myself wanting to stay abroad longer than the vacation time allows for! The only thing that I would say is a shame in this aspect, is that the adventures are limited in quantity, so once you have completed all of them there is a lot less to do while away. However, the object isn't really to spend all of your time on holiday anyway, so by limiting the number of holidays I send my sims on I feel I have kept a reasonable amount of playability options.

The only real downside that frustrates me with this expansion is the loading times and loading screens that have been implemented. It is understandable that such a detailed world will take time to load, but I find myself becoming immensely bored while waiting for this to happen. I can only imagine how a child would respond to having to wait for such an extensive period of time. However, this is not an unworkable problem and I have found that an easy solution is often found by disappearing for a few minutes to go grab a cup of tea and some biscuits.

In conclusion, I found this sims expansion to be far better than I expected it to be, and I was very satisfied with my purchase.