14 DAY TRIAL // You probably know that gaming magazine PC Gamer UK has a huge Sims 3 feature this month and it will soon be available on the market. However, since many people would love to hear these details and they probably have no way to buy the magazine, computerandvideogames.com decided to give everybody a small preview on what we should expect from the new game. Risky stuff, as you'll see, and completely different from what we were used with by EA, but this only means that we might be up for a revolution.
First of all, CVG reports after reading the whole article, The Sims 3 will be aimed more towards the hardcore gaming community, leaving the girls crying in their corners (or, even better, convincing them how cool "real" games are). One of the few ways the developers are planning to achieve such a status for the to-be-released game is by turning it a little bit (but just a little) into an RPG ? the Sims will get a brand new inventory system and clear objectives to complete.
Also, the actions or, better said, the interaction between the Sims will now effect their behavior, mood and so on. For example, we're told that a kiss received by a Sim from his wife will put him in a great mood for... work (he does it quicker), making friends faster and just being happy for quite a while. And usually hot kisses + wives = crazy love making. Oh well...
Creative director of The Sims, Rod Humble, explains another great new feature that makes the game feel more natural: the game will "let Sims wander freely through a town, take in the sights, not be constrained by the prison-like 'lots' of old games." This means that we'll finally get an open world in The Sims and we all know that open world means freedom, freedom is fun and fun leads to another 11 expansions, eventually (it's just a guess of mine, something that seems normal, judging the eight or so expansions released for The Sims 2).
Also, the emotional and physical system has been revamped, which means that your Sim can now get happy or sad from a wide variety of reasons ? those small, simple things that matter in real life, too. Regarding how the characters will look like, well, it seems that they'll really be unique: we'll be able to adjust their weight, musculature and so on, while the numerical values used in The Sims 2 have been replaced by a traits system. And customization is what people like the most in such a game.
Even though there will be no multiplayer component in The Sims 3 ? something that 99% of the franchise's fans probably want, there are some really scary things hidden in Rod Humble's words: "The fact that it's a seamless world means that eventually - not to give away too much of our expansion pack strategy, but in theory - The Sims 3 could expand into an entire seamless world. You can imagine a Sims country which you could just live your life in." Did he say "MMO, bro!"????