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The Sims 3: World Adventures review

Ben Griffin

We review Electronic Arts’ latest Sims outing, The Sims 3: World Adventures

Sims 3 World Adventures

Published on Apr 16, 2010

When The Sims was first released, it offered fresh gameplay casual players wanted in staves. However, with countless sequels and add-ons already out there, is there really room for yet another Sims game?

If The Sims is new to you, the idea is to create a mini me, and go through life guiding them, as if you're some sort of guardian angel.

Tasks range from customising your house and keeping your sim fed and watered, to achieving certain milestones like obtaining a promotion at work.

Building on the series in The Sims 3 World Adventures is the ability to travel to different countries to build a career, or simply explore various tourist destinations from the games three countries; Les Sims (France), Shang Simla (China) and Al Simhara (Egypt).

Pimp your Sim

One of the key features of The Sims is personalisation. In this department, The Sims 3: World Adventures performs respectably. Enough home improvements can be purchased.

However, we can’t help but feel there isn’t that much to choose from in the way of threads, at least initially. In a game so reliant on customisation, it felt a bit bare, excuse the pun.

You can import sims from the previous game, and this saves you from effectively buying clothing again, but it isn’t quite enough to forgive the limited wardrobe for new players.

To ease you into the game is a tutorial, challenging you to get to know another sim. This is usually a simple task completed with some chatting and compliments.

Instead, we found ourselves flirting and apologising for helping ourselves to the contents of their fridge.

Sandbox gameplay

It’s moments like this where The Sims 3: World Adventures, and the series in general, shines. The resulting amusement from freaking out the poor home owner and being asked to leave is what makes the game appealing.

Marrying a sim from another country is another highlight. Doing so allows you to enjoy furnishings from your partner’s house, adding more of a worldly touch to your own humble abode.

Sadly, the amusement is often short-lived. You see, the game provides you with various tasks to complete, and these provide the bulk of the action.

But instead of travelling the world to find them, you will spend a great deal of the time at home battling with your sim’s bottomless stomach and other basic, tedious needs.

It’s unfortunate because you don’t get to see the exciting, and graphically pleasing countries very often without either your sim whining or being deported for staying abroad too long.

The simple life

Adding salt to the wound is when you do travel via second class, you are presented with a mini-game that has you lining up an image until it isn’t blurry. Hardly something you want to do every time you fly.

Granted, travelling first class removes the mini-game, and the other three games are much less tedious, but that doesn’t ease the pain of its questionable inclusion.

Ultimately, The Sims 3 World Adventures has its moments of fun, and if you live and breathe The Sims series, it will no doubt please.

For everyone else, the mundaneness of living and repetitive mini-games will make you wonder whether the mere addition of travel - something you won’t be doing as much as you want, warrants an entirely new purchase.