Sims 3 (Nintendo 3DS) - Review by Chris

Introduction

After what seemed like a never ending deluge of spin-offs for the second main game in the franchise on the DS, EA and Maxis have now turned their attention to Nintendo's new handheld console, the 3DS, and hope to capture the hearts of early birds buying their shiny new handhelds at launch with a version of The Sims 3, to round out a release for the game on all major platforms to date. But while other launch titles have fallen short on the content side, can this provide a solid experience comparable to the other versions already released or does it feel like another rushed job?

Gameplay

For those familiar with the franchise, The Sims 3 remains faithful to the iterations which have come before, while adding some minor inclusions to add a little variety to the life simulation genre template that the franchise created all those years ago. The tried and tested formula of creating your Sim caricature, buying a house and then getting a job to earn money and move up in the world remains the foundation for the gameplay you'll encounter here. It worked well in the beginning and continues to work here so why change what isn't broken.

The character creator this time around is more robust than previous iterations in the franchise on Nintendo's handheld and even allows you to take a picture of your face to attach to your Sim and create an accurate representation of yourself. Customisation options for clothing and other features are similarly fleshed out offering up huge amounts of variety to create your own personal character. Of course, these customisation options carry over to the furnishings for your house, with a truly vast library of tables, chairs, and all sorts of items available to place as you like within your house provided you have the money, and even your house itself when you get down to building your own place. This has always been a big part of the Sims titles and it's good to see things have taken that step forward to provide an extensive set of options which brings it more in line with the home console versions.

To make a living in River's Bend, the town in which you're Sim will set up, you'll have to micromanage a whole set of attributes to maintain their happiness and the happiness of the other Sims around them, be those friends or loved ones. It is this micromanagement that was missing in some of the spin-offs previous and so having them return can be a bit jarring if you've not encountered them in some time but they are the crux of the games and it is through topping up these attributes that you'll get the most fun as you live out the life of the character. Yet they can also be the most repetitive as you'll have to repeat mundane tasks multiple times daily. Whether you love them or hate them will depend on your stance on the life sim genre but they definitely add to the experience and are extremely well implemented this time around.

Getting a job is one of the major aspects of the game and this is carried out by way of picking up the local paper and simply picking a job, to which you'll go every morning and come back late at night. It taps into your Lifetime Wish, which you'll pick at the beginning of the game, and so give a long term goal for you to work towards as you drudge through menial jobs before picking up better ones and ultimately getting to your wanted profession. However, working and doing activities around the house aren't the only activities you'll have to indulge in if you want to keep your Sim happy. You'll need to interact with other Sims, building up relationships, as well as head to recreational areas to get some deserved rest and relaxation, although strangely indulging in the latter results in time standing still.

With such a heavy emphasis on keeping your Sim happy, customisation and long terms wishes and goals in place to work towards, not simply work related as marriage makes a return to this handheld version, The Sims 3 provides perhaps the most bang for buck out of all of the 3DS' launch lineup, with enough content to keep you coming back for the months ahead. But it is the familiarity of everything on offer, even the new features, which lets the game down and although enjoyable, if you've ever played a Sims game before, the small variations added here don't change the game enough to resolve the issues of monotony you'll encounter through extended play.

Controls

The entirety of the game is controlled by way of the touch screen, having you select items and actions there. It takes some getting used to as a result of a severely cluttered touch screen that makes many of the options small and difficult to press and thus frustrates as you'll find your Sim carrying out actions you haven't told them to do. You do eventually get used to it, working around the issues, but in an attempt to keep everything that the console versions have, it has made things more problematic instead of streamlined as you'd expect from a handheld iteration. The d-pad, shoulder buttons and circle pad are relegated to controlling the camera and it's something which you'll have to struggle with throughout play not least because of the poor default camera setting but because of how poorly implemented the controls are for changing the angles and how poorly explained they are. If you can get it into a top down view, you'll find that this is really the optimal viewpoint for play.

Graphics

With the added processing capabilities of the new hardware, the visuals have taken a step up from the DS although it is plain to see corners have been cut making some of the visual presentation seem lacking. This is most evident when creating your character. Undoubtedly, the Sims look good in general, with a high level of detail being placed on their animations, which look as natural as possible and provide a good deal of the game's humour. However, the facial editor shows how basic still the visual options are on the handheld and even with the ability to take a picture of your face and get a close representation, it's still not tapping into what the hardware can do and the faces and clothes do at times lack that extra polish to give the game some finesse.

Buildings and furnishings are very clean cut and boxed, with a good level of detail having gone into the texturing and making sure there is a wealth of variety between the places you'll walk around or the items you can furnish your home with. Houses feel very open at times, with walls popping in and out of view thanks to a problematic camera that can make picking out items and actions difficult. There is an option to remove the walls completely but it only aids in highlighting some of the visual blemishes. This popping effect also occurs with the items themselves showing that things are a little rushed on the visual side of things. An inconsistent frame rate tops it off and although it's far from the worst on the console, the can be irritating.

Sound

There is a noticeable step up in the audio quality between this version and the DS one, with a much clearer sound provided all around. Simlish is still the language of choice and by now you'll have an idea of whether or not you like it or hate it but it does provide the game's moments of comedy along with the animations. Music comes in the form of a mixture of custom made tracks from the developers and some licensed tracks that play on the radio. The former helps to set a relaxing mode hoping to keep you investing in your Sims life for months to come while the latter provides a nice bit of lift to the audio.

Special features

The new 3D screen is put to use to add a sense of depth to the world your Sim is living in. However, regardless of the viewpoint you choose to adopt throughout the playing of the game, the effect adds very little to the game as its one where being able to distinguish between the foreground and the background has never really been an issue thanks to the environments providing the necessary information. As such, it feels slightly tacked on and wholly unnecessary, and there is a ghosting effect present when used. The StreetPass functionality is also put to use but again, it's rather limited and allows you to swap Sims on the go.

Final comments

The Sims 3 makes its debut on the 3DS with a robust set of fleshed out options which continue to provide a wholly immersive title for those looking for the next iteration in the franchise or even for those looking to take their first step into the life simulation genre. It's incredibly enjoyable at times but thanks to some cluttered presentation, awkward controls and poor implementation of the hardware's features, it feels like it's been rushed out to market to capitalise on unsuspecting gamers buying at launch. While you'll get some enjoyment out of it, these issues do pull your out of the experience and can make things rather frustrating, but if you can forgive them, this will provide you with entertainment for months to come.

Pro: Robust customisation options, gameplay can still be as addictive as ever, presentation is much improved
Con: Camera can be troublesome, controls are awkward at times, touch screen is too cluttered, doesn't make great use of the 3DS' features
Final score: 5.5

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