Simply WooHoo
a spec review by Chelsea Beller
Do you ever wish you could create an avatar version of yourself only to play out normal everyday things on a computer or game console? Like going to work, cooking and cleaning, making new friends and WooHooing with romantic interests? Then The Sims is the game for you. The Sims has been around since February 4, 2000 and now we’re up to The Sims 4. A new version of The Sims is underway with the codename, Project Rene, but there has not yet been clarification if this is The Sims 5 or another version of The Sims 4. We’re years ahead of ourselves – let’s discuss The Sims 4.
I was around 9 or 10 years old when I dove head first into The Sims. My friends were playing it and I was enthralled. You get to create your own character and build your own house? You can build a gargantuan mansion with its own moat or a tiny one room house with a stove that is bound to set the whole 6x6 house on fire? Something about the endless possibilities of creating your own little world mesmerized my 10 year old brain. What can these little computer simulations not do? Well, as I continued to play more and more – my parents can vouch for my being completely MIA – I learned there was quite a bit the Sims could not in fact do. At the time, Sims were pretty limited in terms of actions and conversations. Build Mode was limited in its furniture options and placement of walls and objects. That’s when The Sims 2 (2004) came along and I was once again hooked.
The Sims 2 – and the never-ending list of expansion packs – gave you so much more. More ways to communicate, like impress or tell a joke, and far more furniture and home decor. Subsequently The Sims 3 (2009) came into the picture where, again, you’re given more options than before. With each new version there were increasingly more actions, activities, conversations, facial expressions, etc. that these newer Sims could act on and create, making the game all the more exciting.
These games now provided the ability to place an item at a diagonal - gasp! We now have a variety of furniture and home decor options – from antique to modern. More than that, Sims can have different relationships to each other. A pair of Sims could be thick as thieves or mortal enemies. Sims can go to college or become vampires - or both! And now introducing: the Young Adult Sim. Not a Teenager, not yet an Adult Sim.
Now what we’re all here for– the current game, The Sims 4 (2014). The player is able to give the Sim likes and dislikes, an outfit for almost any occasion, and the Sim is able to perform more actions and talk about more things depending on their interests and aspirations. A Music Lover Sim, for instance, will be able to talk about music or “Listen Deeply” to a song on the radio. A Genius Sim can pick up skills much more quickly than your average Sim, while your Romantic Sim can hop in bed with a Sim they pretty much just met. That’s some charisma.
I’ve built these three sister Sims: Meredith, Jessica, and Eclipse. Meredith is your brainy oldest sister type. With her Genius trait, she is able to pick up skills far more quickly, especially when she’s in Focused mode. However, mundane conversations can make her feel Bored that much faster as well. She needs serious stimulation, like from her giant microscope. The middle sister, Jessica, is the Romantic Sim – but the cool part is when I created her, I was given two options under the Romantic Aspiration: she could either aspire for a soulmate… or to be a serial romantic. I chose “Serial Romantic”, because that just sounds way more fun – and the nostalgia of my 20s whispered it in my ear. The youngest sister is Eclipse – name suggested by my boyfriend when I prompted him what would be the most social media influencer name. I saw advertised that Sims could now be Style Influencers, so I had to see what this was like. She dresses in a white elegant mermaid-style evening dress with a patterned wrap around her head to go to work. But, who doesn’t?
In terms of appearances, there’s a multitude of hairstyles, makeup, and jewelry to choose from. It feels like they add something new every week. There has to be 20 or more different options for each hair length. Do you wear MAC makeup? Well, now so does your Sim. I mean, you can even select blue nail polish for your Sim’s everyday look and red for their going-out look. Heck, you can pick short or long nails. The possibilities are nearly endless.
I still run into the ol’ “my Sim can’t perform that action because there’s an invisible thing keeping them from doing it”. Or, my Sim will get stuck in a corner -or simply in the middle of a wall- and then perform a cool Michael Jackson move and appear in the living room. Those glitches will probably always be around and they honestly don’t hinder the game much. It might be a tad irritating, but then a quick pause-move the object-move it back will solve some of those issues.
Other than the usual glitches, I’ve been curious if there could be a way to identify a Sim as an older or younger sibling, but maintaining that both Sim siblings are Young Adults, for instance. Really getting into those details would be cool, like even more Traits to choose from; Tomboy, Anti-Social, Goth. Perhaps I’m not far enough along, but it would be interesting to see Traits evolve depending on the Sims’ actions.
Playing this game again has 1. completely taken over my free time (again, sorry boyfriend) and 2. given me a reason to give my Sims a reason to get up in the morning. I kid, but seriously, this is such a fun game. I get new ideas for houses or mansions or cabins all the time and I want to create these new and whacky storylines with seemingly normal Sims. Make everyone Vampires?? Why not. Well, I’m looking forward to Project Rene to see what those crazy kids behind this EA are up to, but until then, The Sims 4 fills my Fun quotient up completely and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t played in over a decade. It’s been a real WooHoo of a time.
