The Sims 3: Into The Future

The Sims 3 Into The Future

Do you control The Sims or do The Sims control you?

If you have ever played The Sims before, then you will know its scariest flaw, and that is the fact you are controlling The Sims’ life, but you go through so much daily routine that you become more like a caretaker than a gamer. So, the big question is, does this Sims 3 expansion pack help remove the caretaker role and make the game less about routine and maintenance?

The Long Answer And The Short Answer

The short answer is “no,” the game still involves a lot of maintenance, which means it is going to thrill newer gamers or people that have little experience with The Sims, but to advanced Sims players the extension will only buy them another week’s worth of playing time.

The long answer is “yes,” at this stage in The Sims' gaming experience you are still stuck with managing the routine elements of your Sims’ life, but there are now numerous ways to maintain your Sims. There are enough to the point where if you get into a routine, then it is your own fault for trying to be too efficient and not allowing yourself to have fun.

Be Remembered In The Future

One of the more novel elements of the expansion is that you can go down in history in the present day. When you are in the future, you may see up to five “Legacy Statues” that stand in the middle of Oasis Landing. They are tributes to five Sims that have affected history. For example, if you were a popular musical genius, there may be a statue of you in the future (a bit like with Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure).

Criticized For Consumerism

Parental groups have complained this expansion hits the consumerism button pretty hard. It is already been criticized for leading kids towards getting a job just so they can own nice things, but this one has been criticized further for not showing the effects of a shopping-mindset culture in the future. The parental groups must have wanted a future full of mist and fog to represent that too many people in the past bought hot tubs.

The game does give three alternate futures for players to explore, but it would have hardly been fair to ask The Sims creators to purposefully show a future where everything is bad because people were shopping too much. Especially when you consider the fact the game could be rebranded as a virtual catalogue shopping game.

Will This Be The Last Sims 3 Expansion

Oddly enough, if the expansion is successful enough, then they are likely to end the series with it and incorporate its more loved features into the base game that makes up The Sims 4. The idea of new skills, further consequences, the influence of time, and things such as plumbots does seem to suggest that a new The Sims game could be built if the ideas were expanded a little more. Another clue that this may be the last expansion is just how well rounded and strong the expansion is. Despite the obvious re-skinning, this is not an expansion they have cobbled together and thrown out for some extra money. This is more like they have placed the tip on the top of the pyramid.

Pros

• Three new skills you can learn
• See future statues in your honor
• A very strong and well rounded expansion
• Unlike some expansions, it doesn’t add annoying elements
• Time has more of an influence than ever before
• Some people really love the plumbots

Cons

• Many elements have similar actions to previous household items
• It looks as if between 30-40% of the objects, clothes, elements are re-skins
• The dystopia could have been a little better (i.e. a little more fallout)
• There are new items, but variety is limited
• You cannot select the year you travel to