Review | The Sims 3 Pets

Of all the expansion packs for EA’s The Sims 2, Pets was probably the most-beloved. Which made it the most obvious choice for a follow-up on the deeper and more powerful Sims 3. But sometimes the obvious thing to do is not necessarily the right thing to do, and while other expansion packs (on PC), actually allow the game to flow on from the main Sims 3 universe, Sims 3 Pets on consoles is only a standalone game.

EA has made a strange choice when debuting the Pets expansion on consoles. Any game data from the initial Sims 3 game can’t be ported into the Pets version meaning that no matter how wicked cool your created avatar is, you’ll have to start all over again with Pets.

Upon entering the magical world of The Sims 3 Pets you are given the simple option of creating your virtual avatar and customizing it in almost any way you can imagine. Next create-a-pet allows you to pick either a cat or dog (I’m a cat person), give him or her a name and age, create more members of your household (should you want) and dive into the game proper.

Mimicking the trait system from the original Sims 3, Pets allows you to customize up to five traits which will have an effect on how your Sim interacts with the world and how others interact with them. These traits can also directly affect your lifetime goal, a goal which can vary from becoming an Astronaut to earning $4,000 a week as a professional author.

Of course loading up particular traits can also make the game more challenging as having the option of “dislike pets” or “fur allergy” directly contradict the core nature of the game. Your pet will also have its own trait and can acquire up to five along the super fun, rewarding journey of Sim pet ownership.

For the most part Pets is what you expect from the decade old franchise, and any fan or player of the core Sims 3 game will feel right at home with the dynamics at play here.

Where Pets differs obviously is in the control over your feline or canine counterpart. At first, those used to controlling the life of your human Sim may ignore the pet and find it hilariously turning up at the gym or following you to the library trying to gain your attention.

Luckily switching to the Pet is a simple matter of one button press and, while your chosen animal companion may not have as many options or abilities to chose from, you will still be able to send it on simple tasks or just make it run around and be stupid.

Eventually your pet will reach adulthood (if you didn’t start it out there already) and, much like your Sim, can get a job. The jobs are obviously tounge-and-cheek and won’t have your kitty running a multi-national newspaper corporation or in the SAS but suit the casual style of the franchise.

Having the patience to take your Sim and pet all the way to adulthood is the key though, as the plethora of options and depth of gameplay is almost unparalleled in gaming, especially on console and offer a RTS/RPG hybrid that is completely daunting for anyone not experienced with the franchise.

Pity the poor newbie that attempts to enter the world of the Sims now. Although Pets does have page after page of tutorial, the sheer amount of possibilities can be off-putting for all but the most determined newcomer. But for those that persevere The Sims 3 Pets can reward you in ways that other, more action-oriented titles can’t.

Unfortunately the console version of The Sims 3 Pets does have some annoying issues the plague an otherwise solid entry in the Sims canon. While the environments are reasonably detailed and full of life, each small section of the town has to be loaded individually and within your first few hours with the game you’ll encounter the loading screen more times than you may wish.

And while the Xbox 360 version is a step in the right direction with voice and movement commands via Kinect, the simple complexity of controlling what is a PC game is still lacking due to the fundamental differences between control inputs. Where intuitive mouse clicks make for a smooth and relaxed ride through Simville, the use of every button on the 360 of PS3 controller makes things a little more laboured.

All things considered and The Sims 3 Pets is the perfect addition to the franchise for fans. It takes everything that is right about the series as a whole and adds cute, cuddly and adorable pets to it. The purrfect (sorry) compliment for the intended demographic, you’d be barking (sorry again) mad to miss it.   [7]