In your hands, you control someone’s life. You control how they look, where they work, who they marry and where they live. You even affect the world around them. Okay, it’s not a real person you’re controlling, but it’s the next best thing: a sim!

The Sims franchise has been around since 2000 and since then there have been three main games, 17 expansion packs, nine spin-offs and many other games released by Maxis and Electronic Arts based on the world of the sims.

The Sims 3 is set 25 years before the first game and is currently only released for the PC. The game introduces an all new open world feature. It allows the player to explore the entire city without any loading screens or any variation in climate or time. The open world feature is much better than the original set-up. In the original games you were stuck at one lot and couldn’t explore. Also, when your sim went to work, they just disappeared. In the Sims 3, you can follow them to work and control how they behave.

Another new feature in the game is opportunities. They are tasks that the sim can complete to earn rewards. Those rewards can be cash, pay raises or relationship boosts. The opportunities really add fun and realism to game. In real life, there will always be some sort of task with a reward. This feature makes the game more realistic.

In the previous games, when creating a sim, the player would use personality points to create the sim’s behavior. New in the Sims 3 is the feature to give the sims traits. For example, a kleptomaniac sim would steal things from other sims and an insane sim would talk to themselves and wear random clothes at random times. This feature adds more freedom and creativity to creating your sim. You have more of the ability to create what you want.

In addition to the needs the sim has, they now have moodlets. The moodlets affect their mood. Examples of moodlets can be after they had a good meal, the sim’s mood goes up. If the dirty dishes are all over the house, the sim’s mood goes down.

There are currently two expansion packs, World Adventures and Ambitions. Ambitions will be released June 1 of this year. World Adventures allows the sims to travel to Egypt, France and China. Ambitions will feature more careers and the ability to have more control on how they perform in their careers.

The gameplay is really great. The controls are easy to figure out within 10 minutes and the fit within what they are supposed to accomplish. I give the gameplay a 9 out of 10 rating.

The new features of the game really add to the enjoyment. They give more freedom and customization opportunities and really put the frosting on the cake. They definitely deserve a perfect score.

The composer, Steve Jablonsky, uses his video game and film score experience to create a wonderful and unique score for the Sims 3. If you heard the music while walking down the street, it could easily be recognizable. The music is a 9.5 out of 10.

The game is a great way to prepare you for your life. It gives realistic examples of what could happen to you. On the other hand, if you are not looking to get tips for your life, it’s great fun to just mess around. I give the concept a 8.5 out of 10.

Overall, it’s an excellent way to kill time and have fun. The whole game gets a perfect score.

I love this game and get great adventures out of it. Though the price of $50 may be steep, it is worth it. Have fun!