The Sims 3: Pets

The Sims 3 Pets is a life management and home designing game where players create their own Sim character and live out a lifetime in their suburban home. Like in real life, you'll have to keep track of personal health, hygiene, and other stats, while pursuing a career, maintaining your home, and more. As the name would imply, The Sims 3 Pets makes the big addition of cats and dogs, as you can now create and adopt these furry creatures to have around the home. Better yet, a new feature allows you to play as the pets themselves, granting a whole new perspective of the life of a Sim. While some of this version's technical issues are bothersome, The Sims 3 Pets is an enjoyable simulation game that's great for creative gamers and pet lovers.

Main Game Features

• Guide your Sim through their entire virtual life
• Build and expand your ideal home
• Over 100 species of dogs and cats to have as pets

Story

The Sims 3 Pets is very similar to the previous console version of The Sims 3, which means that the big narrative draw is the personal story you get to craft as you play it. Set in the beautiful Sugar Maple Coast suburban town, you take on the life of your created Sim, a human character who tries to pursue happiness while carrying out day-to-day tasks. Like in other versions of The Sims, your characters will have dreams and aspirations to achieve and it's up to you to get it done. As you meet your neighbors, go to work, and engage in social interactions, you'll form meaningful relationships with the Sugar Maple Coast citizens. From there, it's up to you to decide how you interact with these characters and what personal stories you'll tell.

That said, there are a few quest-based features in the game, which help add some guidance for players with a less creative mindset. The big story addition in The Sims 3 Pets are the five major mysteries available to solve. After you become a “mysteryologist” at the Town Hall, you'll be able to undertake a short list of quests, ranging from pet-focused stories to more fantastical concepts like treasure hunting and secret societies. These mysteries help add a bit of storytelling to the other open-ended narrative, but they're pretty easy to complete.

Gameplay

Of course, the big draw to The Sims 3 Pets is the customizable nature of its gameplay, which allows you to craft your preferred Sim and home with a large variety of options. At the start of the game, you'll create your personal Sim, altering everything from their hair color and make-up to accessories and wardrobe. From there, you must maintain several meters at all times, ensuring your Sim is kept fed, clean, and gets enough sleep. The standard loop of The Sims 3 Pets involves going to work, eating three meals, and taking up various activities around town during your free time. While this seems like a very simple concept, there are lots of characters and events to encounter in Sugar Maple Coast, with all of the decision-making left to you.

That customization transfers into the “Pets” portion of the game, which introduces cuddly, furry animals into the mix. Players can meet existing animals around town or create their own, applying their desired character traits to a cat or dog. Unfortunately, this version of the game does not feature gerbils, horses, or any of the other pets included in other versions of the game. However, you're still able to fully control the pets, taking care of their own wants and needs. Karma Powers also return, giving you game-changing abilities if you complete the required challenges. Overall, The Sims 3 Pets provides gameplay that encourages creativity and open-ended progression, where the experience is more about enjoyment than progression or completion.

Conclusion

Although The Sims 3 Pets lacks the traditional game structure of adventure games, with very few quests or story-based events, the huge amount of customization and introduction of feline and canine companions makes up for it. Controlling your Sims family and their every move can feel really rewarding, even when technical issues like animation stuttering get in the way.

Pros

• Great graphics
• Robust creation tools
• Playing as pets is fun

Cons

• Lots of loading screens
• Controls take time to get used to
• Lack of storytelling