The Sims 3

Over the coming weeks, you may begin to hear strange, pseudo-Scandinavian chanting outside your window. You might even feel an urge to join in. Don’t be alarmed — it’s merely the sound of thousands of celebratory gamers singing Simlish in the streets. That’s right boys ‘n’ girls; after a five-year hiatus (and a last-minute delay), the world’s best-selling computer game franchise is back in the neighbourhood.

It’s been a long and arduous wait for Sims fans, who’ve had to endure an endless procession of expansion packs to help tide them over. Well, you can toss aside those furry pet editions and polka dot picnic downloads — The Sims 3 is finally here, and it’s determined to start the madness all over again.

As the first game in the series without original creator Will Wright on board, The Sims 3 has a lot riding on its suburbanite shoulders. Does it retain the same sense of charm as its beloved progenitors? Will it bring anything new to the table? And does it still take over an hour to go to the loo? All of these questions will be answered over the course of the review, but in a nutshell, The Sims 3 is a worthy sequel that delivers in spades. (And bricks. And paint brushes.) While it doesn't deliver the evolutionary leap made by the second game in the series, it succeeds in giving fans exactly what they want, which is essentially more of the same.

That’s not to say there’s nothing new to be found in The Sims 3 though. EA has implemented several subtle improvements that help to enhance the game without robbing it of its ‘Simlishness', if there’s such a word. [There isn’t. — Ed.] The end result is a game that’s every bit as addictive as its predecessors without deviating from the well-worn path. Since you all know the Sim drill by now, let’s skip introductions and get straight into what’s different.

By far the biggest change in The Sims 3 is the new game map, which now encompasses a seamless open world. This means you get to follow your Sims as they travel about town, with no loading screens to break up the gameplay. We found this added a real sense of community to proceedings — your house no longer feels like the central hub of the game’s universe, but is merely a single dwelling in a bigger town. Rather coolly, if your household contains more than one Sim, you can instantly switch between them no matter where they are on the map, with the camera zooming out for a bird’s eye view and then honing in on the chosen resident. It’s a small touch, but valuable nonetheless.

In fact, ‘small but valuable’ is a phrase that applies to many of the game’s new features. For instance, you can now call a cab and turn up for work late if you happen to miss your lift. Your Sim’s needs have also been simplified, falling from eight to six. Everything is geared towards making the game more forgiving and fun, with less emphasis on mood micromanagement.

But it’s not all a bed of roses. Disappointingly, you still don’t get to control your Sims while they’re at work — or even see what’s going on. Instead, they simply disappear into a building with a non-accessible interior. We have a sneaking suspicion that this has been held back for an impending expansion pack, but in the meantime your Sims’ workday is as boring and non-interactive as ever. Ho-hum.