The Sims 3 Pets Review: Pop Your Collar!

Get ready to “Pop Your Collar!” An expansion pack that avid Sims fans worldwide were anxious to play, The Sims 3 Pets has knocked the spots and stripes off previous instalments of Pets in the Sims series. I think the majority of Sims fans would agree that a family doesn’t feel complete without a pet. EA finally grants our wish, to create man’s best friend, or in some cases…their worst enemy. I’ll be sharing some information with you regarding The Sims 3 Pets. Will you be purchasing this purrfect addition to The Sims 3? Is it a title worth getting your paws on? It’s time to find out!

Players are able to create cats, dogs and horses in The Sims 3 Pets. The ‘Create-a-pet’ tool allows the players to customise their pet in unique and intricate ways. With numerous breeds to use as templates, the player has the ability to create their perfect pet! Whilst creating your pet, you are able to alter the colouration of their coat and markings, which is divided into separate layers. In regard to customisation, you are also able to adjust the size and length of various body parts of your pet. With literally hundreds of different ways to customise your pet, there are no limitations to what you can create.

In terms of the animations of the pets, they are the most authentic of The Sims series to date. The attention to detail regarding the pets’ appearance is truly remarkable. Facial movements convey the emotions of the pets in an extremely intricate way. Whatever emotion your pet is experiencing, your Sims will know about it. Pets are also extremely vocal in The Sims 3. An example would be that if the food bowl is empty, a pet will vocally inform a Sim of the situation.

Similar to Sims, pets also have traits in The Sims 3 Pets. When creating your pet, you have the opportunity to select three unique traits for your pet. Pets have the ability of obtaining additional traits through various activities in their daily life. An example of this is, if a pet were chewing a rug, and they were disciplined for doing so, they eventually earn the ‘non-destructive’ trait.

Unlike past instalments of this expansion in The Sims series, pets are unable to get a job. Pets are able to participate in activities that on occasion prove to be useful to Sims. Cats and dogs are able to develop the hunting skill. Eventually, they are able to sniff out collectibles, which sometimes possess immense value. Horses are able to provide transport across the town for Sims. Horses also have the opportunity to develop skills in racing and jumping.

Pets play an integral part in the lives of Sims in The Sims 3. Having played The Sims series for a number of years, I feel the interaction with pets has greatly improved since the earlier instalments.  Sims autonomously interact with pets regularly, unlike in past instalments where I feel interactions had to be prompted by the player. The interactions will vary depending on how your Sim is positioned. An example would be that some interactions are only available when a Sim is holding the pet. To unlock additional interactions, Sims are required to develop a relationship with pets. Sims are able to become ‘best friends forever’ with their pets. Depending on the strength of the relationship between a pet and Sim, the pet may react in various ways to interactions. Obviously, a strong relationship score provides a higher success rate for an interaction.

Pets have three life stages: baby, adult and elder. Each life stage varies in duration, the baby stage being the shortest and the adult being the longest. Depending on what life span you select in the options, the duration for all three of these life stages will vary. Pets are unable to die from anything other than old age. I for one am thankful they did not include pets being able to die through starvation or drowning. As I adore animals, I would be extremely upset to see them suffering within The Sims 3. I also feel it would be extremely inappropriate to the younger fans of The Sims series.

As an avid fan of the franchise, I know people will feel I’m being extremely biased with my opinion of this title. Truth be told, The Sims 3 Pets is the first expansion pack where I’ve felt there’s nothing I could criticise in any way. This may be owing to my profound love of both the franchise and animals, but I have gained the most enjoyment of the series from this expansion. Unless you’re an avid fan of the concept of The Sims, this game will not sway you to play this game. Fans of the franchise who were a tad undecided on this title, really should give it a go. The Sims 3 Pets brings a lot to the lives of your Sims. I think any fan can appreciate that. So what are you waiting for? Get your paws on this beautiful title, that will even get your real life pets’ tails wagging!

10/10

Many thanks for reading,

Hannah

Sources:

IGN  

Gamespot

Airline Tycoon 2 Review: Come Fly With Me, Let’s Fly, Let’s Fly Away

Airline Tycoon 2 is an example of those exquisite titles that barely get any attention amongst gamers. The title is a business simulator, which most people would presume to be a boring genre regardless of your genre preference. I believe this to be a strategic game that should at least be given a chance. I’m confident that once you experience the charm of this quirky title, you’ll be on board Airline Tycoon Airways in no time.

Regardless of what game mode you choose, before you begin that playthrough, you must select a specific player. You have access to four different characters with various personalities. Each character possesses a unique attribute which will aid your airline’s success.

There are two game modes to choose from. The campaign allows you to participate in objective based play. These objectives will vary in topic as you progress. With every objective, you have an additional task of fending off the opposition. You will be competing against three other airlines to complete a specific task. The player also has the option to specify the difficulty which will determine the sum of money you begin with to complete the task. Dependant on difficulty, the value of this money will increase or decrease.

Freeplay allows you to participate in a sandbox version of the game. This allows the player complete freedom to enforce their own objectives and goals to complete. Whatever objectives you set for yourself, you will still compete against the three other airlines in terms of passengers transferred and profits.

As you traverse the airport, you will discover many locations you can visit. The player has the option to converse with people at these locations. Some will offer you tips and advice on running your airline.

You are required to visit some locations to further your progress or complete tasks. An example of this is Hangar 51, where you can purchase new planes and customise it to your heart’s content. The personnel office is where you find job applications from individuals who want to work for your company, such as pilots and flight attendants. You may also employ people in specialised fields such as contract advisors, spies or personnel advisors in this particular office. ImageCorp Pro-Marketing allows the player to enhance the image of their airline. This will attract a larger number of passengers but could also deter them from the opposition. 

The Skytrips International Travel Agency allows the individual to select contracts to various locations. You must then schedule these within your flight plan as cancelling the contract may leave you having to pay a hefty fine. A location of extreme importance is the TakeOff Bar & Bistro. The bartender of this compact bar is responsible for supplying the airlines with food for their flights. You can determine the quality of the food your airline provides, which will directly impact your passengers’ satisfaction levels. Ultimate Color Design provides an essential service to upgrade the interior of your planes. These choices vary from business, economy and standard. Each choice you make will have a separate price tag that affects the standard of the aircraft.

Airline Tycoon 2 is evidently a unique title, which is probably not for everybody. Gamers with a love of strategic gameplay will adore this little gem. Airline Tycoon 2 boasts a clever combination of quirky character design and business simulation. This may not be for everyone, but I truly believe that everyone should at least try this game. So why not try out Airline Tycoon 2 today? Will your airline experience take off without a hitch? Or will you be forced to cancel all flights?

8/10

Many thanks for reading,

Hannah 

sources:

IGN

Gears of War 3 Review: You Can't Win A War, Fighting With Your Brother

Fans of the Gears of War franchise were evidently overjoyed when they finally got their hands on the final title in the epic trilogy. It sold a phenomenal 3 million copies during the first week of release. With over one million pre-orders, Gears of War 3 was one of the most anticipated games of 2011. Having received so much publicity prior to its release did Gears of War 3 live up to the hype? Or did the COG fall amongst the Locust?

As someone who wasn’t massively excited about this game, I now feel overwhelmed by the sheer greatness that radiates from it. Owing to the mind-blowing visuals, I would often forget that these were the events of a video game, not reality. With extremely intricate character design, it is inevitable that the player gets attached to the protagonists on an emotional level. I recall a close up of Marcus in which you could see the veins bursting from his muscular physique. This attention to detail is included throughout the game, from the breath-taking scenery to the vivid facial expressions of the characters. As I made progress, I swiftly discovered how immersive the landscape and environment designs truly were. From the ferocious fires during hellacious combat, to the gentle tide of the waves as you traverse the edges of the beach. This game is truly a credit to the capabilities of the gaming industry.

Whilst playing Gears of War 3, it became evident that the use of sound played an integral part in creating such an atmospheric game. The execution of music within this title was impressive. The music has the ability to cause an individual to experience various emotions throughout the game. With an extremely talented voice acting team, the dialogue and narrative of this story were definitely powerful, and I often found myself feeling directly affected by the events within the game because of this.

This game is the conclusion to the successful Gears of War trilogy, and the campaign is a feature that avid fans are anxious to play. I’ve touched upon the immersive storyline briefly, which is without doubt an integral part of the Gears of War 3 experience. Players are able to play through the campaign in two ways, standard and arcade. Standard is merely a cinematic, story-based experience. Arcade includes the standard experience but adds competition and scoring to campaign experience. The campaign is split up into five acts, each with specific amounts of chapters. Players can partake in up to four player cooperative play when playing the campaign. As individuals progress through the story, they have the option to hunt for collectibles scattered throughout the numerous acts.

Players have access to a game mode known as Horde. The objective is simply selecting a character and surviving waves of copious amounts of enemies. As you begin Horde, you are required to construct a base, somewhere on the map. This allows for placing barriers and decoys, which will allow for extra defence when facing the waves of enemies. Players have the choice to pursue this mode alone or can recruit another three friends to face the onslaught. Individuals also have the choice to take their Horde experience online, and fight through the waves using a matchmaking process. The difficulty is selected at the beginning of the session. As you progress, the amount of enemies that appear increase with each wave you face.

 

Another game mode is Beast, which is similar to Horde, but you play as the Locust instead. Similar to Beast, players can face the opposition alone or play with up to three other individuals to survive the waves. Whilst versing the opposition, you are required to gain some kills with specific stipulations. If there is a hero present, you must down this character then perform an execution to receive the kill. The player must also avoid the barriers and obstructions placed by the opposition.  Similar to Horde, as you progress through the waves, more enemies will appear.

The multiplayer feature is split up into a handful of game modes in which you can play. Team Deathmatch allocates fifteen re-spawns to both teams for each round. The objective is to exhaust the opposing team’s re-spawns and kill the remaining opponents. Warzone and Execution are rounds that do not allow re-spawning. Execution’s further stipulation is that you must execute the opposition to successfully earn the kill. King of the Hill requires teams to defend marked points on the map and earn points by doing so. Whichever team earns the most points is crowned the winner. Capture the Leader presents the player with the task of locating and capturing the opposing leader, whilst protecting their own. Wingman places four teams of two against each other. The task is to eliminate the other teams.

The Stats and Awards feature provides an intricate look at your progress throughout various game modes. This feature displays your level, title and overall XP. It allows you to change the title you wish to have. Challenges, ribbons and medals display what tasks you have completed. It also displays what criteria needs to be met to complete the challenges and earn the medals and ribbons. As mentioned previously, collectibles are present throughout the campaign. This feature allows you to review what collectibles you have retrieved. The achievements you have unlocked are also displayed in this section. The player can also access leaderboards to see how they rank against other players on their friends list or across the world.

I approached this game with what can only be described as an open mind. It’s pretty safe to say, my mind was blown by this beautiful title. Gears of War 3 is a game that tugged at my heart strings and left me begging for more. With such a dynamic storyline and diverse multiplayer experience, why aren’t you enlisted in the COG yet?

Many thanks for reading,

Hannah

Sources:

IGN.com

Gamespot.com

Dead Island Review: Let The Bodies Hit The Floor

Developer(s): Techland

Publisher(s): Deep Silver

Platforms(s): Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Release dates(s): September 6, 2011 (NA) September 9, 2011 (EU), October 20, 2011 (JP)

Genre(s): Open world, role-playing, first person, action-adventure

Mode(s): Single play, cooperative play

With Dead Island being the topic of discussion for gamers worldwide, I’ve been counting down the days to the release of this title. A game that received mixed reviews and opinions, I must admit doubt overcame my excitement. Taking all this information on board, I approached this game with an open mind. I’ll be discussing my experience with Dead Island, and its ‘paradise island’ Banoi.

Dead Island takes place on the island of Banoi. The protagonists wake up to discover the island has been attacked by zombies. They swiftly discover that they are the only people in the resort who are immune to the zombie outbreak. As they devise methods to escape, they also need to help survivors along the way, whilst attempting to understand the reasoning behind the outbreak.

The game is played from a first person perspective, which creates an intense atmosphere when a zombie suddenly lashes out and grabs you out of nowhere. It is also an open world experience, with an emphasis on exploration throughout the game. Dead Island also possesses role-playing elements such as the skill tree and levelling up system, which I’ll discuss in more detail shortly.

Dead Island is a very visually appealing game, I often found myself gazing at the ripples in the water or the picturesque mountains within the distance. This lovely bit of sight- seeing ends abruptly as my character falls victim to a vicious attack by passing zombies. The zombie design features a ‘layered limb system’ which displays detailed damage to specific body parts. If, whilst using your weaponry, they become damaged or broken, this is reflected while you are carrying it.

The lack of sound plays an important part throughout Dead Island. Whilst traversing through the island of Banoi, the slightest sound alerted me. I found myself constantly on edge when hearing something minute, such as a zombie breathing. I feel the sounds play a key part within this title.

Dead Island possesses a main storyline which can be played in one of four characters. These characters each have unique abilities which can enhance your experience throughout the game. The game offers the player a copious amount of side quests to battle through. The nature of these quests will differ as you make progress. Quests will also vary in difficulty which directly affects the quality of rewards you receive. Rewards include XP, money, weapons and modifications.

The main plot is divided into five acts, each with their own unique primary and side quests. The various acts will introduce the player to a range of ‘special’ zombies, each with devastating attacks. Whilst combating these powerful zombies, other zombies may also appear and attack you; this can be quite challenging and overwhelming. The enemies remain intelligent throughout the game. If you choose to flee, upon occasion, the zombies are still able to locate and follow you.

I mentioned the role-playing elements included earlier that I found to be extremely interesting in this title. Regardless of which character you select to fight this zombie onslaught, you are able to level up your character as you gain experience points. This is made possible using the skill tree system within Dead Island. It’s divided into three sub-sections which are fury, combat and survival. Fury is extremely useful for fending off hordes of zombies and the ability to inflict more damage for a short period of time. Combat allows you to develop your character’s specific skills and abilities with weapons. Survival allows your character to become stronger and more resilient when being attacked. What I found interesting is, as your character develops, so do the zombies. This is an excellent feature as it maintains a steady level of difficulty throughout the game.

With such a strong element of development and customisation throughout this game, it’s only natural that you also possess this ability with your weaponry. As you traverse the island of Banoi, you will stumble upon what seem to be pointless items. If you loot these items, it gives you the potential to customise your weapon in various ways. You are also able to repair and upgrade your weapons. There is a fee for performing these changes. Levels make another appearance as some weapons require you to be at a certain level before you can use them.

Something I was eager to experiment with was the differences between playing the game alone and with a companion. Although the events throughout the game are identical, the differences between single and cooperative play were quite prominent.

Whilst playing alone, the experience was one that I felt constantly on edge and was extremely eerie. I also felt that I was avoiding zombies much more frequently, especially if they were in groups. When combating groups of zombies, I often felt it was a struggle alone and unless you were extremely focused, you could easily be overpowered.

Whilst playing cooperatively, I found myself feeling slightly more relaxed. I found combating the copious amount of zombies with a companion was not at all arduous in comparison to the single player experience. I also feel that I would seek out zombies frequently as I had the reassurance of someone with me to provide assistance if it was needed. Overall, I would say this game is a much more enjoyable experience when playing with a friend. Unless you’re specifically seeking a challenge, I’d recommend zombie slaying alone!

With Dead Island being a sell out in many places, it’s evident that this game has caught the eyes of various types of gamers. With strong single and cooperative capabilities, Dead Island has delivered a unique title. I truly believe this is a must have for zombie fans everywhere, you will not be disappointed. I hope this information has been useful and possibly triggered your interest. If you are interested, what are you waiting for? Pick up Dead Island, get into zombie slaying mode and let the bodies hit the floor!

Many thanks for reading,

Hannah

sources:

http://deadisland.deepsilver.com/deadisland.php

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/objects/955/955540.html