Game Review: The Sims 3’s “Into the Future” Brings Your Sci-Fi Dreams to Life

The Sims and its spin-off series has long been a favourite for gamers across the world. Its simple game play has attracted many loyal followers over the years with people fighting to get their mitts on expansion packs to upgrade or potentially ruin the lives of their virtual beings. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the latest addition to the EA Games family, and give it a closer look. Into the Future (ITF), is the eleventh expansion pack for The Sims 3 and is one of those games that’s really gone all out and explored the potential of a futuristic virtual reality. As you can probably guess from the title, the expansion pack has added time travel into the mix which is something that fans haven’t seen in the series before. However, probably the first thing you’re going to notice about the new game is the whole new selection of household items and various gadgets to buy for your home, all with a futuristic theme - from jetpacks to elevator tubes, the world is your oyster. Also, in typical Sims fashion, you’re given the option to customize your Sim in snazzy new attire and funky hairdos with some of the clothes definitely feeling like they’ve been teleported straight out of Tron. Apart from the new gadgets and clothes, two other things to note in this game is the addition of “Plumbots” and the ability to “Future Travel.” In ITF, instead of maids, housekeepers or friends you can now completely invest in a robot and do with them as you please. The Plumbots can help with chores around the house or become your best mate - it’s up to you. You can even give your customized robot traits, if you’re looking for the more human-like touch (Our particular favourite is “capacity to love” which is quite nice if you’re not hell-bent on ruining your Sim’s life). The Future Travel feature of the game sends you on a mysterious adventure with your Sim where you get to head to the future and into a beautifully-designed neighbourhood called “Oasis Landing.” With in-game options to experiment with new technology and create a lifestyle that’s like something out of an alternative universe, the game allows users to embark on their own personal sci-fi adventure! Like all expansion packs however, the novelty of the whole looking-into-the-future thing wears out after a while but the reason the franchise has lasted so long is because of its replayability. So, is the eleventh expansion pack for The Sims 3 worth buying? Well it will certainly fuel your cravings until The Sims 4 debuts, but be warned: as per previous expansion packs, the only major problem that goes with The Sims games is the amount of memory that they eat up. If you’re the owner of a regular PC or Mac and not of a computer specifically aimed at gaming your heart out, this could be problematic. From previous experience with the games we’ve found that installing The Sims can often lead to slow gaming and loading times – just a warning in case you don’t have a lot of space on your laptop. This is the final expansion pack for The Sims 3 and it’s definitely a good one to end on. We can only imagine what EA has in store for The Sims 4. Publisher: EA Games Platforms: OS X, Microsoft Windows Genre: Single-player Simulation Rated: 12+ http://youtu.be/IVBEFjCQ6nU