The Sims: Unleashed Preview
There's no stopping The Sims. First love, then kids, and now pets. Read up on the latest expansion pack to the ever popular The Sims from Maxis.
The Sims phenomenon continues to rage. Countless fans still play the game nonstop, and more gamers are flocking to it every year. Maxis, of course, is working on the next Sims experience with The Sims Online, but in the meantime, it's also adding to the current game with expansion packs. Living Large, House Party, Hot Date, and others have added more value, more locations, more options, and more stuff to the classic Sims game, but as befits a game that models real life, there are still worlds of possibilities to explore. So Maxis has been toiling away on a new expansion called The Sims: Unleashed, and at its core, what it does is add "new life" to your Sims game in the form of pets and gardens.
So far in The Sims, your families have been limited to human adults and children, but now you can add nonhuman members to your household. Unleashed introduces animals to your game--both those you can adopt and care for, and those that can make your life a headache. At first glance, you'll find that stray pets now roam your backyard. Cats and dogs come strolling into your lots, sniffing around and wandering curiously. You can befriend these animals, playing with them and giving them treats, or shoo them off your property. Less welcome, though, are the pests that can come to ruin your house. Skunks and raccoons also wander into your lot uninvited. Skunks stink up your neighborhood and require professional help to remove. Among the new options in The Sims: Unleashed is the ability to call animal control to your home to get rid of unwelcome visitors, and you'll want to do that when the skunks arrive. Raccoons are a little less severe, as they just come in and root through your trash, making a mess. You'll have to expend effort to clean up after the little beasts, but at least you can shoo the raccoons away with your sims. Alternatively, you can also sic your own pet on the curious guest. We had our pet puppy saunter over to the raccoon and fight it. After watching a short battle of whirling fur and dust, we got to see the puppy barking victoriously as the beaten raccoon slinked away.
While the mutts and alley cats add some nice ambience to the area around your house, if you want to own a pet, you'll need to take a cab down to the new Old Town and visit the pet adoption center. It's another addition to the already dozens of locations you can visit in The Sims (if you factor in all the expansions). Inside the pet adoption center, you'll see a nice pet park and shops to purchase pets and pet toys, as well as some bathrooms and a pastry stand for the owners. There is an adoption center for cats and dogs and an adjacent building where you can buy fish, iguanas, turtles, or birds.
Only cats and dogs can become real family members, but the other pets can be brought into your homes. The variety of cats and dogs you can pick is pretty extensive, and they all have their own personalities, just like the sims. However, they aren't as fleshed out as humans, so they don't have as wide a range of traits. They have no inventories or interests, and instead of jobs, they have skills (the three skills are housebreaking, obedience, and tricks). But they are full family members, so you'll need to meet their needs, such as hunger, energy, bladder, and so forth, just as you would with a human family member.
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