The Sims: World Adventures is perhaps the first essential expansion pack in the lauded series’ history. Oh sure, we’ve brought our Sims to college before, or back from the pet shop, but after the critical and commercial success of The Sims 3, hopes were high that publishers EA were ready to capitalise on this momentum with a more full, substantial expansion. Building upon Sims 3’s most successful addition - the open-world “living neighbourhood”, World Adventures transports your Sim to three new holiday maps, exploring caves in China, visiting the Sphinx in Egypt and putting your avatar’s feet up in a virtual French countryside.
One of the most common complaints pointed towards the Sims franchise is that the gameplay is akin to simply playing with a dollhouse. Sure you don’t have 100% control of your player’s destinies and daily lives, but in general you dictate the storyline and narrative with no set path to follow or end-bosses to conquer. With World Adventures EA have cleverly decided to increase the value of their first expansion by not just providing new “World” areas for your Sims to explore, instead they literally will be going on “adventures”, which is the perfect riposte to those critics and perhaps signals their intention to take the franchise in new, exciting directions.
After a surprisingly quick install, your characters receive a new “TRAVEL” option via their house phone or the PC and if they have the Simoleons, it’s time for a trip to Champs Le Sims (France), Al Simhara (Egypt) or Shang Simla (China). Each location has a base camp to settle in for when you first visit. From here your character(s) can search for new adventures, meet fellow travellers or stock up on basic amenities (food morsels and most excitingly, shower-in-a-can). Thus you won’t have to worry about your Sim dying/starving mid-tomb exploration as you can literally pitch a tent at nearly every location in the worlds and should always have enough stock to ensure your Sim’s survival. The adventures of ahem, Adventures generally involve exploring tombs and catacombs, activating keystone panels and even avoiding mummies in your search for lost treasures and relics. Although the puzzles won’t challenge seasoned gamers and can be quite fiddly at times, they are nonetheless a well-designed and enjoyable change of pace from the natural Sims experience.
If you and your Sim grow tired of underground exploring there are still a wealth of new features to explore. Three new traits have been included, from learning photography, martial arts and adventuring, in addition to new lifetime awards. And new recipes, furniture and items related to these new traits can also be found in the local markets. On the other hand if your Sim is visiting abroad in search of love, they can actually make long-distance calls to their foreign Sims afterwards, or even invite them to visit your local town.