2008 The Sims Blogger's Day Recap - Page 2

Kingdom has hardly any load times, the building aspect of the game has been freed of the segmented "build mode" and the game now has a story. It is actually an adventure game now, with the same Sims back from the first game, though all in completely different roles. This has me interested in the title.

You start the game as a hand on a pig farm and you make your way into being the king's "Wandaleer," or as it was described, the one person in the kingdom who would build things with a wand, of course. You progress through ten different slands, completing tasks for various Sims (like the first game). There is an 11th island that is yours after you complete the story mode.

The new graphics engine makes the game look so much better. Nice sharp and crisp graphics, at least for the Wii.

The game also introduces a sort of RPG element, in that you have a party everywhere you go, Buddy and Lindsey, who are of course from the first game.

The DS version of MySims Kingdom is not a port but its own game with its own story, again using the same characters in different roles. Includes a lot of mini-games such as ski jumping and snowball fights, and a kayaking game that was a lot of fun.

Both the of the MySims Kingdom games are out Oct. 28th, the same day MySims PC hits store shelves.

MySims PC was shown with no hands-on, guided on a huge screen by Erik Zwerling, Producer, and Ed Nanale, Development Director. They have added eight-player online play. There is a multiplayer garden you join (all peer-to-peer, no server in the middle) and there are eight different houses that anyone can interact with and modify. If you unlock something in multiplayer because a friend has it, you can take it back to your single player game.

Other than exclusive content for the single-player game such as costumes, scrolls, and essences, the game also supports high definition. I guess that really would not be much of a bullet point, but considering the original was a Wii game, it is worth mentioning in this PC version.

The last game we saw is a ways out, end of January, and had just made it to alpha last week. The SimAnimals demo was led by Charles London, the game's creative director, and Rawson Stovel, who is the producer of the DS version.

SimAnimals is probably what you would expect, as you have to meet the wants and needs of animals instead of humans. Though these are not domesticated, but wild animals like bears and squirrels and such. You have to get them to trust you, and then provide food and shelter for them. This game is also going to be out on both the Wii and DS and I actually got a very brief time to play the DS version. Of course, the first thing I did was pick up the bear and throw him into the lake and then bounce him off the ground. Because let's be honest, that is what people do in Sim games.

Article Author: Ken Edwards

Ken Edwards is the Gaming Editor at Blogcritics, and calls Breaking Windows home. Ken works part time for Student Publications at BGSU as the Webmaster and System Administrator. He is also a freelance web developer.

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