The Sims 3 Seasons (Video Game Review)

The Sims is a video game series well known around the world for taking real life and making it fun as a simulation that borders on parody and always provides some entertaining gameplay and funny interactions for all ages to enjoy. For as great of a game as The Sims is, the series has always missed the point where it comes to weather dramatically affecting gameplay while ignoring the seasonal cycles, but that's where the eighth expansion for The Sims 3 called The Sims 3 Seasons comes into play. The Sims 3 Seasons allows players to experience the world of The Sims throughout the whole year in the game as time moves on through Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter with different weather cycles coming with the turn of seasons. The new expansion is another fun one that The Sims 3 fans need to pick up, and with so much great new content included in the newest release players should still enjoy the title through the winter season in real life and long after it.

The only real complaint with the expansion is noticed as soon as you start up The Sims 3 Seasons. Rather than adding all of the new content plus a new town, you'll have to choose a preexisting town from another save file or start a completely new game with an older town such as the creepy town of Moonlight Falls from the amazing The Sims 3 Supernatural. Before starting the new game, you will be given the option of choosing the seasonal cycle you want to play by setting how long each season lasts or completely turning off seasons if you'd like. Each season comes with unique characteristics that model real life including special festivals, holidays and weather patterns that are modeled after their real life counterparts. Once you've started your game, you can begin outfitting your character with all new outfits that can provide protection from the elements in order to keep your Sims feeling healthy and looking good, or not. The weather itself is a great new feature that will change up the environment of the game enough to make it hard to go back to the old version of the game, although there aren't many activities built specifically for certain weather conditions or any natural disasters included in the package.

New activities are plentiful in The Sims 3 Seasons. Ice skating, roller skating, snowboarding, swimming and raking leaves are just many of the new things for your Sims to experience in the expansion during the appropriate season. You'll also find special leisure day holidays near the end of each season that will closely resemble their real life counterparts such as Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas. Special holiday festivals are included with each of the four seasons as well that will allow you to do things such as getting your face painted at the summer festival or bob for apples during the fall festival. Other fun events included in the expansion include building snowmen, carving out pumpkins, picking flowers or staying out in the sun until your Sims spontaneously combust and burn into ashes; yeah, there are plenty of crazy new ways for your character to die in The Sims 3 Seasons.

One addition that is incredibly cool but seems strangely misplaced is aliens. Perform too many strange activities or become enthralled by outer space and the secrets it holds, and you could find yourself abducted one night and coming back to Earth impregnated by an alien in the worst one night stand ever. Both female and male characters can become pregnant this way, but if you so choose, your Sims can become friends or life partners with aliens and even unlock a UFO that will allow you to fly around town and perform some abductions of your own! The Sims 3 Seasons is a whole lot of fun whether you're making woohoo in a freshly gathered pile of leaves or inside of a newly built igloo, and there is always something new to do in the new expansion including learning how previous expansions can affect the new game. The weather effects look fantastic and make The Sims 3 much more realistic and immersive than ever before. If you're a fan of The Sims, then you have to pick up a copy of The Sims 3 Seasons today, and if you think you'll like playing with real life, there's never been a better time to try out the series than with The Sims 3 Seasons!

The Sims 3 Seasons is now available from all major retailers and can be purchased for PC and Mac. The Sims 3 Seasons is rated T by the ESRB for Crude Humor, Sexual Themes & Violence. For more information on the game, check out the official The Sims 3 Seasons website.

Game Features:

New Activities

Seasonal Festivals

Dynamic Weather Effects

More Customization Options and Clothes

Seasonal Options

Game Information:
Developer: The Sims Studio
Publisher: EA Platforms: PC (reviewed) & Mac
Release Date: November 13, 2012

Score: 9 out of 10