I've been on the fence about Sims games since they came out and I first played The Sims on my PC. I quickly was drawn in and played it way too much for about a week or two, but eventually life (real life, lol) distracted me from the game. I don't have the game anymore (it was actually my sister's). Fast forward to now. I haven't played much in the way of simulation games in awhile, and wouldn't have thought I had time. But when EA Games asked me if I wanted to review MySims Agents, I agreed wholeheartedly. I'm a gamer mom through and through, and writing game reviews is so much fun for me... almost as fun as playing them!The Experience
It took me about five minutes to become completely immersed. I. Love. This. Game! It's nothing like what I expected - it takes a lot of brain work as you solve puzzles, search for clues, and and take in your surroundings in a whole new way. The characters are engaging and there is so much around you to explore - this game is right up my alley. I really think the people who wrote and developed MySims Agents are extremely talented. The dialogue between characters is witty and humorous - at times I would find myself laughing out loud at something a character said. Though they don't speak English. There are subtitles. Some of the things they do (like the ability to lie down and sunbathe on the beach, splash in the water, or take a break and dance between cases) and their babbling voices are about the only things reminiscent of The Sims.
Here's the Deal:
You start out by creating your sim - there are a lot of fun appearance, clothing, and accessory customization options , and you "earn" more options as you play the game by solving cases and finding treasure chests along the way. This keeps things interesting and fun. After making your sim uber cool-looking, you are tossed into a quaint little neighborhood as an amateur sleuth. Soon you're picked up by a secret agent who is impressed with your skills and gives you a job as another agent. You start out solving little nothing cases like finding a girl named Poppy's dog, or finding out who sent the flamboyant hairstylist (with poofy pink hair, yikes) flowers, then work your way into more dangerous cases. The bad guy behind a lot of the town problems is a guy named Morcubus. As you're playing the game, you know he's a guy that needs to be dealt with and you'll probably be facing him in the end. I haven't finished it myself yet, but I hear this game has a cliffhanger ending that gives you hope that there will be another. I'm excited about that.Controls:
Using both the Wii remote and the Nunchuk, I found it very easy to navigate my sim through the game. There were really no overly frustrating challenges (jumping from box to box, etc) that would make me want to throw the remotes, which is nice. The controls are quickly mastered. You use the nunchuk joystick button to move your sim around, and point and click with your Wii remote.
Difficulty:
The actual running around and searching for clues, talking to people, etc, is simple and will be fun and easy for young people, too. I would say that kids who can read will enjoy this more because all of the communication and clues are found in subtitles. I appreciate this because there's no way I would want to sit through all of that talking. I can click through non-relevant parts and move on to solving the case.
I think this is ideal for young people 10 and up because there are some really challenging puzzles requiring math and critical thinking to solve throughout the game. Four types, actually: The first type involves fixing various broken items by putting gears and screws in the right places; in the second, you move levers up and down and side to side to pick a lock; in the third, you are given a number of molecules that must be linked with a certain number of other molecules (math, ugh); and in the fourth, you must move the pointer through a maze. I loved them all, though I had to get my husband to help with the molecule game at one point. If you're buying this game for a child, I would be prepared to assist now and again as they need it. There's no way to move on in the game without beating each of the puzzles.
Multiplayer? This is a one-player game.
Replayability:
This would be fun to play again, after some time has passed and you don't remember all of the details. You are given the opportunity to recruit people to be your fellow agents, and there is a lot of strategy involved in helping them grow in smarts, athleticism, etc. That's something that could keep you playing until you had it all the way you want.
Follow the leads!- Entertaining storyline, engaging characters, and laugh-out-loud moments
- It's easy to learn the controls and what you need to do to move on in the game
- Challenging brain puzzles (mini-games) throughout
- Fully customizable sims with opportunity to earn more options as you play
- You move around a lot, so there are always new surroundings and things to explore.
- The graphics are great, especially the background graphics.
- Although nothing is torturously long and you can skip through scenes you don't want to watch, when you're customizing your sim it takes a minute to load your options. It seems a bit unnecessary, especially since the agent clothes, street clothes, and costumes are all on different screens and there is a loading time between each category. It would be nice if they were all in the same place.
- I love being able to click around my surroundings and explore - I would really like it if the game had been longer or there had been more places to solve cases in.
Other than that, there was nothing that made me think, "Oh, I don't like that."
One of my favorite characters, Yuki (black spikey hair). She's rather obsessed with biting people. Yikes.Conclusion:
A very entertaining interactive game that I think children, teens, and adults should all play! My husband and I watch Monk all the time and love detective stories, so I think this game especially appealed to me because of that. I really enjoyed the challenge of finding clues, solving problems, and trying to figure out "whodunit". :-) This is one of my top Wii game recommendations!
Find out more about MySims Agents and view screenshots and trailers at EA Games.
Buy it!
You can buy MySims Agents for only $40.00 with free shipping at Amazon.com right now!
MySims Agents is also available on DS (I have not played that version).
Thank you to EA Games for sending me a copy of MySims Agents for the Wii free of charge for review and testing purposes!
