Review: The Sims: Livin' Large
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Anything that Maxis promotes for future release leads to anticipation and anxiety by fans of their sims. On one hand, we desperately await anything new they produce, since their last few releases (SimCity 3000, SimTheme Park, and The Sims) have been mega-hits and free-time dumpsters. But while we clear hard drive space for the next installation of Maxis code, there is a glimmer of worry that the next title they produce may not quite be up to the standards we've come to expect. With the huge appeal of The Sims, the early details of the first official expansion, entitled The Sims: Livin' Large in the US, The Sims: Livin' It Up in the UK and Europe, had a few million or so fans eagerly waiting and pre-ordering. So did Maxis live up to their name? The Sims: Livin' Large does deliver in some useful tools, extra careers and objects, but still lacks in overall bang for the buck.
New Careers
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There are 5 new careers for your Sims to earn their living from: Slacker, Paranormal, Hacker, Musician, and Journalist. The addition of these new career paths is the top reason for buying the expansion. They work much the same as the original careers: take low paying, long hour jobs, improve various skills and make friends, and work your way up the proverbial ladder. For example, the Musician track has your Sim earning a living as lounge singer, music teacher, and roadie. The Paranormal career track also allows interaction with the undead (or is it the living dead?), so handle this choice of career with caution. The most humorous (and laziest) is the Slacker path, which has your Sim idling through life from dead-end job to dead-end job. All-in-all, these additional careers add to playability, and there are currently no free downloads as alternatives.
New Skins/Models
In contrast to the New Careers, which cannot be downloaded from fan sites around the Net, the new Skins and Body types in Livin' Large are largely available online. With a little time and a reliable modem, you can download the skins found in the expansion or very similar ones for free from around the Net. Many of those included in the expansion were licensed from independent designers who posted their fashions on the Net. I am not faulting Maxis for putting more skins in the expansion; rather, I am pointing out that this alone is not a selling point for Livin' Large. They even state this on the promo - "if you don't have the time or the inclination to download or surf at home, you won't miss out -- we put it on the disc for you!"
New Objects
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Once again, a number of the "new" objects are available on the Net, many of which can be found directly on TheSims.com! The guinea pig, moosehead, jukebox, and more have been available for months now as free downloads through Maxis' SimDay download. However, there are more than a few new objects that cannot be found on the Internet, such as the crystal ball, genie lamp, telescope, robot, new artwork, and tragic clown painting. Here's a run down of what some of them do:
- crystal ball - gaze into it to learn about the future
- genie lamp - give it a rub and watch a genie appear. The genie will ask a question and give choices. Sometimes the choice will be helpful, such as increasing a skill or forming an automatic friendship with a neighboring Sim. But the genie can give a twisted wish (sort of a Sim Monkey's Paw).
- telescope - gazing at the stars improves logic, and looking long enough may cause an alien abduction
- robot - a hefty cost but the robot will clean the house, prepare food, water the plants, and fix broken appliances, all at the press of a button.
- tragic clown painting - hanging the tragic clown painting allows the chance for a living clown to pop up out of nowhere to interact with your Sims. Buy this painting at your own risk -- this clown is annoying and hard to get rid of.
- rugs & animal skins - these new decorations actually lie over the floor, unlike user-created rugs which actually are just tiles that are painted differently. Choose from an oriental rug to a bearskin rug.
- electric guitar - can be used to build creativity and looks pretty cool as you jam
- love bed - this heart shaped bed has an option to "vibrate". Two Sims who are in love can jump under the covers to "play in bed." Maxis officially says that this "action" is "open to interpretation." I wonder how much their lawyers charged to write up that disclaimer.
- chemistry set - a very useful object if your Sim has the ability to use it. The new "make potion" action can give you a drinkable potion that totally rejuvenates your Sim!
- work bench - this is a nifty new object that lets your Sim make lawn gnomes, colorful little wooden critters that can be used to adorn your lawn. It would be nice if you can make anything besides a lawn gnome.
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There are more objects included in Livin' Large that are new choices of existing objects, such as a new wet bar, new oak desk, various dressers, chairs, and tables.
New Home Building Accessories
Also included are new ways to fancy up the home, such as new floors, wallpaper, columns, walls, doors, and windows. Some of the wallpaper and floors border on gawdy and obnoxious though they do add a certain flare to a home. I never knew leopard patterns could be so vogue. Unfortunately, new walls and floors come cheap when you can open up just about any fan site and find dozens upon dozens of free walls and floors that are equally as creative. What you can't get for free on the WWW are the new doors and windows, including castle style sanctuary, chamber, and sliding doors and stained-glass, trapezoid, oval, and even bubble shaped windows. There's even arrow slits if you truly want to move William Wallace into your neighborhood. Also included in Livin' Large are new columns, gargoyle statues, and other fancy structures to separate your Sim's home from the average Joe next door.
New Neighborhood Management
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Another exceptional feature is a new and very simple way to switch between neighborhoods. Once you install the expansion, a set of arrows appears on the Neighborhood view and clicking an arrow moves between neighborhoods. With this feature, you can have up to 5 separate Neighborhoods, each with different houses and inhabitants. There were some great 3rd party programs to save and switch Neighborhoods that were available online prior to Livin' Large, but this feature does make it even simpler.
Should you buy it?
This is the real question that should always be answered by a review. If you are not awed by a few new careers and don't need to have genies and clowns running around to enjoy The Sims then paying $29.95 USD for a bunch of things you can download any time for free is not worth it. However, if you are like me and most fans of Maxis sims, the choice of whether or not to buy the expansion is not much of a choice. How can I live for another second when I know that there is something out there that Maxis made that I don't have?!
And I thought caffeine was addictive...
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