LGR - The Sims 3 Pets Review

In the Sims three , your Sims have already had the opportunity to go adventuring around the world .

Reach for their ambitions party late into the night and enjoy each generation to its fullest .

But even with all this stuff vying for your attention , there is still something missing .

Wait , what's this Felis Kati Canis , Lupus Equis , Ferris homonym reo .

Wait , what ?

Yes , you can now enjoy and take ownership of your favorite creatures .

Abolitionists be darned with the Sims Three Pets expansion pack .

This is the fifth expansion pack requiring the Sims three to play .

And unlike many prior to this , there are multiple versions to choose from .

You've got the regular pets expansion to the Sims three for Windows and Macintosh computers .

Another computer version called Sims Three Plus Pets , which has the base game and the expansion together .

A standalone console version for the Xbox 360 P S3 and a standalone portable game for the Nintendo three Ds .

There are also limited editions of the game that give you extra content including 10 special pet breeds for the 360 P S3 game and a pet shop lot with exclusive items on the Windows and Mac expansion , just pick whichever one gets you off the quickest .

But I went with the limited edition Windows and Mac version , which is what I'll be covering in this review .

Keep in mind that due to the fact that E A likes making things as confusing is possible .

The console versions are completely different games with completely different crap .

So not everything I mentioned in this review applies to the console game .

Once you start the game , you're greeted with the most amazing loading screen I've seen in the Sims three thus far .

And by amazing , I mean , more bland than a pile of dried oatmeal in a dry desert with Keanu Reeves spouting dry humor .

And actually , that's pretty exciting in comparison .

And this loading screen is just sad , but soon I realized I'm even more sad for complaining about a loading screen and the main menu appears in order to pity me if you've played the game before you can select any old save game you want .

But with pets you get a new town to play with , that's simply overrun with animals of all shapes and sizes .

This is Appaloosa plains , a quiet countryside town with meadows and woods to explore at least according to the Laziest wiki quoting , I can possibly pull off without you noticing .

Whoops gave away my secret .

So yeah , Appaloosa plains , less of this , more of this , it's filled with ranches and cowboy hats and seems to be stuck in a perpetual autumn like season while you can enjoy the pets expansion with any other town .

Keep in mind that this one is heavily geared towards animal amusement and has lots more fauna roaming around than places like Bridgeport .

Wherever you choose to live , the quickest way to pet ownership is to enter the revamped , create a family mode and create your own family of creatures .

There are three pets to choose from the old standbys , cats and dogs and a newcomer to the series horses .

Each of these virtual animals can be designed and customized in a manner very similar to how you design and customize virtual people .

And that is you can go as hands on or as deeply involved as you like want to make a Clifford the dog , knock off .

Go ahead .

Want a lime green skeleton cat , be my guest fancy , creating your own little pony , have fun with that .

And yes , there are even unnatural designs to choose from which is kind of like applying vinyl to your pet , perhaps a big cruel in some people's eyes .

But you know what this is the Sims where everything is ridiculous .

That's just how it goes .

Of course , there are also a crap ton of breeds snatched from real life to choose from 46 cat breeds .

72 big dog breeds , 46 small dog breeds and 30 horse breeds breeds breeds .

The video description for a complete listing of them .

If you're curious if your favorite is not included , you can likely create it by using the extreme amount of customization available in the advanced editors .

You can also customize your pet's traits now , which give them individual personalities and flaws .

You can even alter their voice to set them even further apart from the animal crowd .

It's weird though the barks meows and maze all sound less like an animal and more like a voice actor Impersonating an animal .

Yes .

Turns out that's how the sounds were made this time around by mixing real animals and human noise .

It's really freaking weird and I really can't understand why the designers would want to do this because you hear these sounds all the time and it never stops being awkward , at least to my ears .

Once you've finished building your pet with a human voice , you can place your pet on any lot with human Sims from here .

It's up to you as to what you want to do .

And at first it can be a bit overwhelming .

A large reason for this is that unlike previous pets expansions , you now have complete control over your pets .

Just like with any other sim .

There are a massive amount of things that each of the three main pets can do and several things exclusive to each animal type .

So let's just start with what you can do with any of them .

Pets are pets .

Obviously , they're there to be there to pee all over the place to make noise , to tear apart your house and to generally act like a socially inappropriate citizen , but they're also there to socialize with and be your Sims friend .

When all your human friends have ran off woo hooing everyone in the neighborhood or whatever , it's your Sims job to take care of their animal friends first by providing basics like shelter , a bed food , water and play things .

Pets also get dirty and get fleas so you'll need to make sure to bathe them every so often or just get them a futuristic automated pet bathing doctor Seuss contraption .

But it's equally important that you interact with them because pets tend to get lonely rather fast .

They have needs wishes and feelings just like any other sim .

And it's important to keep these fulfilled if you want them to behave themselves .

Otherwise , just like neglecting a child , you risk having them carted off by a social worker or they might even die .

That crap is just sad and it bums everyone out in the household , including other pets .

So don't do it .

Pets can also have relationships with other pets , including having their own friends and enemies .

They can also have romantic relationships and yes , that means pet woohoo .

It's not nearly as absurd as it is with the Sims .

It's mainly there to act as a build up to the breeding system .

Pets of the same species can't get it on with each other .

And you can take advantage of their genetics to make new breeds .

This is also how you'll get kittens puppies and fools since you can't create them yourself .

Not only do you have your pets popping out new ones here and there and you'll run across wild animals and strays .

You can choose to befriend these and even take them into your home .

But keep in mind you can only have 10 SIMS total up to eight human Sims or six pets where you mix and match to total 10 .

Eventually you'll have a freaking zoo on your hands .

So you can wait for some of your animals to pass on .

Or you also have the option to do things like sell them , put them up for adoption or just let them loose into the Wild Blue Yonder or if you have the PC Limited edition , you also have the pet store to help deal with your animal needs .

This is a lot that you can place anywhere and acts like any other walk in lot .

You can buy and sell pet related goods and do pet adoptions here as well .

And while we're talking about community lots , let's talk about community lots , some more .

There are a few new lot types that come with pets .

These pertain to specific animal types and are essentially parks tailored to their specific vices .

For instance , you've got the cat jungle which consists of park filled with cat things so they can scratch and sleep their nine lives away .

There is also a dog park with open space to play fetch and a bone shaped pool that I'm sure pleased some designer to create , but I can promise a dog does not care what shape it is .

And finally , you'll have a place for horses to run around and practice jumping and racing , which is fun for both the horse and the owner across the street .

You also have the new equestrian center .

This is kind of like a stadium horses and it brings us to the main focus of horses , which is to be an awesome horse .

This is accomplished by making them do horsey activities , like learning to run faster , jump higher and race racier while horses can do a lot of this stuff on their own .

The competitions will require a SIM to ride them .

So it's a good idea to have your SIM with the horse in order to focus on their skills along with the horses .

If you're not into racing or jump courses , you can just let them do their thing on their own .

As long as they have space , lots of water , lots of hay and maybe a tasty salt lake horses can pretty much take care of themselves .

They also have a need to exercise .

So as long as they can do this along with everything else , they'll be fine .

You can also ride your horse in place of a car and as small as the towns are in the Sims three .

It's not really a big deal and is sure to make your Neo Luddite Sim proud .

Another thing you may run across in the wild is a wild horse with a freaking naral horn sticking out of its head .

Apparently , these are called unicorns and are the special creature in the Sims three pets .

These tend to come out late at night seem to be searching for a place called Candy Mountain and can be found by zooming out and spotting these anomalous glowing clouds that look like an army of care bears farted .

If you can befriend one of these things , then it's yours and you can treat it mostly like a horse , a horse with demon powers since it may just set the world on fire when you aren't looking , it also has the ability to bless Sims .

That is if it's not feeling like freaking Satan at the time , of course , they tend to phase out of existence at five AM .

So you'll have to act quickly if you want to capture one of these rare majestic sadists next up , you've got dogs and their main lot in life is to be man's best friend .

Quite often .

They'll follow you closer than your own shadow and they're almost always ready to play when they're not licking your face off .

You can find them doing you a favor by digging up your well manicured lawn .

Sometimes they'll find something they think is incredibly cool , like a maple leaf or an empty potato chip bag .

But most of the time they'll just leave a hole , however you can train them to put their nose to actual use by helping them raise their hunting skill with this .

They'll roam the lands searching for rare collectibles and objects , collect them and bring them back to you to do whatever it is you pack rats do with such junk .

They also make good guard dogs mainly due to the fact that they are .

In fact , dogs just choose an item , you want them to guard and they'll guard it but do keep an eye on them since they have a destruction need to fulfill .

Give them something to chew on .

That's not important .

Otherwise that 3000 Samoan sofa might just get downgraded to a love seat once they're through .

Lastly , you've got cats , cats are here to exist really .

They're just there .

That's what cats do when they want something they'll let you know .

But otherwise they're probably sleeping or eyeing you in such a way that makes you a bit nervous because it looks like they're planning out how to murder you inside that little brain of theirs .

Nah , seriously , cats are cool because they're weird .

They like their silly little toys like yarn wing and fake mice , especially catnip filled mice .

Nothing like having a stoned cat roaming around the house , scratching everything and yes , they also have a scratching need to fulfill .

So make sure they have a scratching post so they don't use your leg instead .

But their main ability is that they can hunt other animals .

Once they learn disability , they can go out on the town and sneak up on whatever prey they think they can take down .

If they happen to come out of it .

The victor the creature will be added to the cat's inventory and they will probably bring it back home to their owner .

This is also a very efficient way to come into possession of many of the minor pets in the game .

Yes , cats , dogs and horses are the main pets you can customize and control , but there are a ton of other critters that can be caught and contained .

These are treated just like collectibles .

So some of them are more uncommon or more valuable than others .

These can either be sold or dropped into their related cage or terrarium to be kept as extra pets that don't count against your household limit .

You've got lizards like geckos , iguanas and chameleons , rodents like rats , chinchilla and hedgehogs , snakes like boas , kings and pythons , turtles like turtles , turtles and turtles and birds .

In both small and large varieties like finches , parakeets , Macaws , and even fal .

You also have fish , but you've always had fish and they're still fricking , boring .

Each one of these have to be fed , played with and cleaned just like any other pet and you can even carry them around with you .

Oddly enough , it seems that like cars , these animals can just be stuck in your pocket , they fit just fine .

Although sometimes they'll escape from your pocket and in that case , you'll want to find them before a dog does and sees it as a tasty meal .

Also , birds and cats don't mix .

Go figure that one out there are a couple other creatures that you'll run across around town .

But these are totally useless .

First , you've got deer which bound around like a ballerina on crack and do absolutely nothing .

You can't hunt them for venison or their antlers .

And I , I didn't expect you to be able to , but really what use are deer otherwise sure you can pet them and watch them prance around like ninnies .

But that's it also raccoons .

Sure , like deer .

It's cool that they're around , I guess .

But again , they just show up and stand there except raccoons also knock over your trash can and rip open your garbage bags and throw crap everywhere .

So they're not only useless , but they just plain suck beyond these pointless vas , there are a few other additions to the game .

First is the new Woohoo location for Humanoid Sims and that is the haystack jump right in and get some .

However , I have one small issue with this .

Have you ever jumped into a bale of hay ?

Much less ?

Got your freak on in one that crap hurts each piece of hay is like a freaking razor blade with a sharp point .

If it's in the right shape and you bump into it the wrong way .

I ain't getting my junk .

Nowhere near that junk .

I'm sorry .

You've also got a new addition to any town and that is the ice cream truck .

You can find it by looking for its icon on the map and then track it down to sample some of its tasty frozen treats .

But this thing , I don't know , something just feels off for one thing .

There's no SIM inside of it yet .

It continues to drive around and spurt its cream all over the place .

Then without fail , it will park itself right outside of your front door like a pet , a bear van or something and then it's off to its next victim .

Dingy little tune blaring throughout the land .

So is the pet's expansion for the Sims three worth buying as always , the suggested retail price is $40 .

So the choice really comes down to what you're looking for .

It comes with a ridiculous amount of new content and variations on old content .

And there's a whole list of little things I didn't even touch on new music , new clothing and pet related traits for your Sims .

But the vast majority of the content is about the pets themselves and that is its strength and its downfall .

Personally , I've just never enjoyed the pets expansions that much because that's not why I play the Sims .

Now , I like pets in real life .

I have pets in real life .

They're awesome and furry and all that .

But I play the Sims three in order to do things like build houses , collect junk and live out various generations over time through confusing and manipulative relationships when you pets into the mix and only distracts from the core Sims game play , in my opinion .

Still , I enjoyed this pets expansion and I think it's fantastically well done .

But after this review , I doubt that I'll use its content very much and I was excited about the minor pets , but while they're so minor that they're barely worth having at all , however , I know a crap ton of you are going to eat these pixels animals up .

So don't let my play style stop you .

If you want SIM pets in your game , then grab this expansion because it will not disappoint .