LGR - The Sims 3 Island Paradise Review

Sometimes you just want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city or the little city or the rock with grass .

It's all way too routine , way too action packed , way too much muchness , you know .

So you make a hot dog thinking that will suffice .

But no , it's just not enough .

What you need is a change of pick , what you need is the tropics .

And what do you know ?

You're in luck if you just fork over the cash ?

Yeah , it's the Sims Three island paradise with the freaking 10th expansion pack too .

The Sims three and the second one to include vacation themes , but only sort of .

So don't assume that this is just a rehash of a rehash as it actually does quite a bit .

That's completely new to the Sims three franchise adventure resorts , water skiing , scuba diving , sunburn , bug bites sand and exactly the wrong crevices and all the other things that make living on an island worthwhile island .

Paradise begins with a blue screen of loading which is fine since at least it's not a blue screen of death unless your death comes from drowning in the ocean and in that case , dang it blue screen of death .

It is once you reach the main menu , the main thing to do is use the menu to select the neighborhood or city you want to play .

Island .

Paradise comes with a nifty new one called Isla Paradiso .

Yes .

Take yourself down to the island .

Paradise City where the grass is green and the girls are passable at the very least while it may be reminiscent of existing towns like Barnacle Bay and Lucky Palms .

This archipelago paradise is tailored specifically to work with the new objects and activities of island .

Paradise .

Well , what might those be ?

You didn't ask ?

But I'm going to tell you anyway .

Well , the main categories as I see them are boats , real estate resorts and scuba diving .

First up is boating , which is something that's been requested to be in the SIMS for as long as I can remember .

Finally , instead of being stuck on a lonely island , you can be on a boat .

So get your towels ready .

It's about to go down or actually try to stay afloat instead using anything from rowboats to paddle boats , to jet skis , to sailboats , to speed boats .

You also have boat taxis at your beck and call and even the freaking delivery people have boats .

They work almost exactly like cars .

So yes , you can stick it in your pocket and it'll fit next is real estate .

Although oddly enough , this actually ties into boats house boats to be precise .

Just choose from any number of docks that have a houseboat slot and you can customize your own floating a boat just as you would .

A regular house .

Want to make it awesome with all the amenities of home , but with 100% more seasickness .

Go right ahead .

Want to make it ridiculous .

Creating a bug filled with nothing but chairs .

Feel free sitting fanatic .

They work just like a boat too .

So you can not only take them from dock to dock , but you can also take them out onto the ocean and never be home sick again , just seasick .

But chances are you don't want to just have a house boat .

You probably want a house house as well .

Now , you can own more than one home at once through the real estate system , which is handy for those with traveling spirits and secret lovers alike houses can also be built over water .

Now , using the new stilted foundations , this really allows for some awesome home designs as well as makes the home feel a bit like a carnival act , which is great since that home , always wanted to be a clown as a kid .

Next is the resort system which works similarly to owning a business in the Sims Two open for business expansion .

You can either start a new lot and build your own resort from the ground up , which is great when used in tandem with the blueprint building system .

Or you can purchase an existing and push its star rating to the max using whatever you've got hire , new employees , customize their outfits , upgrade buildings , add spas and suites .

Reach for higher review scores .

Run the front desk , choose the kinds of food you serve and walk around like you own the place because you do own the place .

So , what the balls is anyone really gonna do ?

If they have a problem with you , they can deal with it , etcetera .

Yeah , I like owning a business .

It's fun .

When you have money , you can make more money with nothing like a good little bit of cutthroat business action to spice up the normal routine .

And finally , we have scuba diving except that's not entirely accurate because we also have snorkeling , but they both tie into the same skill .

So shut up anywhere you see salt water , you can go snorkeling , which is useful not only for finding a random seashells and minerals , but turning yourself into convenient shark food .

Eventually your skill will raise enough for you to be able to attempt diving with scuba gear .

Although this can only be done where you see these special buoys floating , like it's also worth noting that officially at least underwater in hidden areas like this are currently only available in this town of Isla Paradiso .

But yeah , just go underwater and feel the flood begin fingertips so gently on your skin , collect fish rocks , shells and even treasure .

If you're lucky and skilled enough .

You can also explore cave systems and by explore , I mean , send your SIM inside and just don't stop believing that cool things are happening inside though .

You can also get it on inside the cave with a scuba diving partner , which is cool , I suppose though , the logistics and particulars of how exactly that works .

Intrigue , the crap out of me gives a whole new meaning to the term wetsuit too .

Does it not just keep an eye on your oxygen since Sims definitely need to be able to breathe in order to stay alive ?

Except when they don't , as is the case with the new creature slash life state .

The mermaid .

Hm M people .

Because what's a paradise without an evolutionary abomination that is traditionally associated with doom and peril , you can become a mermaid by ingesting mema Kelp .

And this not only gives you the ability to breathe underwater , but the requirement to be hydrated much like plant sims .

And of course , it also gives them a fishy bottom half .

Although only when they're in the water , when they're on land , they sprout scaly legs , which is awesome .

But also unfortunate since I can think of at least one redhead who could have kept a voice if she had this ability .

Another thing you have to worry about that is unless you're a mermaid is the massive sea monster known as the crack in .

This thing is always unleashed and almost always pissed .

So keep an eye out for it and hope it's not hungry unless you just want to witness carnage like this .

Come on .

You know , you do at least once and if you play your cards right , you can actually gain control of the cracking for your own desires .

Perfect .

For those last minute family get togethers while you're out on the open sea .

You may well run into these islands that are secluded by smoky clouds .

one may assume it's a chain smoker convention or Beijing's atmosphere , taking a vacation .

But nope , these are hidden islands which are only hidden in the sense that you can't just go there on a whim .

Even though you can clear , you see where they are on your diving adventures , you'll eventually find map pieces and clues to these hidden islands , gather enough information and it'll open up to you and become another piece of real estate free for you to build whatever you want to on it .

There are some other random things of note included with this expansion like the new Lifeguard career .

This works a bit like the careers from ambitions in the sense that you are given certain times of day that you'll need to perform certain actions , you know , see a person drowning , go hand them a red thing and by all means , enjoy that downtime because hey , it's a tropical island that basically gives you a free for all license to be a creeper .

You also get a bunch of new items like water slides , poolside bars , some island decor , some Tom Hanks approved survival items in the limited edition .

And yes .

Oh , oh , yes , more chairs .

Thank goodness .

I was beginning to think they forgot .

And lastly you get the expected creator sim items like hair appropriate for those that say and apparel for both men and women that fit the island life theme and new traits and lifetime wishes that give your Sim the opportunity to excel at living by and on the sea .

So is the Sims Three Island paradise worth buying or not ?

As one might expect it retails for $40 and I'd say it's 90% worth it .

I really do like this expansion because not only is it trying some new things , but I also used to live on an island myself , Saint Lucia to be exact .

So it's fricking awesome to be able to have a virtual island life to mess around with for the Sims .

It's different .

It's fun and it's exactly the kind of thing I want from an expansion pack except for one detail .

There's really not a whole lot here .

I mean , sure a lot of it can be really time consuming , like running a resort and exploring every underwater cave .

But to use a sort of nautical analogy , it feels like a substantial ocean that's only a few feet deep .

I ran out of new things to try only a few hours into this mansion when more often than not , it takes at least a dozen or so hours to try all the new big additions coming off of university life , especially .

This is just a noticeable thing to me and it's a bit lacking in comparison to that .

However , that is not to say it's bad by any means .

And I would very much still recommend grabbing island paradise .

It's the mixture of totally new things to do the excess chairs and just enjoying island life that makes it worthwhile to me .

So if that combination intrigues you , I'd say go for it .