The Sims Bustin' Out

When The Sims hit PC’s several years ago, it created an international hit, spurring on numerous expansion packs, an MMO game, and in a short time a brand new sequel. Not wanting to leave console gamers out in the cold, EA has created a game especially for them entitled: The Sims Bustin' Out. Unlike the PC games, players will now be in direct control of one personal Sim. Does the premise entice you yet? To find out more about this game read on!

The story behind this game is that your uncle invited you down for the summer to SimValley at his farm. He tells you that even though things are a lot slower here, compared to the city, players will still have plenty to keep them occupied. Before players can get down to the farm, they must first create a Sim of their very own. Players must choose their name, appearance, and the Sim’s personality. Once you finish personalizing your Sim you are let loose upon the town of SimValley.

Even though this game is a lot different from the PC version, it still has a lot in common with it. Players will have to keep up with the Sims personal needs, like a real human. Players must always beware of their hunger, hygiene energy, social, and comfort, and bladder, and fun level of their Sim, or else your Sim will pass out. Just like in the original game players will find it funny to torment the Sims such as neglecting to go to the restroom or eating. It is always great to see the consequence of your actions.

Not only will players have to keep up with their personal needs they will have to interact with the world. They will find that the people of this town will not like them at first, but if they are persistent, and keep doing well in the community, they will win over people in no time. This is really a unique way to present this game, and to keep it still with the rest of the franchise.

To help keep players interested in this game, the developers put in different missions that you will have to overcome to beat The Sims Bustin' Out. The missions will range from helping out your Uncle at the farm to trying to obtain the best house in the entire town. Each mission will have many different goals that must be passed in order to go to the next one. The missions can be as easy as getting an NPC to like you via reputation points, getting enough money for rent, to other very challenging things.

Not only does this game contain six different missions, with numerous goals, but there are also Mini Games just waiting to be unlocked and played. The only way to unlock these is use the cash that you have earned throughout the game and it will definitely be worth it, as some of these games will provide you with hours of entertainment.

As seen in past games, the N-Gage has the ability to create decent 3D games, but this game chooses to go an easier route using sprites on an isometric background. While this game does a good job of emulating the PC game, the sprites do not compare in the detail that the PC game has. While the game will not knock your socks off, it does give a good presentation of the entire town, and even gives you the sense that it is a living-breathing town.

Let’s face it The Sims really didn’t have the best soundtrack when it came out, and the “sim talk” was not even comprehendable, so this game follows in the same pattern with the incoherent sim talk and the decent sound track. Also the sound effects for this game are sub par but it gets the job done.

The Sims Bustin' Out is rated T for Teen.

Gameplay: 7.6
The game plays really well on the N-Gage. The controls are really easy to get the hang of and the game is really fun to boot.

Graphics: 7.7
While this game doesn’t use any 3D graphics, it really doesn’t look too bad.

Sound: 7.5
The game sounds average, nothing too special.

Difficulty: Easy
The Sims game has never been that hard to play, it is just making sure you are consistent and always pay close attention to the Sims needs.

Concept: 8.1
The Sims proves that if you come up with an original idea, and make sure that the game plays well, that people will embrace it.

Multiplayer: N/A
Players will be able to download different items such as player’s times at completing missions and trying to beat them, using the N-Gage Arena. At the time of this review I didn’t get a chance to review this aspect of the game.

Overall: 7.9
I honestly had a good time while playing The Sims Bustin' Out. I never was really big on the Sim games for the PC, but this game adds some adventure settings, which makes it really fun to play. If you are a fan of the Sims franchise I highly suggestion picking up this game so you can play it on the go.