The Good:
• Overall, I’m really pleased by the game! I like how it combines elements of The Sims 2 Nightlife and The Sims Superstar, two great games of the past.
• The addition of celebrities: this is a big one for me, since I loved Superstar, despite finding it frustrating. However, it’s a little easier this time around, at least with the Sim I created to test the Late Night waters. It’s still enough of a challenge, since you have to “impress” celebrities higher than your star rating before you can chat to them like regular acquaintances. But if you join the film career, it shouldn’t prove to be too difficult. (This was a major problem I had with Superstar. Maybe I was doing something wrong or missed something major, but I played a Sim with every skill maxed out, sent him to Studio Town all day, every day, yet never managed to get above 2.5 or possibly 3 stars. Grr!)
• Great new additions to clothing! I love the sexier look of the game overall as well.
• A lot of new objects to make the game a little more fun, such as keyboards, cello and drums, among other things.
• Hot tubs! They’re awesome.
• I like the feel of Bridgeport, a true metropolitan city. Hitting up to Hot Spots every night is actually pretty fun!
• Bands. I haven’t explored this option yet, but I like the idea of starting up a band and possibly getting to do it full time, if you’re good enough.
• Maxis has added a few new features in CAS. There’s a muscle definition and breast size slider, which is pretty awesome. They’ve added two new traits (I was hoping for more, but oh well): shy and star quality.
• Apartments are back. While I don’t completely love them, I’m glad to buy a place and have lots of money left over. I can buy more skilling objects without having to cheat or wait forever to save up for them, which is cool.
• Food carts in the park! Awesome!
• I love how people begin treating you differently the more famous you get. My Sim is always getting her picture snapped by fans, and she’s gotten a few freebies/discounts. Sweet!
• Swimming pools are more versatile. I haven’t explored this option too much yet, but you can now have them indoors, on the roof, etc.
• You can read about which place will be the “hot spot” de jour in the newspaper. Since my Sim has the aspiration to max out her star power, I find this handy.
• I’ve noticed a lot of new wishes, which is always good since it adds variety. A lot of them have hilarious icons, too!
The Bad
• I really, really hate the subways. Majorly. Instead of taking a cab somewhere, my Sim will hop in a cab to a subway station, take the subway to another stop (which is admittedly fast), but then hop in another cab for the duration of her destination. It’s fine when your destination is attached to a subway stop, but usually the scenario I just described is what ends up happening. It’s immensely frustrating. I highly recommend buying your Sim a car if this sounds tedious to you (which it is). I live in a big city myself and have to rely on transit, so maybe this hits too close to what I have to deal with every day. I’m considering editing them out in Bridgeport and see how that goes.
• Elevators have returned, and while I like the possibilities of making out or woohooing in one, I find them too slow. You have to wait around for one, and since some of these buildings are huge, it can take a while for it to get to you.
• Among those lines, I find it a little annoying how some of the community lots are within high-rises. For instance, you can’t just walk into the gym and have that be that, you have to take an elevator up dozens of floors. It doesn’t seem worth it.
• Another big problem I have is everything seems to take a lot longer. Getting around takes a lot longer than it used to, even with a car, and there’s the elevator problem I mentioned above. I have to have my Sim leave for work when I get the “the carpool will be here in an hour” popup or she’s late for work (and really late – like 45 minutes late). I moved her to a building across the street from work so this isn’t a big problem anymore, but I can see it being annoying if there are no places to live right by other professions.
• While I don’t mind the apartments, I really wish we had a say over which unit our Sim gets when they move in. I don’t think my Sim had any neighbours at all, yet she ended up on the 11th floor in her first building. After I moved her, she was on the fourth floor, which wouldn’t be too bad if she wasn’t insistent on taking the damn stairs (really! Four flights of stairs?! I know I just complained about the elevators taking a long time, but in this case, I’m thinking the elevator would be faster).
The Others (Things that are neither good nor bad):
• Vampires are back for this EP, but I haven’t played as one yet. I didn’t care too much about vampires in Night Life, and my feelings of indifference haven’t changed yet. Someone on Amazon.com commented on how they think Maxis designed the vampires after Twilight, which I can sort of see, but whatever. I do like how you get a negative moodlet when you’re around an unfamiliar vamp.
• More building options! Woo! I’m not much of a builder, but I’m sure this will please many people.
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