It was with the living accommodation that I got my first big shock: gone are the poky, strapped-for-cash student dorms of Sims 2 University and in were huge sprawling dorm buildings, with everything you could ever need spread out over three well-styled floors.
Once the important decisions have been made, it’s time to pack up and head to campus, where you’ll be given the choice of where to live: fraternities, sororities, dorms, or private rentals, with the latter being the most expensive option and dorms being the cheapest – i.e. For those Sims who are more freewheeling characters, for whom players have a more freelance or boho lifestyle planned, away from the traditional career ladders, players will have to take a closer look at the degrees on offer to find the one that best suits them – especially for Sims who have a Lifetime Wish for non-career related things, such as having a Private Museum. Each degree is geared towards specific careers and professions, so it’s crucial to choose wisely if you have a specific path mapped out for your Sim. The list of majors on offer was oddly limited, with a rather dull choice of six to chose between: Business, Technology, Science and Media, Fine Arts, Communications, and Physical Education. This time around, however, uni costs cash, and even a couple of Sims will set you back a few thousand Simoleans per term – nothing that selling the goldfish and granny’s favourite vase won’t fix though. All eligible Sims can be moved to the uni panel, and then majors, term length, and number of credits can be selected.
This time, in what is one of the expansion’s more inspired moments, it isn’t just young adults who can reap the benefit of higher education, as Sims of any age from young adults up to elders can pack up their togas and Deathmobiles and head off to the university campus.Įnrolling in uni is blissfully easy, with Sims able to use any PC or the powerful (if mind-bogglingly function-packed) smartphone. The Sims 3 University Life sees a whole new world open up for your Sims, as the chance to head off to uni for an honest (or not) education beckons. This time, however, if doesn’t feel half as exciting or enjoyable and I was left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. While Maxis were slowly churning out new pieces of the Sims universe, University seemed like a glaring omission until, finally, it arrived to be the tradition-breaking ninth expansion.
Spool forward to The Sims 3, and this generation has been dragging somewhat, hampered by numerous gameplay issues, glitches, dissatisfaction at EA’s near-extortionate Sims Store, and a roster of lacklustre, cheap-feeling expansions. It was exciting, enjoyable, and one of the best expansions (at least, in my opinion) that Sims 2 saw. When the Sims 2 University expansion was released for the game’s second iteration, back in 2005, it brought with it a wealth of new features, the most notable being a whole new age bracket, extending your Sims’ lives and throwing them headlong into the uni life, with new features, opportunities, and interactions.
While refinement in sequels is undoubtedly a good thing, and is to be expected, it can also have its downsides, at least as far as this generation of The Sims goes, because in this case, such refinement has seemingly left little room for truly innovative or game-changing expansions.