The Sims 3 DS/3DS

As I own both versions of the game I thought I would do a comparative special. There are many differences between the consoles alone with the 3DS and it's Spotpass features but the difference in this particular game over the two handhelds is quite an issue. I personally, am a keen player of The Sims series even though the first Sims game I ever played was The Sims Bustin' Out for the Nintendo GameCube and got addicted to the amount of control, power and influence I had within the game. Basically, I liked that I could ruin someones virtual life. I've followed the series through and own the majority of The Sims 2 expansions. When The Sims 3 was released, I was a bit on edge at first especially with The PC version though, I must say with the right specs for the game to run smoothy it really is ace. I particularly liked that you could freely go between your own and your neighbors houses and the ability to direct your Sim anywhere around the town almost instantly. This certainly sparked something within me, wanting to know what these handheld versions gave back to what we might as well call the original version. Everyone knows that The Sims series is truly for PC.

So, I will start with what I most enjoyed of the two. Even though, the graphics and loading times let it down quite a lot, the original Nintendo DS version plays it better for me. The camera controls are much easier to operate as you use the directional buttons to move around within the play aera, buttons A,Y to rotate the camera and B, X to zoom in and out. This is a lot easier to adapt to that what the camera controls for the 3DS have to offer. On the 3DS version you do not use buttons to move the camera, in fact, you do not use buttons for anything, marking them useless. The 3DS version offers a control system where everything operated on the touch screen and I find this rather annoying. When I first brought the 3DS version I expected the camera controls to similar to that of the original DS version, my predictions were far from right. A thought that srung to mind however, is that this may just be OK and bearable on the 3DS XL as the screen will be a little bigger leaving more room for all the controls that have been tightly packed in. At least the plus side is that the graphics are much better to that of the original DS's especially when you play with the 3D feature on full. Admittedly, I was fairly impressed with that after looking at the pixel-ed preview images on the back of the box.

One thing, I should mention is Creat-a-Sim modes. The 3DS wins this purly for the graphics and extra facial design options whereas in the oringial DS version the graphics really do let it down and as the above suggests there are less options to get creative with.

My overall summary is that The Sims 3 for the original DS has better control making it more addictive for your Simming needs but, the 3DS version looks much prettier.

Tropico 4

Written by, Josh Cook.

Do you dream of a salt mining game? Games such as Tropico are considered niche. Most scoff at the mention of salt trading or management of wages and unemployment and the "Call of Duty" generation would refuse to even contemplate the purchase of the banana republic stimulation.

Yet here we are at the fourth Tropico, something must be working if it’s survived for 4 installment, someone must be buying it. It’s franchises like good old Tropico that prove PC gaming could never become obsolete.

So how does Tropico 4 fare compared to its predecessors? Well, for the most part it remains unchanged and for the first few hours I thought of Tropico 4 as nothing more that just a large DLC for the 3rd installment, however the current incarnation feels like every action has been refined with nothing left to want for such as the inclusion of parliaments and juntas, although there has not be much added in the way of buildings this is more than made up for with it's vast economic simulation and island management.

The main source of income is the exporting of goods by managing an island’s natural resources to both feed your Tropicans and sell to countries across the globe, with it comes the necessary massaging of the populace’s happiness either through careful attention to their needs or ruling with a iron fist with your loyal army.

The biggest success of Tropico 4 is its gradual expansion of each city, turning an hour’s play into a late-night session. The majority of game play occurs throughout its missions (which I ended up only completing a few) Set in the Cold War era. You might well expect more from Tropico 4’s story line as your small Caribbean island must court the favor of the US or the Soviet union, making friends with one will have benefits such as more profits on tobacco or salt, however this puts you at risk from other nations how dislike your allies and places your tiny island at risk for all out nuclear war.

This means a string of questions and decisions will be sent your way that include objective-based tasks, or forced events. With the latter you’re given a situation and a choice of options; in most cases the decision you make will have a negative effect on at least one faction, and in this sense toying with politics is a nice touch and adds depth to a already deep game. Tropico 4 never really manages to capitalize on this feature since politics affect little more than who you can and can’t trade with. The truth is, however, upset one faction and it’s likely you won’t even notice its effect, especially considering the ease with which favor can be gained.

 7/10