Animals and pets have always been a part of the Sims world, but never so exclusively the focus of the game as in SimAnimals, a new title completely devoid of human Sims and instead populated by over 30 species of animals, ranging from owls and ducks to foxes and bears. The footprints of civilized humanity are apparent in the game's stages-- a dilapidated manor and an overgrown orchard are two of the playable areas-- but, in a deliberate design decision to keep the game focused, human Sims don't appear in the title, creating an interesting impression of what the earth could be like after humanity's wiped out but mother nature left in tact.
In either the Wii or DS version of this game, both of which have distinctive appeals, gamers are challenged with repopulating these human-abandoned areas with happily coexisting animals.
The first instalment of the series takes us back to the wintery depths of January 2009 when most would have taken advantage of the high street sales. Here's our list of the new releases that shouldn't have been overlooked and that we recommend you look out for when on the search for a bargain in this years sales.
Gamervision:
"There is something terrifying going on this week, and I'm not talking about Halloween. No, the real horror is the amount of shovelware being piled on store shelves this time of year. Last week was pretty bad, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. At this rate, approximately one billion Petz games will be released between now and January. Ahhhhh! Can anything save us? Maybe DJ Hero will come to the rescue..."
SimAnimals started off as reasonably interesting, but after a while became somewhat repetitive, although (or perhaps because) there's a large amount of animals and plants to keep an eye on – there's around 30 species of animals and an unknown quantity of different plants. After unlocking the animals and completing the objectives in each area, there's not a lot to continue with – unless you're into being a virtual forest ranger (or you want to raise the Happy Bar as high as possible in each area) – but Sims fans and younger audiences will more than likely lap this one up. It's best tried as a rental first, though.
