The Sims games are like a McDonalds. You know exactly what you are going to get, how it tastes, the emotional reaction you're going to get; and arguably a sense of been here, done that before... But there are times when you need to fill a certain craving, and The Sims 3, now available in the Ovi Store, fills that need nicely.
Sims 3, from Electronic Arts, is another Java game that pushes the boundaries for what can be done with the language, and the scope of the game, while not epic, is certainly going to give you a significant length of playing time.
As you start the game and build your character you can choose hairstyles, clothing options and colours. There is not a huge range of choice of looks here, but it's enough to let you feel you are making someone unique. After that, you can choose five traits for your character and you're off into the game.
What's nice is that you have three save game slots, so while you can have a perfectly nice character as one of them, it's perfectly possible (and a touch more challenging and fun, to be honest) to play a bit of a arrogant slimeball, which is a nice way of extending and varying the game play.
After that, you're dropped into your little apartment on the outskirts of town and given your first task. Mine was “find a new recipe”, but before that, you need to take care of yourself. Like every other Sims game, you have 'icons' that need to be kept in the green to keep your character in tip-top condition – so well fed and never thirsty, keeping clean, and not over tired. The mobile version has less attributes than the grown up PC and Console variants, which turns out to make the game faster but no less complex as you still have to balance your personal maintenance with the goals of the game.
While the basic routine of keeping your character in good condition to run around the town is important, it's those goals that make the game. At any one time, you can have four goals (or wishes) that you are trying to achieve, from a potential pool of 75 wishes; and to achieve these you are going to need to some careful planning and potentially achieve other tasks (such as a job to earn money) to complete them.
On top of the goals and the computer characters that you can encounter and have conversations with while playing the game (leading to long friendships or making one of them totally hate your character) you also have mini-games built in, such as doing the gardening or some cooking.
It's this mix of goals, real life, and the pairing of fun and realism that makes the Sims games come alive. It's no wonder that there is a solid series of games based around the franchise. Of course you have to get the fundamentals right on each device, tailoring it to the environment, and thankfully EA's java version has just about got it right for Ovi customers.
The biggest problem with Sims 3 is that, while there are specific builds for various screen sizes and phones, the core game-play is designed around the lowest common denominator handset, so the graphics are turned down, the control system never leaves the MIDP standard of two function keys and up/down/left/right select, the sounds are rather basic, and the game itself can slow down as the graphics engine unpacks and works on data.
So there are some drawbacks to going down the Java route (I'm sure someone in the comments will mention the iPhone version EA have made that can be regarded as superior), but the core gameplay is present, it's very polished, and there is enough of an addiction to keep you coming back to your Sim and helping them grow and mature.
Being a java game with little optimisation, I wouldn't recommend this for touch screen devices such as the 5800 as you are left using an on screen cursor pad, rather than direct interaction with the game - unfortunately I can't see any indication in the Ovi Store to alert buyers to this.
Sims 3 is recommended, but I'd be interested to see what EA could come up with if they went for a native code version for S60 devices to rival the iPhone version, and certainly one that takes account of the functions of a target device, rather than staying safely in the MIDP comfort zone.
-- Ewan Spence, June 2009.