Let the Adventure begin!

As usual, we start off with a whirlwind game demo by one of the development team, in this case a regular face to us, Grant Rodiek. Grant was quick to point out that since working on EP's since the start of Sims 2, this Pack is by far the most advanced yet, certainly from a technical perspective, and actually, I can concur. We have never had 2 days to review an EP at EA before, but even with that extra time, I knew it would be impossible to try and see and do everything in the game. It's simply too deep, too big and too damn good!

This pack ships with more longevity than any other, as I'm quite sure that with all the cheats in the world, it will still take you days of solid gameplay to see and do everything the game has to offer. So don't expect me to cover everything here, it just wasn't possible to see it. Your best chance is to read the previews off all of the attendees, as I'm sure we all saw things others didn't get to!

But don't go looking for them yet, I'm not done! Let's start with the generic stuff...

Basements

Oh, at last! After all those technical tutorials on how to 'cheat' real working basements into your Sims games, we now have the tools to do it and do it well. Basements are liveable areas, up to 4 floors deep under ground, with stairways and tunnels connecting them if you wish. Above ground could simply be a stairway if you wanted, allowing your Sims to live a totally subterranean life!

Collectables

Visiting new regions means experiencing new wildlife, which our Sims seem to like collecting, so they will be happy to find new fish including Dragon Fish, Mummy Fish, Frogs and 2 types of Koi. New insects include 3 new beetles: Assassin, Scarab and Cerambyx, and 6 new butterflies: Bamboo, Dart, Cleopatra, Crypt Moth, Glowy and Pasha.

In these pictures you can see Mummy Fish, Dragon Fish and Frogs, all leaping from the water

Fruits

Four new fruit trees have been found in distant worlds and your Sims can now grow and harvest Cherries, Plums, Pomegranates and Pomelos (which you might need to Google, as I did). Nectar making has been covered by many existing previews so briefly; it allows Sims to harvest the necessary fruits to press, juice and age what can only be described as PG rated Wine! This can be served at parties, used to enhance aspects of Sims traits or needs etc. There are many combinations of ingredients to produce a variety of nectars, each having differing effects. As a result you now have the need and ability to harvest several varieties of grapes (we were told as many as 16). The ones I found were Avornaliano, Cherimola Blan, Cranerlet Nuala, Gralladina Fran, Meloire and Renoit.

Traits

Your Sims can have new personalities thanks to the introduction of 3 new traits: Disciplined which is useful for mastering the art of Eastern Combat, Photographers Eye which will help Sims not just to take great pictures but to appreciate them more as well, and Adventurous which allows Sims to be less scared when things get a bit heated in the catacombs.

Favorites

Thanks to the introduction of the new fruits and fish mentioned earlier, Sim can now cook more fancy foods and therefore have additional favorites, including Crepes, Egg Rolls, Falafel, Frogs Legs, Shawarma and Stir-Fry. There are also 3 new types of music which Sims can favor: French, Chinese and Egyptian.