EA’s newest expansion pack for Sims 3 is ‘Generations’, which was released in the UK on the 3rd June. It is a welcome expansion pack amidst all the ‘stuff packs’ EA are churning out lately. ‘Late Night’- the last expansion pack before ‘Generations’- was released as far back as October last year!

There have been many complaints on The Sims Facebook page and EA forums about ‘Generations’ automatically updating people’s games and causing crashes and a load of bugs. Personally, I have not experienced this. It could be the case that EA released a batch of glitch filled games and you were unlucky if you happened to purchase one. However, this is not an excuse for EA. They should not have to apologise about game play issues a mere day after release; the game should be perfect the day it goes on sale. For a company like EA, this is unacceptable. Despite these problems, ‘Generations’ is what you expect from an expansion.

It adds a lot of new objects for your toddler and children Sims. They can now have tree houses, sand pits and seesaws. You can also dress them up as princesses and dinosaurs and hold tea parties for your toys. Children can sleep in bunk beds in a bedroom decorated with castles, dragons, rainbows and unicorns. Princes can hold a mighty feast in their wooden palace tree house, and throw water down onto the heads of any unwelcome guests that try to climb up.

Another interesting aspect for the young ’uns is the imaginary friend. Your newborn baby is given a special toy from birth and can interact with them when they reach the age of a toddler. Depending on how often you play with the toy it might grow up with you when you become a child. If you continue playing with it and building a relationship, the toy will eventually become an imaginary friend, visible only to that Sim. With the new chemistry table added in ‘Generations’, Sims can learn to make a potion to turn their imaginary friend real- but you need to have a high logic skill to be successful. ‘Generations’ adds in a lot more interactions between friends; you can give gifts, watch the stars with your lover or woo hoo in the shower.

Teenagers can pull pranks, have teen parties when their parents are away and go to prom. If you want them out of the house, they can be sent off to boarding school and return as a young adult in graduation robes. It would have been nice to be able to control them while at boarding school- like in The Sims 2: University- but I’m sure EA will release that as another expansion pack some time in the future.

There is also the addition of the video camera. With this new object, you can film any moments you like in game and your Sims can watch it back on their TV. Finally, there is the new wedding cake and wedding arch so your Sims can have a formal wedding. In The Sims 2, these came with the base game but for some reason EA thought it would be better to release them separately. In addition, there is the option to have a bachelor and bachelorette party before the wedding. Scantily clad strippers dressed as firemen might even turn up (probably the reason for the 12 rating!)

It is worth a purchase if you enjoy telling stories with your Sims and if you like playing with younger Sims. However, if you prefer adults, there isn’t much more additional content for them. There is a walking stick for when they grow older and they can have a midlife crisis, but it can be totally ignored. If you like adults, ‘Generations’ is one to miss.

Fans of The Sims are still clamouring for ‘Seasons’ and ‘Pets’ for The Sims 3. The next expansion is indeed ‘Pets’ coming out in the autumn. In ‘Pets’, all types of animals can become part of your household, including horses. I would suggest your save up your coins for ‘Pets’ and steer clear of ‘Generations’ if you’re not a family orientated The Sims player.