It’s hard for me to review The Sims 3’s Pets expansion, because I’m fairly certain that everybody who will enjoy what the expansion contains already knows that they’ll like it. That’s because The Sims is exactly what it says on the tin – a simulation, and one whose expansions are natural, objective improvements on the game because each one increases the depth and quality of the simulation of weird, cartoon family life in the suburbs. It’s not really a matter of which expansions you should buy if you’re looking for the comprehensive Sims experience – it’s a matter of which you should buy first.
I only bought one, so I can’t really tell you if Pets is what you should get if you’re only getting one, but I can say that it adds a fairly in-depth character customiser for cats, dogs, and horses plus the comprehensive gameplay and mechanical systems that come with raising and coexisting with these creatures. They’re treated the same as your sims are, with needs, personalities, and relationships with sims and other pets – all exciting new things for you to add to your long list of things to obsessively micromanage. To add to the list of content there’s a whole new town themed around ranches and horses, new lots for pet-related activities, assorted furniture, clothing, and hairstyles.
I guess my problem with Pets is that you have to be very into The Sims to really take advantage of most of all these things. If Sims 3 is your favourite game ever and you love to play with all the little details and side activities, then this is hands-down something that you should buy. Otherwise – that is, if you’re lukewarm on Sims and are looking for something new to spice it up and get you into it, this isn’t for you. It’s not transformative for the main game in any way, and is very much in the ‘more stuff’ camp for DLC. If you don’t go hard in the base game, all you’ll get out of Pets is the occasional novelty of seeing a dog or cat walking around the house and sometimes having to feed it. If you’re considering getting this, you’re probably already in the ‘go hard’ camp, so I’d absolutely recommend this expansion for all the minutiae it injects into an already bafflingly complex simulation, just don’t expect it to get you into the game if you’re not quite there yet.
Dylan's Morsels 