The Sims 3 Generations expansion pack is another chapter in the Sims 3 game. It adds gameplay that fans will recognise from TS2 expansion packs, while staying clear of the things that were boring in TS2. Did they finally get it right? Maybe. So far Generations is a good mix of new things, like the Imaginary Friend, and old things returning, such as pillow fights. It is still not a completely bug-free expansion pack, as a look at the official Sims 3 forums shows. There are still many players that have trouble getting the game to run.

I was no exception. About 6 months ago, I more or less stopped playing The Sims 3 because of technical game issues. One day, my game just crashed to desktop a few seconds into the loading screen intro. It stopped working for a day or so, and then mysteriously solved the problem all on its own. I decided to install a few game-regulating mods from Twallan, and my game was playable once again. I swore I would not spend another cent on EA’s failure to give me a playable sims game. Until they announced Generations. But even then, I waited for Twallan to make his mods compatible and I waited until I read about the issues people were having. When I did install the patch and then the game, I breathed a sigh of relief. It had not completely broken my game.

And then I was pleasantly surprised by the gameplay. Because I was playing a household that had just had a baby, it received a doll in the mail. It was an Imaginary Friend. And I usually am not that taken with the ‘creatures’ they add to the game, but the imaginary friend is both freaky, creepy and irresistable. The baby grew up to a toddler and was playing and singing with its doll all the time. By the time her birthday came along, the doll grew up with her into a child. It moves a bit freakily, but it provides companionship for the child. The child then got the opportunity to make the Imaginary Friend (IF) come to life. It turned into a weird little girl.

An odd thing is the achievement bonus for uploading Sims’ memories to the sims site. For 200 memories, you get 7 items for your game. With a family of 6 it takes about a day to get those memories. Each time a standard memory is created, for completing a task or getting a job promotion, a photograph is added to a family scrapbook. Personally I fail to see the point of that. But I have my 7 items, so I can ignore the memories now.

The most boring thing in TS2 was sending your kids to university. It was too long, too boring and took up too much time. In Generations they introduced boarding schools for kids and teens. You can send you kid or teen away (yay!) and they get an education without being a bother in the house. The player won’t have to bother with making them do homework or do exams, the way you had to in TS2 University. Perfect!

So far it seems like Generations is giving lots of players what they want, without making players do things they don’t want to. The whole concept feels more like a The Sims game than anything I came across in TS3. They even introduced some things that were only accesible with Twallan’s mod. If you have not yet picked up a copy of The Sims 3, after two years, and you want to try it out: the best possible combination would be the base game with Generations. You’d get a full game that way. A game that I am enjoying again.