(PC) Town Life Stuff

I have stated many times in the past that I would like to put out more reviews.  But as always, I end up getting tied up with real work and never getting around to them.  Well, I managed to find some extra time in which I was able to install Town Life Stuff and boot up my Sims 3 game…in which I hadn’t touched since the release of Generations.  With the fact that I started fresh with a new town, I may as well start with a fresh new Sim.  Deciding it would be boring to play as myself, I came up with a Sim from a comic I really love:  Axe Cop.  Why?  I cannot say…I just had to.

Anyhow, below is my opinion of EA’s 4th Stuff Pack.  How does it hold up…bear with me and my poor ability to write and you may find out below:

Lots & Venues

With this new stuff pack we are able to place 7 new lots – 4 being venues in which you can take your Sim to and actually visit, and the remaining 3 are community lots which are rabbit holes.  I’m a bit disappointed in the fact that they couldn’t be full venues – especially the Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe.

• Par Excellence Preparatory School (Rabbit Hole) – I’m not to found of this lot.  Sure, I dig the architectural style of the lot, but being that it is a rabbit hole, there is pretty much nothing to do here.  I was able to enlist Axe Cop into a Painting class for $400 and that was it.
• Noble Tome Library (Venue) – Next on the list of places to take Axe Cop is the Library. You can find books here – and lots of them.  It’s a three story building, and well…for a library it seems to be lacking books and seating.  Okay, so it’s suppose to be a ‘modern’ library.  Personally I find it not my style…the library here in my town is nothing but bookcase after bookcase – 3 levels along with lots of sofas and chairs as well as computers.  I do like the fact that they gave the third floor a kiddie section so you can send your annoying brats upstairs while your Sim enjoys some nice peace and quiet.
• Fresh and Frozen Express Grocer (Rabbit Hole) – What’s the first thing Axe Cop had to do when dropping by the Express Grocer?  File for a part-time job.  Guess he needed extra money by selling avocados for his gun bill.  It’s very close to the other Grocery store that we already are familiar with.  So worth noting here.
• Ray of Sunshine Park (Venue) – aka ‘Generations Park’ because here is where you’ll find many items from that expansion.  You have a newly designed Tree house, Slide, Jungle Gym, Teeter-totters, Sandbox and Swing.  It’s mostly a park geared at younger Sims, as Axe Cop wasn’t able to do much except chill on the swing.  I love the layout and design of the park.
• Sudsy Time Laundromat (Venue) – Axe Cop got a call letting him know a couple of bad guys were spotted down at the new Laundromat so I took him by for a visit.  Now, I don’t know about you but I have never seen a laundromat this fancy.  In fact, all the ones I been in were pure crap and had washers/driers from the 60′s.  This definitely screams modern with its fancy fountains in the front along with the bubble windows which were a hit in The Sims Livin’ Large.  This laundromat has two floors, but in reality it only needed one as the second floor feels like a waste of space as it only contains a Foosball table and some connecting chairs.
• Mr. Crunches Fitness Gym (Venue) – Let’s get physical, physical.  Once again, a little too modern for my taste, but at least I can appreciate and understand the design.  I took Axe Cop here to beef up on his muscles as well as jump in the swimming pool for some extreme swimming.  If there is one thing to complain about for this lot, I think it’s just a tad too small.  I had to wait to pump iron because there were a bunch of Sims there when I dropped by.
• Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe (Rabbit Hole) – My favorite rabbit hole.  It’s just…nicely designed, I wish it acted as a full venue because it feels wasted.  Although there is a lot to do here.  You have a nice little bar on the front side of the building in which you can make a drink and chill, and when entering the building you can join the Culinary Career, Eat, Get Drinks, Become a Partner, Eat Outside and attend a cooking class.  So regardless of it being a beautiful rabbit hole, at least you can somewhat enjoy it.

CAS and the new Clothing

Sadly we do not get that many new items in the clothing section – 25 items in total with 12 items for Female Adults (5 tops, 2 hair styles and 5 outfits), 6 items for Male Adults (a pair of pants, a hair style and 4 tops), 4 items for Female Children (top, hairstyle – which makes the girl look like a boy, pair of pants and an outfit – oh my god so hideous!) and 3 items for Male Children (a top, a hair style and a pair of pants).  Us guys always get the short end of the stick.  Not fair.  At least we have different color options (and can make our own for some variety)…

New Objects

Within the pack you’ll be able to feast on 40 new items – 35 of which are in the Buy Mode while the other 5 are nested in the Build Mode.  Check out the pics below of all of the objects, along with notes of some of my favorites:

• Build Mode – Geometric Column, 3-Tiled Big Panel Glass Window, Bubble Window (from The Sims Livin Large), Waves of Grain Door and Prodedural Generations Door
• Buy Mode (Kids) – Items from Generations – Spring Teeter Totter, Treehouse, Slide, Sandbox, Weird Dragon Decoration, and a jungle gym.
• Buy Mode (Storage) – 2 bookcases, 1 small, one large (spanning 3 tiles)
• Buy Mode (Decorative) – Items from the gym (workout gear, towel with no name, workout poster, towel shelving), Library shelving, statue, laundromat sign, 2 huge square things that I have no idea what purpose they serve, and a fountain.
• Buy Mode (Lighting) – 4 lamps:  one ceiling light, one wall light, one table lamp and one floor lamp.
• Buy Mode (Entertainment) – 2 exercise equipment (treadmill and weight machine) as well as a chess table
• Buy Mode (Electronics) – An laptop designed to look like an old book
• Buy Mode (Comfort) – 2 chairs.  One of the chairs are sectional seats that will connect together.
• Buy Mode (Surfaces) – an endtable, a coffee table and a dining table.
• Buy Mode (Appliances) – you can find three items for your laundry – the washer, the drier and the clothes hamper.  Great for those without The Sims 3 Ambitions
• Buy Mode (Plumbing) – A lonely laundry tub

Conclusion

I’ve read many other people’s opinion’s on this stuff pack, and a large majority have many bad things to say about it: “There isn’t a lot of items, the designs of the lots and clothing are poor, they just rehashed and re-used content” and so on.  In my opinion, I like it – sure, I am a tad annoyed at the fact that we got more Rabbit Holes, but they are here to stay and I hope that come Sims 4, every community lot will be a full venue that we can visit and explore.

I know before purchasing this stuff pack that we usually do not get a lot of content – we average around 60 items for each pack.  In this case, we got 40 new items, 25 clothing items and 7 lots.  Some may say $20 is not worth it, but…I bought mine for $13, so I think I got a good deal.  As for some of the objects being rehashed (laundry set and park items from Generations) I don’t mind.  I’m not really going to count that against them because in some cases, you may not happen to have the proper expansions for those items.

Finale Verdict:  B-

For many more pictures of the items, venues and clothes, check them out in our Town Life Stuff Flickr Gallery!

-Jud