The Sims Medieval – PC
The Sims Medieval brings some irony to this popular series of
life simulations. Whereas the proper Sims games make the mundane aspects
of everyday life interesting, this Renaissance faire spin-off takes
interesting concepts and makes them mundane. It’s initially
entertaining, fueled by the peculiar charms that have always made these
games so delightful. But eventually, the pleasures of calling the local
bard a lack-witted cur are undercut by the sensation that you’re just
treading water and never really getting anywhere. Of course, you could
say this about those previous Sims games, but their joy came from your
ability to make a life as worthy as you liked. Just as your little
digital people built relationships with each other, so you built
relationships with them, and the stories you played out in the game were
born of your own imagination. In The Sims Medieval, you don’t play out
your own stories–you play out someone else’s. And you do so over and
over again in a weird computer-game version of Groundhog Day. The first
10 hours or so are pleasant ones, and some worthwhile ideas work out
rather well. But in the end, The Sims Medieval lacks imagination–and it
lacks the tools to let you flex your own
.