MySims Agents – Review

MySims Agents – Review September 29, 2009

Filed under: Exclusive,First Look,Reviews,Screens/Images — hattrick @ 7:00 am

A WiiNintendo game review by hattrick.

mysimsagents_logo

Game – MySims Agents
Version – Wii (also available on DS)
Time Spent Playing – 7 hours, 2 minutes
Control Method – Wii Remote & Nunchuck (only method allowed)
Obtained – From EA (review copy)

For my earlier preview of MySims Agents, during my trip to EA headquarters, which includes gameplay video click here.

Introduction & Story
MySims Agents follows the popular MySims line of games that EA developed specifically for Nintendo game systems. The two games that proceeded Agents was MySims and MySims Kingdom. Agents follows the popular characters once again. According to EA’s official description, “In MySims Agents, players take the role of a special agent on a mission to uncover and foil the sinister plans of Morcubus, the corrupt CEO of MorcuCorp.” You start out by choosing your character, even designing his or her look. As you progress, you are able to add to your character’s wardrobe and gadgets. You begin your quests as a local detective, solving cases for friends, waiting on the Sims Protection Agency to hire you as a Special Agent. Working your way closer to Morcubus, you are able to investigate other Sims – the first time you may ask questions in a MySims game – and solve all sorts of cases. Your gadgets, which range from a magnifying glass to a wrench to more advanced tools, are mapped to your Wii Remote D-Pad. All your leads will be copied to a casebook for easy access, especially helpful if you need help remembering what you were doing the last time you played. You can also recruit up to 12 other agents at a time to accomplish side missions. There are eventually 33 available recruits, so you must be selective. You will assign each of them into crews of 3, giving each crew a different floor in your headquarters. Each agent has a different back-story and interests, which add to the charisma of that specific floor. When you dispatch your recuits, they may call in for updates, and sometimes ask for your help even as you are completing your own missions.

Character Creation to Special Agent
You start off the game listening to Buddy, a now steady MySims character, explain how the agent in his comic books was actually based off of his best friend – you. This is when you begin creating your character. You choose your gender, skin tone (3 choices), clothes (pre-made outfits), facial additions (i.e. bandage, scars, tattoos), and voice pitch. Your first “office” is a table at Gino’s Pizza – as long as you order something Gino says. You jump in the story as an already established local detective who solves simple cases for your friends and neighbors. Travis lets you know he wants to help, and you can pay him in pizza. Your first case is to figure out who really owns a dog named Dogwood. Poppy claims a “mean man” stole it from her. You find out this man is Morcubus. After solving the case, Morcubus states that you have made a very powerful enemy today by making him look like a fool. You head back to Gino’s to meet a Special Agent named Walker, who congratulates you for standing up against Morcubus. He explains who Morcubus is. He then informs you that he wants to open a branch of the Sims Protection Agency (SPA) in your city, approving your application. You become a Junior Agent as Walker observes you working a couple cases. After solving 2 more cases, he promotes you to Special Agent, gives you your own headquarters, promotes Buddy to your sketch artist, and allows you to begin recruiting other agents (your first available will be Travis). This is when the real fun starts, as you begin to take on the “big cases” to track down Morcubus.

Visuals/Graphics & Sound
Considering this is the first MySims game I have played for Wii, I do not have the first-hand experience to compare it to MySims and My Sims Kingdom. However, from video I have seen, I can tell that Agents has definitely stepped up the bar in many ways. The stages include rich 3D environments, and each level is quite different from the last. For example, you start off in a local “downtown” area, but you will also find yourself in your headquarters, an industrial park, a ski resort, and even underground. The characters in the game are a cross between Boom Blox and Japanese anime; yet, it works for this game. It definitely has a “cutesy” feel to it, but that does not mean someone older than 12 cannot get into the game. The menu style is all in comic book fashion, reminiscent of Buddy’s opening story. It’s gives a nice feel to the game, as you often feel like you are in a comic book. I think the overall design works for My Sims Agents. Sure, it may not be the most graphically impressive game in existence, but it does look good. Never once did the graphics get in the way of my experience with the game. The Sims speak their native Simlish tongue, and it sounds rather funny at times. The music is very fitting, as each area has it’s own theme song along with different sound effects that work very well in going along with the comic book detective feel.

Gameplay & Controls
As stated before, you take on the role of a self-proclaimed sleuth set out on being the best. To date, this might be the only modern console game I have played with this detective element, and it is quite fun. You control your character with the nunchuck’s analog stick. Jump with the Z button, run with the B button, use gadgets with the Control Pad, and perform other actions with the A button. The controls felt great. The only thing I would have changed is to map run to Z and jump to B, as it just felt more natural that way…but that might just be me. Every so often, you will encounter a mini game (i.e. when you pick a lock, hack a computer, or analyze DNA). These games do a good job of breaking up the gameplay with something new, and the developers got it just right on the amount of time you spend with the mini games. The majority of the time, you are on your adventures. There are plenty of platforming elements in the game. A few times, the game even takes a side-scrolling approach for a fresh new take on getting through an area. It is worth noting that you do not have a health bar or anything like that, so you will not be dying in this game. The only complaint I have about the gameplay is the way I felt like I was running all over the place later in the game. I had to talk to one person, go check out his or her alibi, and then go back to that person…or something similar to that. It is a good thing I had the ability to run, and the stages are not huge. Fortunately, as you progress, you are able to create shortcuts, if you are observant, so you do not have to take the long way every time you need to get to the far away areas. I am sure real detectives feel like they are doing this a lot too, but it did get monotonous a bit after playing for several hours straight.

Concluding Overall Impressions
I am going to just come out and say it. I did not think I was going to, but I really enjoyed this game. Do not let the cutesy feel and look give you the wrong impression of MySims Agents. It has quite a bit for everyone, even the so-called “core gamer.” The dialog is very well written, and includes jokes that people of all ages will laugh at, and they have even have some that only the older children and adults will catch. I often found myself thinking through the case in my head, wondering where should I go next. Sometimes that was tough to figure out, until I really started thinking like my Special Agent character. I try not to give number scores for my game reviews, but if I did, this one would rank high. I honestly cannot wait to go back and finish the rest of the game. Sure, it has its flaws, as every game does. Nonetheless, as a detective adventure game, it does very well, even adding in platform elements for good measure. I recommend you check this one out.

Expect more on the game in the coming weeks, as I progress. I might even put up some gameplay videos. Until then, enjoy some screenshots of the game (click to enlarge).