The Sims 3: World Adventures

Previous Expansions For The Sims came thick and fast, like rotten prawn-induced vomit. Thankfully, we're promised addons of that ilk are a thing of the past, and that The Sims 3's expansions will explore new directions in gameplay, with World Adventures being the first.

This add-on allows your sim to visit France, China or Egypt, which all look and feel authentic, and take on a variety of new traits, lifetime wishes, rewards and skills. When you first arrive in the country, there's a base camp where your sim lives (although you can buy a tent and food to take with you) and picks up missions. These vary depending on which country you're in, and range from exploring tombs, to getting to know the locals, and learning Sim Fu or howto make nectar (aka wine).

The puzzle missions you're set are enjoyable but not too difficult to solve (such as pulling statues onto stone slabs to unlock a door) and soon you'll be whizzing through them, collecting loot along the way, desperate to move on to the next mission and explore the rest of the country. However, it's expensive to travel, with each ticket costing over 1,000 Simoleons. Plus there's only a limited amount of time you can spend in each country.

This is a frustration at the start, as you'll just want to spend all your time on having adventures. However, the more you travel, the more visa points you earn, which, eventually, will reward you with your own holiday home.

I'd previously played preview code where I explored Egypt and that country has remained a firm favourite. There's something ancient and mysterious about it, and raiding tombs makes you feel like you're Indiana Jones (even if I had chosen to wear a beret).

I still can't help feeling annoyed that I had to pay so much for going on the trips, and that they didn't last as long as I wanted. Waiting for the chance to travel again is mildly irritating for someone with no patience, so that's where it loses out on the score.

But World Adventures is so blimmin' addictive I've got my sim beavering away in the background earning some more cash so we can go and explore some more soon.