The Sims 3 Seasons: Limited Edition (PC/Mac DVD)

I was really looking forward to Seasons and I couldn't wait to get all the great weather changes for my Sims. The new weather is fantastic and really adds a new exciting element to gameplay. However, although the weather is brilliantly done and the festivals and new activities are really fun and interesting, the expansion is just a little disappointing, as it seems that EA really rushed the release date without having perfected the game.

Each season normally lasts for seven days, but players have the option to change the duration of each season. Each season has different weather effects like sunshine, rain, lightning, fog, hail, and snow. Also there is a holiday held on the last Friday of the season, which is a special day and Sims don't go to work or school. There is a new festival community lot that takes the place of the town's main park and offers different activities for each season.

Summer is the first season of the Sim year. The weather is mostly sunny and warm with an occasional rain, and Sims have to use parasols and umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun and the rain. Opening their colourful parasols and umbrellas is really adorable, but keep in mind that they will not do that automatically, and you actually have to buy them and put them in their inventory. Sims can now swim in the sea which is great, but they can't swim in lakes, which seems odd and if your town doesn't have a sea, it can be a problem. The summer activities include water balloon fights, hot dog eating contests, fireworks and getting a tan. The summer holiday is Leisure Day and it can be celebrated with a Pool Party.

Fall is mostly rainy and foggy with leaves falling from the trees and Sims can rake the leaves and create piles to play in or burn. The fall activities include carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples, entering the spooky shack and pie eating contests. The fall holiday is the Halloween inspired, Spooky Day and it can be celebrated with a Feast Party, where guests bring the food.

Winter is very, very beautiful, as it is mostly snowy and all the lots are covered in snow. Sims can make snow angels, build snowmen, and put outdoor fairy lights on their houses, which creates a very festive atmosphere. Also, children have snowy days when it snows and they don't have to go to school. The winter activities include snowball fights, ice skating, snowboarding, kissing under the mistletoe, and building igloos. The winter holiday is the Christmas inspired Snowflake Day and it can be celebrated with a Gift Giving Party, where a pile of presents appears in the middle of the room and each person gets one.

Spring is mostly rainy and there are lovely flowers everywhere, which Sims can pick and use to decorate their homes. The spring activities include attending kissing booths, dancing contest, and the egg hunt. The spring holiday is the Valentine's Day inspired Love Day, but there doesn't seem to be a special party to celebrate it, which is quite an omission.

There is no new neighborhood with this expansion, which is really disappointing, as I was hoping there would be one. There are no new careers and there are only two new traits; "loves heat" and "loves cold". There are a few new objects, including a new hot tub, some pool equipment and a few furniture, but sadly almost no holiday items, as one might expect. I really don't understand why there are no seasonal decorations, especially considering that there is an important holiday for each season. Luckily, I had already downloaded the Halloween and Christmas themed decorations from the Sim's store, so at least my poor Sims had a Christmas tree. There are also some new hairstyles, that are not that great and a couple new outfits, mostly uninspired outwear.

There are of course those frustrating little things that could have been easily avoided, if the creators had given some more thought into the game. First of all, pets don't really adapt to the changes in weather, so we get Sim cats happily playing and hunting in the rain, which is definitely not very realistic. Also, Sims can now plant and grow pumpkins and they can even have pumpkin pie as their favorite food, which makes no sense, as there is no option to make a pumpkin pie, not even for cooking level ten Sims. Last but not least, is the lack of greenhouses; plants naturally fall into a dormant state for half the year, which means that professional gardeners have no way to earn their living.

The only extra feature of the limited edition is the Ice Lounge community lot, which is nothing spectacular, and I don't think that the objects it includes are that great. I only got it, as pre-ordered the game, but I don't think it is worth the extra price. I recommend that you get the standard edition instead.

I was a bit concerned when buying this as I thought it would be pretty basic and literally just add changing seasons to my game but I was pleasantly surprised.

I loved the festivals and the way you can now snowboard and ice skate. There were loads of activities such as trick or treating and gift giving parties so there's plenty to keep you amused. I also loved how much attention to detail there was, it's really cool how the rain drips off the umbrella exactly like in real life and you can even decorate your house with Christmas lights. I felt all the small attention to detail aspects mixed with all the larger activities and skills to learn make this an overall enjoyable game, and one I have yet to get bored of.

I would have liked another town to be included as I'm still testing out all my towns to see which works best with this expansion pack, however, other than that I have no complaints.

My other favourite expansion pack has to be generations but I feel that this comes a close second. I can imagine it getting quite annoying with the seasons changing all the time over a long time of game play but like I said I have yet to get bored of it myself.

Well finally got my copy of Sims 3 Seasons (what happened to day of release delivery Amazon?). First of all I must say that Sims 3 seasons does add quite a bit to the game. The addition of weather variables does make gameplay more realistic, and of course you have all the fun of weather related activities. You can build snowmen and igloos during the winter, carve pumpkins, bob for apples and go trick or treating in autumn. In the summertime you can go swimming in the sea, make snow cones, get your face painted, and enter pie-eating competitions. There are egg hunts in the spring. There is a festival in the park, for each season, which allows you to participate in most of these activities.

There is no new world with this expansion, and you can't change the season as easily as you could with the Sims 2 version (no tab this time). The season duration is set at default 7 days each season, which can be changed down to 3 days, or changed to up to 28 days in the options menu. So if you want to try out one particular season, you may have to work through 9 sim days to get to it.

There are quite a lot of new clothes and objects (such as the spray tanning booth),8 new lifetime rewards and 2 new character traits. We also see the return of some objects familiar from Sims 1 & 2, like the snowboarding ramp, diving board and roller skating rink. There is also a new rabbit hole, the Haunted House.

Your Sim is affected in different ways by the changes in temperature (includes some new ways to die!), and supernatural Sims are able to use the new "Weather Stone" to summon up some magical weather effects.

My only reservation about this game, is that to those faithful fans who have followed (and bought) the series from the dawn of Sims 1, it seems as if we are seeing a lot of repetition here. Now personally I'd also like to see the return of the "Open for Business" expansion, just so that our Sims can once again open a business and stock and staff it themselves. However there are now some references online to the development of "Sims 4". It seems that every new version of the Sims gives EA games the opportunity to start a base game from scratch, and sell us the same expansion packs (with a few improvements/innovations)all over again. It would for instance have been nice if the Sims 3 base game had incorporated the weather feature in it right from the start. My guess though, is that "Sims 4" will find us once again buying expansions for pets, holidays, magic, weather etc. .....

To those new to the game, please remember that this is an expansion, and you need the base game to play it. It's also a good idea to check the free "Can You Run It?" site before you buy, to check the spec of your PC. No instruction manual included, but in-game tips will lead you through gameplay if you need help.