Customer Reviews

The Sims 3: Pets Expansion Pack (PC/Mac DVD)

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I bought this game when it first came out in Oct 2011 and like thousands of other gamers I came across the widespread graphics glitch. With hope that a new patch would solve the issues I waited patiently for several months until EA finally released one - only to find it solved nothing despite the promises! 3 months after this patch and hoping further patches sort the problem out I've come to the conclusion that EA aren't bothered with trying to fix the errors, especially since I've discovered that they've updated the list of supported graphics cards to exclude 3 very common cards (which conveniently lists mine). Now, I'm sure getting a new graphics card would solve the issue (as having updated my card has fixed nothing) but as a consumer I shouldn't have to pay out extra money just because EA are more interested in releasing the follow-on expansion pack 'Show Time' than sorting out the problems that should have been seen before release. Personally I can't play a game where half the graphics are jumping all over the place, and I'm looking into selling my games.

This is despite the fact that the expansion pack on a whole is rather entertaining. The option to play as a dog, cat or horse is great fun, and I love the new riding skill created for your sims too. The hunting skill for the cat is amusing and whilst I find the same skill for the dog to be a little lacklustre the Create-a-pet section is truly fantastic (or it would have been had I'd been able to see what I was doing properly!) Alongside those 3 main pets you can have caged animals too, from small birds to turtles. Even the little extras like the new clothes are a good addition.

What I'm disappointed about is not the game itself. If you have a fairly decent graphics card you shouldn't have any problems and if you buy this game and find you do just send it back asap. What's caused me to lose interest in a game series I have loved for so long is the obvious lack of effort from EA to respond to their consumer's needs to have a good gaming experience.

To be honest i bought this for my girlfriend so haven't played it myself. However, i did get a very excited and appreciative message when she received it (she lives in another city and i had it sent to her as a surprise). Since she installed it i've lost all contact with her. Messages, calls, texts have all dried up. I am reliably informed via facebook that we are still together, therefore i must conclude that she's immensely enthralled by this add-on.

I am a huge fan of The Sims 3 and have all of the expansion packs. I was really excited when Pets was released as I have always been incredibly pleased with the games. However, as soon as I started playing the game (day one of owning it) it began to crash and the game would turn itself off. This would happen at random so it wasn't as bad, but now I cannot even play it for more than two minutes without the game shutting itself down (it loads perfectly fine, but it crashes as soon as I start playing - no matter what I'm doing, viewing town map, creating a Sim, etc).

I have tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it several times, but the game has been unplayable for months. I waited for a patch to come out as other people had been having this problem and EA had promised to address this issue, but the new patch did absolutely nothing for my game (and countless others). It addressed issues such as 'smoothing the graphics'.

Until the problems arrived, it was a wonderful game and I found it very entertaining. However, the pros outweigh the cons and I would not recommend anyone to purchase Pets in case they have the same problems. I tried contacting EA about the glitches, but they pretty much fobbed me off saying that it was my laptop and that it couldn't handle the game (they didn't even ask what laptop I have!). My laptop is brand new and was bought specifically because it exceeded the requirements, so be wary before you purchase this game as it doesn't matter whether you meet the specifications or not - it could still have serious glitches that render the game unplayable.

It is such a shame that EA are not the customer-friendly company that they dress themselves up as.

Was very excited for the game but as soon as something related to a horse is in the game, e.g. a new wish related to horses, a stray horse... it freezes and I have to switch my computer off! I lose the entire game. Is so frustrating - have been waiting months for a new patch or update and there was one, but hasn't helped. Don't bother getting it and getting your hopes up! Not worth it! (I'm on a Mac so can only say my problems are associated with this computer). Good luck if anyone gets it....

I have been waiting for the sims to get their pets back ever since the sims 3 was released. Sadly, EA have rushed this out and it is quite buggy. Many computers, including mine regrettably, are now unable to play the game properly as the main pets of the game are too hard for the graphic cards to handle. Check that your computer will play this game before purchasing - I wasted £30 on a game that I now cannot enjoy anymore and EA are in no rush to help people like myself out.

Very disappointing! the horse had distorted limbs and head reaching to the ground - returned original order for a replacement. Guess what? replacement exactly the same pets become mutants. Have now returned the game for a refund. Previously ordered Sims 3 Commemorative edition and Town Life Stuff both worked fine!

Before I address the actual game, I am going to go into detail the problem with the game, first. For my entire Sims life, I have never pre-ordered a Sims game - until Sims 3 Pets. Ultimately, I should have learnt my lesson by recalling past problems with Sims Expansions as soon as they were available. What's the problem, then? Everything works fine and dandy, but the pets; cats, dogs and horses, all look like a scribbles and their pictures... wow... it looks like they have had their faces melted.

I first booted it up, I went onto a family with just the one horse. From a far distance I saw the bad detail, and usually if you zoom in, the quality vastly improves. However, much to my dismay, it looked worse zoomed in. The poor, poor creature with a jaw that reached the floor and limbs which flail meters into the air!

NOTE: My Sims 3 game, along with Late Night and Generations, worked perfectly fine, no graphics problems before. A lot of other people have been having the same problem with Sims 3 Pets (see the Sims 3 forum, for example), and I think the conclusion that's been (very roughly) made is that EA has raised the specifications of Sims 3 Pets without detailing it in the actual system requirements... Rumour has it a patch is being released in 2 weeks time, though.

Disregarding this problem, the new interactions are really great, and I really love the look of the new neighbourhood, Appaloosa Plains. The sweeping view and twisting roads with houses with large fields, in contrast to the modern houses atop the steep hill, is really great.

Horses are definitely the most notable new feature. It's great fun riding them, training them and entering them into competitions. It's a bit of a faff, if you want to switch from racing your horse, to jumping, that if you have to get off and jump through hoops until you switch it to the right saddle (from my knowledge, I don't know if racing and jumping work with just the everyday saddle, I haven't tried that yet).

There are a number of new families which you can try out in the new neighbourhood, and I noticed that their biography/descriptions are a LOT longer than they used to be, so you have more background knowledge about the family before you even click the tick to play them, which I think is a good thing.

All in all, if it wasn't for the poor graphics of just the pets, I would really love this expansion. The actual additions to the game play are great, but I would really like to see pets that look like pets. If you know you have a great graphics card - then go for it. However if yours just reaches the requirements for Sims 3, then I'd be wary.

(ABOUT THE HORSE GLITCH - when I first started playing, I was disappointed to find that any time a horse appeared, either in Create a Pet mode or on a lot while playing, the game would totally freeze, and the only way to get out was to turn off my PC.
HOWEVER - simply updating my video card driver fixed this. I can now interact with horses perfectly.
So if you're worried about the horse glitch, don't. A simple update fixes it - just google the name of your video card and look for updates for your drivers.
This glitch is apparently more widespread on Macs (something about it not being compatible with something), but as I'm on a PC, I don't know about this for sure. So if you're on a Mac, I'd just search the web for any problems/fixes before you buy this.)

Your Sims can have cats, dogs, and horses, and a multitude of 'minor' pets such as rodents, snakes, insects and birds. Cats can be told to go out and hunt, and can bring back many different types of these minor pets for your Sims to keep, or sell if you'd prefer.
Dogs can also go out hunting, but instead of animals they find collectibles, such as rocks and gems, which can be worth quite a bit.

The horses are the main attraction, and are quite interesting. Sims have a new riding skill and can enter their horses in show jumping competitions. There's also a unicorn you can adopt, which spawns randomly somewhere in the town at night, and your Sim can add it to the family if certain conditions are met.

And... that's about it. I was expecting a little more for this expansion pack, really. The cats and dogs, aside from being able to go hunting for you, don't really do anything. I'm sure there was more to do in previous expansions. Horses are a bit more interesting.

Also, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I'm sure the pets are more hard work than they were in previous expansions. Their social need drops so fast! I'll have my sims interact with them to get their social need up to maximum, but then it just seems to plummet as soon as you stop. I've lost count of how many times it's popped up with a message saying that the pets will be taken away unless they're given more attention - and I'm giving them as much as I can already! But within a few sim hours they'll have the "Desolate" moodlet again. When you've got a larger family where the adults go out to work and the kids go to school, it's actually nigh on impossible to keep a pet. I ended up adopting another pet for the first to interact with, but even that didn't work.

Plus, the only time you can actually create a pet is when you're creating a new family. Otherwise, existing families will have to adopt a pet over the phone, where there is a very limited selection you can choose from.

So really, I was expecting more. This expansion gets boring after a while, and the constant "Your pet will be taken away unless you give it more attention" notices get annoying. I don't even bother with having pets anymore, and will probably just trade this in.

This is great; I can create a cat that pees everywhere, poos on the carpet, bites everyone, shreds the furniture with its claws and generally displays bad attitude, so one can engineer pretty authentic virtual pets with this!

I haven't had the game long, but it's even better than I expected. I love how interactive the pets are, and the Sims always includes some great surprises which make their expansions worth buying. I'd definitely recommend this product to other buyers. However, if you're looking for an expansion pack which adds dramatically to the things which your Sims do, it may not be the best expansion for you. I think that pets is more for people who want to enhance existing gameplay.