1UP – MySims Kingdom Wii/DS reviews

1UP takes on the challenge to not one but both MySims Kingdom games.  They apparently did not do well…

But you can’t get rid of the obnoxious essence-gathering. MySims is about building…so why am I spending 70 percent of my time on mindless chores? Since NPCs can collect essence from certain items (like a bookshelf, which yields pencil essence), I’d rather the Wii outings focus on real-time-strategy-like resource gathering, letting the player have carte blanche to erect stuff. Kingdom has the potential to be a sweet puzzle game, but disappointingly, the most complex task sees you snaking electric, water, or piston power to various outdoor objects. Throughout the game, I kept waiting for the “a-ha!” moment, where the islands revealed themselves as giant, interconnected puzzles, requiring more wit than color-by-number architecture.

1UP – MySims Kingdom Wii review

The more leisurely Wii version is designed to the hardware’s constraints, condensed into small, manageable lands, but the DS version’s spread thin. Traversing the kingdom on foot causes hours of aimless wandering, and with the surprising lack of direction, I quickly became dismayed that I’d never rebuild the Sims’ land.

The hallmark of the Sims franchise is an intuitive interface with an air of creativity, but if you’re specifically looking for a haptic Sims experience, try Animal Crossing: Wild World instead. Illogical and directionless, MySims Kingdom has the trademark — but not the quality I’d expect from the Sims moniker.

1UP – MySims Kingdom DS review