MySims Agents

CSI: Kids Edition

Posted 3 years ago By - Marko Djordjevic

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To some, the MySims franchise has been a surprise hit with more than a handful of very different games. They’ve have taken you to various locales and placed you in different situations with some interesting results. The latest game in the series, entitled MySims Agents gives you the opportunity to take your created Sim and put them in an adventure that mirrors a James Bond book and movie or the television series CSI.

Gameplay

The name of the game in MySims Agents is crime solving. You will create your Sim and build them up from a mediocre gumshoe working from a table at a Pizzeria to commanding a high tech unit along with many recruits underneath them.

It seems that the city’s big corporation is behind some fairly shading business in the city and it’s up to you to uncover what exactly is going on. The game begins with you being introduced to the antagonist, Morcubus, who claims that a dog in the park belongs to him. You will solve the case of the proper owner and move onto bigger crimes that need your assistance; each one has some connection to Morcubus, his company, his associates and his past.

The story is fairly deep taking to you a number of different locations within your city and to other locales including the Bayou and a Ski Resort. Each location will have you solving a few ‘crimes’ in order to progress through the games deep campaign.

Missions themselves are fairly straight-forward and repetition quickly occurs. You will begin each case with a few key facts and it will be up to you to gather enough information to progress. Solving each case is quite simple and each has one has the same sequence. You will talk to people, be required to obtain items and use your gadgets to retrieve the evidence you need. It is very difficult to get lost as the game has a simple note-pad feature that keeps track of everything that needs to be done and even gives you minor hints on how to approach them. This is perfect for younger gamers who might get frustrated at certain points, but more mature gamers will view it merely as a walkthrough and should try to avoid using it.

The main part of each case is the completion of any number of different mini-games put forward. There are four of them: lock-picking, hacking, repair and analysis. Lock Picking has you moving blocks in order to get the key into the slot and hacking has you lead a ‘current’ from start to finish in the allotted time. Both of these are fairly simple and easy to complete, but it’s the other two that offer some challenge to gamers.

With Analysis, you will take atoms and combine them to determine the structure of an item. You will have a specific amount of molecules to use and they must be combined with nothing left over. The final mini-game, repair, offers the most challenge for all gamers. After collecting salvageable pieces from various items, you will be required to use those pieces to get a specific object working again. There are more than one way to completing these puzzles, so you don’t have to worry about using every single piece given to you.

If it wasn’t for the mini-games, the game would suffer fairly quickly from its repetition. The interaction with characters is fairly bland with the only real chit-chat occurring when collecting information. There are a few memorable characters but at the same time, there are some noticeable plot holes that are not taken care of during the main playthrough.

Graphics and Sound

The art-style for MySims Agents is really nice. Each of the areas that you visit has a lot of character in them. The Bayou has an eerie feel while your time spent in the various locations in the city each has enough of a difference to distinguish them from the last place you visited. There is also a lot of customization as you would expect in a MySims themed game. You will collect a lot of different gear for your Agent to wear and items to place in your Headquarters. The graphics won’t blow you away, but they do enough to get the job done.

Simlish is used to high degree here. Although the game relies on players to read the dialogue, you actually feel like you’re simply playing a foreign language game with English subtitles. The interaction during these conversations never feels out of place. Yes, the writing isn’t exactly top-notch material; thankfully, the story is still interesting enough that it will push you forward to see if your Agent can save the day. Lastly, musical cues are also a key part to the game. Each area has its own distinctive soundtrack that never feels out of place or gets too repetitive.

Value

For a game geared for younger gamers, the main story campaign will take most people around 10 hours to complete. Along with the regular plot, there is the ability to recruit characters to your Agency to complete Dispatch missions. These missions are done by the squad you select and usually take place as you play through the game. In order to properly complete the game, you will need to solve each and every one of these to see how the story actually ends.

Conclusion

Most adult gamers will find MySims Agents to be a walk in the park and will probably get bored of the same routine rather quickly. As such, this game is not geared for adults but for younger gamers looking for a bit of adventure and something that doesn’t contain any violence. This is definitely the best game in the franchise and one that anyone under the age of 13 will enjoy. With the holiday season fast approaching, Parents should definitely consider this when thinking of games to buy for their kids.

+ Fantastic game for children 12 and younger
+ Feels a lot like James Bond, Indiana Jones and CSI mixed together
+ Good story
+ Deep campaign (took a grown man just under 10 hours to complete)
+ Great Mini-games

- Extremely repetitive mission structures
- Walk-through feels too much like a crutch
- Weak “ending”

7.5 / 10

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More details about this game

Release Date : 2009/09/30
System : Nintendo Wii
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Developer : The Sims Studio
Category : Adventure
ESRB : E10+