At first glance, MySims Agents is not a game many people would consider playing. The art style of the MySims series alienates many people because of how cutesy it is. However, they would miss out on one of the better adventure games to be released on the Wii thus far.
In MySims Agents you will first create your agent from an assortment of preset options in a number of categories such as: hair, face, clothes, and headwear. The variety is much lower than you would expect in a Sims game, but there’s still enough to satisfy most players. Once your agent is created, you’ll find yourself in Gino’s Pizzeria, where you’ll get started as a small-time detective. After solving a few cases involving missing pets and secret admirers, you’ll be deputized into the Sims Protection Agency, which is somewhat like the FBI. From that point on, you’ll go on various missions- both in the city and in exotic locales with an eye toward catching and defeating a super villain.
After you’ve been deputized, you will be able to recruit agents, place them on teams, and then send them out on dispatch missions. These missions will net you various rewards such as loot for your headquarters and more people that you can recruit as agents. Each team you have is quartered on a different floor and you can customize each floor with the loot you get for finishing dispatch missions. Every item and piece of furniture improves the rating of the team on that floor in at least one of the attributes in the game: charisma, athleticism, science, nature, or paranormal. The higher the rating of a team, the more likely the team is to succeed on the missions they are assigned.
The two defining aspects of the MySims series have always been social interaction and customization. Rather than making social interaction the primary aspect of MySims Agents, as EA had done with previous MySims games, EA took the characters of the MySims universe and placed them in an adventure/detective game. Social interaction has been reduced to a handful of conversation options that change based on your progress through the story. Customization, however, is still a big part of the game. In fact, now customization is arguably a bigger part of the game than ever before, as how you customize your agency directly impacts how well your teams operate on dispatch missions.
Throughout the game you’ll be asked to solve puzzles in order to hack computers, analyze compounds, and pick locks. These puzzles are quick and enjoyable, and provide some variety to the game. Unfortunately, almost all of them are either very easy or fairly easy. A few will take a number of tries to complete, but most are effortlessly solvable in less than five minutes. I suppose this is a concession to the age group EA expects to be most interested in this game, but it’s a shame because the charm and adventure of the game will appeal to all ages, not just younger ones.
Throughout MySims Agents the charm of the Sims franchise is present. The graphics are bright and colorful, the locales are vibrant and interesting, and the characters are, well, characters. The writing is humorous and witty. The story, while not really unique, is entertaining enough to keep you wanting to know what’s next.
The style and art of MySims Agents may turn you off at first glance, but you owe it to yourself to check it out. The charm and humor will make this game appeal to most gamers if given a chance, and the collectibles and customization will appeal to many others.
ESRB: E for Everyone- Comic Mischief.
Plays Like: A MySims style adventure game
Pros: dialog is humorous; minigames are fun; sims charm is intact; lots of collectibles; fun, lengthy story
Cons: minigames are too easy; dan’t revisit previous locales; damera angles are sometimes awkward and can block facial expressions during conversations
