Review: The Sims 3 - Hidden Springs

The last town release we got from The Sims 3 came packaged as a bustling city, which quickly got to be a bit too cluttered and not very easy on the eyes with large buildings clumped together making things difficult to find.

I was excited when I heard about the release of Hidden Springs, which is available as a download in the Sims 3 Store.

What bothered me though, was the price, considering you could easily make your own Sims 3 towns using the World Creator tool. Well... that is if it still works. My World Creator Tool no longer works, and reports have been surfacing all over the net about others having the exact same problem.

I figured, oh well, maybe EA will fix it...or not? I went ahead and purchased Hidden Springs, and hoped it was worth the money.

It'll set you back just over $20.00, but if you have no SimPoints, you will have to buy a bundle with enough points to allow you to purchase the new town. The bundle you will need= $30.00, so yes, it's a bit high in order to add one stinkin town to your game. A lot of folks feel this one should have been added to the last expansion pack, and yes, I feel the same way considering how pathetic the last expansion truly was.

At any rate, let's get into the vibe of Hidden Springs.

The main reason you would want to pick this game up is the new fountain of youth object, which when your Sim drinks from it, may get lucky enough to reverse, or completely stop aging all together. For me, this spring alone was one major reason I caved and bought this town.

The fountain of youth aside though, Hidden Springs is a pretty neat town, with a very woodsy, campy type feel to it. Some homes do not have modern paved roads with sidewalks that lead up to your driveway, many are simply dirt roads giving the game a total Upstate NY mountain like feel.

Unless you are a pro with the World Creator Tool, you'd never be able to replicate this one.

The buildings in the town have all been given a new facelift in order to match this simplistic mountain lifestyle vibe the game gives off, and it works. It's cute, simple, and charming.

The new town will also feature a few new objects that you will notice right away. The new simplistic iron rod mailboxes, and the rustic looking streetlamps add to the charm. You will also find a neat lodge for Sims to visit, but the place is always vacant, so giving the feel that you are on some mountain vacation is non-existent... however they were so close... so very, very close, and chose instead to just throw up a building and label it a community lot, with a lodge like look, and yet nothing inside gives it that added touch of 'vacationing in the mountains'.

Another disappointment is the lack of other Sims. This has been an issue ever since the get go though. When your Sim arrives anywhere in town, no one is there, but wait around for a Sim hour, and suddenly the place is packed with others. It's annoying, but I suppose this is how it is done to keep the game running as smoothly as possible.

Some new neighbors will be found around the town though if you explore it enough, and get your Sim out and about in the town. I never liked any of EA's Sim creations though, so I usually delete them and fill the vacant homes up on my own with Sims I created, or bulldoze and re-build.

So yes, The Sims 3 Hidden Springs is a really detailed town, with waterfalls and beautiful park grounds for your Sims to visit, but in my opinion, and the opinion of thousands of others who bought the game, we feel that for the price, it certainly did not offer a whole lot of shizzam, besides a neat fountain of youth.

To Buy Or Not To Buy?

For now, skip it. Wait for it to go on some mega 50% sale, and then scoop it up, if anything for the neat new fountain of youth.