MySims Agents Sneaks In Some Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge
I went back for a second look at MySims Agents specifically to see the spooky mansion level. It turns out there’s more to that level—and the game—than meets the eye.
The mansion is set up like the board game Clue, except nobody dies. Instead, somebody breaks something and your Sim has to find out who did it by going over every inch of the mansion for clues and questioning other Sims. I know you’re thinking “Whatever, standard adventure game stuff for kids.” But, dear cynical gamer, there’s something here aimed directly at you, not at a kid.
On the second floor of the mansion, there are some portraits you can interact with. Peer at a smaller one toward the right of the collection and who should be staring back at you but Faith from Mirror’s Edge. Later, with some dedicated snooping and side mission completion, you can score an Isaac Clarke outfit from Dead Space for your secret agent Sim to wear.
Little details like this make up a lot of the MySims Agents experience. This makes sense, because the game is about becoming a star detective—and you won’t get far on that path without an eye for details like strange portraits, footprints or hair salons. Throughout the game, you level up your snooping skills by upgrading gadgets and improving personal stats like charisma. You also build out your detective agency’s headquarters and recruit other Sims to work for you.
That’s another important detail I missed in my first look: the dispatch missions. Sure, I saw one of them and wrote about it—but I didn’t grasp quite how important they were to the game as a whole. There are a total of 50 dispatch missions that you can send your recruited Sims out to solve. While a dispatch mission is in progress, your Agent Sim will receive texts on how the mission is going and sometimes a random chance card in the form of a phone call. Completing dispatch missions raises your Agent’s relationship with client. Raise a relationship high enough and you can recruit that Sim to work for you (or just dance around like a moron) in your HQ. Once you finish all the dispatch missions, you’ll get to see not one, but two alternate endings after finishing the main part of the game.
I’ve said before that I get the feeling Agents is taking the MySims series in a different direction than previous games. Before (in, say, MySims Kingdom), the series was mostly about building things and visiting familiar characters from within the series. It was isolating to the point where I was embarrassed to play MySims Racing without a child companion to use as an excuse. But now—what with Dead Space references and an actual plot—I feel like the series is moving toward a type of game that could appeal to everybody despite being designed with a younger audience in mind. Kind of like Pixar films in the Disney lineup.
MySims Agents will be released later this month.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@stingjc: You get the added option when you edit Sims to remove their arms and legs.
@CarlMarssilas: Sure does. Makes you play like a badass!
Thats cool but does the suit have any gameplay benifit.
Children will understand Isaac Clark.
Can you make your own Spooky Mansion Level Scenarios?
That would be fun....
Reproduce Dead Space in MySims.
Then Produce Alien in MySims...
I've been interested in giving My Sims a go for a long time, but not go round to it yet...
@ThursdayNext: I was thinking more the ability to walk on celings and things like that to get collectables.
I....... really dont know what to think about.
I just can receive this as if EA is making fun of us. We wanted a true Dead Space game for the Wii, RE4 Wii Edition showed how awesome something in theline could had been and instead we are receiving a onrails shooter (not that i dont like, i'm looking forward to it, but still, it left a scar on us wiifanboys)
And now this, way to be such douchebags, its the same with Altair being a character on Academy of Champion, we might never be receiving a true Assasin Creed but we get cameos
GTFO EA and ubisoft
@Thief: I'd like to think parents will look to Isaac Clark as the reason for the children to get an engineering degree.
At first glance, I thought it was a Dead Space sackboy.
@Cptn.PaxtonAstypalaea(Corsair): As with all MySims items, it removes the gamers tendency towards cynicism when faced with something that is genuinely "fun" and "amusing".
How can you not like Gino the Chef? :)
Damn.....this sounds like it could be actually awesome!
so....mirrors edge wii confirmed?
@Burning: oh please. its not even an issue of can't handle. can't handle cannot be used if it hasn't been attempted.
@cjlopez: Companies don't owe the Wii anything. You wanted a "proper" Deadspace game for Wii? Then blame Nintendo for making a system that couldn't handle one. Seriously, go and buy another console if you want to play those games.
@Burning: yes I've played (and completed) dead space.. it felt like i was on rails.. Which is kinda ironic really
mrclam
@Burning: No it actually wouldn't. If your looking for a bad example of a port then bring up dead rising all you want. A good example would be Star Wars Force Unleashed.
I loved the original MySims but these spinoffs are kinda ignoring the whole point of gameplay- building your own furniture!
@bigman88zz: Have you PLAYED Deadspace? That's a next-gen game, right there. If Deadspace was made for the Wii, you'd get the same thing that happened when Dead Rising got a "port". Look, I'd love to see a proper Deadspace on Wii. I think the control scheme might even make it a better experience. But right now, Extraction is pushing the console, and that's essentially a rail shooter.
@Burning: To put that another way. There is NOTHING that deadspace is doing which couldnt have been done even on the Psone.
Apart from hidef graphics.. whooppee do.
mrclam
@cjlopez: Sounds to me like you're reading to much into very minor things.
Neither Assassin's Creed nor Dead Space can be done on the Wii, it just can't the system doesn't have the power, be satisfied with what you have or buy another console.
And don't give me the RE4 argument, RE4 was a game made for the GAMECUBE, ported to the PS2, ported to the PC and then again to the Wii, the wii RE4 port was actually an upgrade for the game when you think about it so don't think that because they can port a game that began as a Gamecube title they can magically port something that was created for next gen consoles, they tried with Dead Rising Chop till you Drop and that gae was mediocre at best lacking almost all the charm of its 360 counterpart.
I own a Wii, I'm very happy with it but I'm not going to pretend that its a powerhouse, it just can't compete with what the other consoles can put out graphically.
I really enjoyed MySims Kingdom, and it's good to see this pushing for a new direction because I'd love to play a MySims title that was less about construction and more about the adventure :).
Interesting that EA would take in a direction away from building your own things. Perhaps that might benefit it, because it got pretty darn tedious making those bathtubs with 100 pieces. Those MySims are demanding!
sweetie55