NZGamer writes: "Quick Glance: Players are let loose on a forest of unsuspecting animals. Turn them against each other or create a thriving environment of trust and love!
At the E3 press conference, EA announced several upcoming Sim games, guaranteed to put another nail in the coffin of your and my productive lives. One of the more interesting titles on offer was SimAnimals, a wildlife simulation game, where you (acting as the hand of God) can interact with a range of animals in their natural surroundings. Animals you'll see include wolves, bears, owls, foxes, hedgehogs, squirrels, deer, and raccoons."
The Good:
-Develop trusting relationships with wild animals
The Bad:
-If you treat them poorly, they'll hate you for it
The Ugly:
-Hedgehog throwing
The first instalment of the series takes us back to the wintery depths of January 2009 when most would have taken advantage of the high street sales. Here's our list of the new releases that shouldn't have been overlooked and that we recommend you look out for when on the search for a bargain in this years sales.
Gamervision:
"There is something terrifying going on this week, and I'm not talking about Halloween. No, the real horror is the amount of shovelware being piled on store shelves this time of year. Last week was pretty bad, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. At this rate, approximately one billion Petz games will be released between now and January. Ahhhhh! Can anything save us? Maybe DJ Hero will come to the rescue..."
SimAnimals started off as reasonably interesting, but after a while became somewhat repetitive, although (or perhaps because) there's a large amount of animals and plants to keep an eye on – there's around 30 species of animals and an unknown quantity of different plants. After unlocking the animals and completing the objectives in each area, there's not a lot to continue with – unless you're into being a virtual forest ranger (or you want to raise the Happy Bar as high as possible in each area) – but Sims fans and younger audiences will more than likely lap this one up. It's best tried as a rental first, though.
