The Sims: Makin’ Magic Review

And for my last trick…

Although the much-awaited Sims

2 lurks upon the horizon like a big, much-awaited lurking thing, Maxis and

EA have set out to prove that there is still life left in the original by releasing

Sims: Makin’ Magic. This seventh and final expansion proves their

point admirably. Indeed, there is life in this old game…it may need a Rascal

to get around these days, but, by Crikey, it still has a bit of spark left in

it.

There’s

a good deal more to Makin’ Magic than you might expect. In

addition to a herd of new furnishings and building materials, this expansion

brings new depth to your Sims’ homes and lives. Sims can now truly say goodbye

to city life and make a fresh start with butter churning and nectar brewing.

And they can also compliment those homemade preserves they’ve been making with

fresh bread they’ve baked from scratch in their new baker’s oven. Or try their

luck at bee-keeping and attempt to eke out a living with beeswax and honey.

In fact, there is a far greater variety of stay-at-home money-making ventures

here than in any previous version. Although perhaps not as prestigious or lucrative

as, say, a career in Government, these other activities are at least hands-on

and Sims are not obligated to engage in a ton of chin-flapping and ego-stroking

with their neighbors to make their way in the world.

Of course, that’s just an added enhancement; the real draw of Makin’

Magic is undeniably…makin’ magic. And like every endeavor in The

Sims, it is a balancing act between indulging your Sim’s personal ambitions

and the more prosaic obligations of their bladders.

The best way to begin your magical career is by employing the aid of a couple

of flunkies – throwaway Sims who will spend all of their time churning butter

and farming a garden to further the wizardly aspirations of a magic-using dilettante.

The creators of this expansion apparently recognized the limitations of their

Sims and have thrown in a cloning spell to ease the financial tensions on the

homestead. Magic-using Sims can also create minions to help around the house.

Of course, the more Sims there are in a household, the more meters there are

to manage and you’ll need to find creative ways around this angle, such as communing

with pets to pump up a deflated social meter or concocting plenty of blue replenishing

potions. Yet these perks exist only for those of us who got suckered into buying

the previous expansions. Other players will remain slaves to their Sim’s meters,

which can drastically slow down any forward momentum in the magical arts.

In fact, the demands of your Sim’s bodily functions are so, well, demanding

that it’s almost impossible to maintain a career while delving into spellcasting.

As well, the creation and collection of ingredients for spells and charms is

like a full time job, minus the pay. Some ingredients can be grown, some can

be made, some can be harvested, some are available for purchase with Simoleons,

and some, like Pegasus Feathers, can be won in magic competitions. These ingredients,

like everything in The Sims, must be earned or at least sought

out. Don’t expect your Sims to mutter a few words and have the powers of the

gods sparkling at their fingertips.

To

obtain quite a few of the ingredients for spells as well as baking supplies,

a trip to the new Magic Town is required. This is yet another area outside the

immediate neighborhood in which Sims can amuse themselves. In addition to embarking

on some rather dull “quests” for goodies (i.e., touching toadstool races, dispersing

waist level clouds, and cheering up other Sims), Sims can purchase obscure ingredients

with coins gained through magical duels and performances, or even save their

coins up to buy a magical mansion they can call home. Magic Town, like all areas

in The Sims, consists of a variety of lots that can be bulldozed and rebuilt

to the player’s specifications.

While it is pretty cool to have so many different areas in which to build,

it is not very cool to have limits on which items can be used in certain areas.

Also, it would have been very, very cool to finally have a hub where Sims from

different neighborhoods could meet; after all this is the final go-round

of The Sims. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. The different neighborhoods

in The Sims are distinct and separate versions of the same

space/time reality…or something like that.

To facilitate a career in magic, Sims are given a magic starter kit which

includes, among other things, a spell book. The book contains a list of ingredients

in various combinations which, when tossed into the Wand Charger or the Charm

Maker, produce various results. It is up to the wizard in the crowd to divine

the consequences of any given combination. It might be something their little

hearts have always desired, but then again, maybe not – every spell cast is

capable of backfiring. Aside from unlocking the answers to the spell formulas,

there isn’t much of a goal to Makin’ Magic.

Note that I’ve been using the term “magical career” loosely. There is no advancement

scheme for dabbling with magic. Unfortunately, a given Sim with a yen for thaumaturgy

will not progress from Prestidigitator to Illusionist to Alchemist

to Elementalist to Necromancer. The game would have been quite a bit cooler

if this were the case. No, your Sim will just know the results of mixing certain

combinations in their spell book. Ho-hum. Still, it is fun to watch your Sims

create spells and charms and witness the results of their interference with

the laws of nature.

I suppose it is fitting, or at least ironic, that a game which began as a send

up of reality would end as a send up of “surreality,” where characters can now

pitch themselves into rabbit holes to gain access to Magic Town and while away

their time engaging in magical duels or purchasing some obscure ingredient to

help turn their pet cat into a Sim they can cuddle with while watching TV. While

certainly not the most inspired of concepts, it’s still quite fun to explore,

experiment and integrate the game’s additions into your Sims’ world even after

the novelty of its spells wears off.