❗ DISCLOSURE: Wee Albet received an advanced review copy of The Sims 4 Vampires. Please note that this does not influence the rating decision or opinions of in any way, shape, or form.
❗ Be sure to check out the SimsVIP Vampires Game Guide for help with your game.
The Sims 4 Vampires is the fourth Game Pack released for The Sims 4 and introduces a new Occult type to the game: Vampires. In this review we are going to be breaking down the pack to discuss the new Create a Sim options; the new world of Forgotten Hollow; Build and Buy Mode additions; Vampires and gameplay before I give you my verdict. So, grab a Plasma Jane, put your feet up and get comfy – there’s a lot to discuss with The Sims 4 Vampires!
Create a Sim Additions
The new additions in Create a Sim offer a good mix of the “classic and traditional” vampire look, while also bringing a good mix of “modern and punkish” style too. While most of the options are styled towards a stereotypical Gothic look with reds, blacks and purples, the new items are surprisingly versatile too. Many of the additions in this pack also offer plain and lighter options making them a good alternative to wedding attire should you wish to have a vintage look to your Sims’ big day!
There are also several new hair styles on offer too, although these are mostly of an extreme style. I personally won’t be getting much use from these as they don’t fit in with my preference for what my vampires look like, but I know many people are making great use of them. They do look amazing though and have many intricate details included with them.
Unfortunately, for your younger Sims, there isn’t much on offer. There are a total of 4 new items across both sexes for the children. You get a new hairstyle and outfit for the male children and the same for female children. The style of these are of a Victorian look. They look good, but a few more clothing and hair options for them would have been welcomed. There are no new additions for toddlers.
Create a Sim is also where you can alter a Vampire’s Dark Form, but this will be discussed later in the Vampires section of the review.
Forgotten Hollow
Next up is Forgotten Hollow, the new World which comes with The Sims 4 Vampires. It contains 5 new lots, 4 of which have residential lots pre-built on them and a single empty lot for you to build on yourself. Two of these lots are also inhabited by Vampire households.
The World itself is absolutely beautiful and it has a slight green tint to it, but night time is really where this World comes alive. Or dead. At night time the old fashioned gas lamps start to light up, fog rolls in and the ambient noises take on a creepy tone.
Forgotten Hollow is a unique looking World, but unfortunately it’s let down by there being very little to actually do in the World. At the heart of Forgotten Hollow is a central plaza which only contains a few chess tables, benches and a statue to look at and that’s about it. Exploration outside of the central plaza will bring you to a beautiful waterfall, but there’s nothing to entice you to return there other than fishing and the new plants.
Unfortunately there’s no reason to go out and explore in this World, there’s not a lot to discover and there’s no Secret Lot to find either. Given the unique look of this world, it could have been better if say a market stall periodically appeared in the plaza, in a similar way to the Food Stalls from City Living, which sold the new plants, potions, books, food and other new things introduced with this Game Pack.
Build and Buy Mode Additions
The Sims 4 Vampires contains a LOT of new content in the Build and Buy Modes. Most, if not all, rooms have something new with this pack. There’s a full bathroom set, new items for the bedroom, new kitchen counters, a full living room set and more! From a builders perspective, this pack offers a lot of versatile options too. When I first saw the promotional material for the pack, I was worried that the new items would be of limited use to me.
Thankfully I was completely wrong! Much like the items we got in Create a Sim, the new items in Build and Buy Mode have a distinct Victorian look to them with a Gothic colouring style of blacks, reds and purples. But there are also many other style options for the items which allow them to be used in a variety of settings outside of this Game Packs style.
Another great thing about the new additions is how effortlessly it mixes in with content added to the game from previous packs we already have. It has allowed me to use content I wouldn’t usually use in my game, for example, content from The Sims 4 Spooky Stuff. That is my most underused Stuff Pack as I found the content too niche and not fitting with other content.
However, with the content from the Vampires Game Pack, Spooky Stuff content can be used more freely since there is a large number of decals added that give a build a distressed, damaged and run-down look. Overall, the content included in this pack is fantastic, my only dislike is that the kitchen counters only have 3 colour options.
Vampires
The main draw for this Game Pack are, of course, the Vampires themselves. Right off the bat, I’m going to let you know that I am not the type of player who enjoys the supernatural element in my Sims games as I prefer a more realistic approach to my game. When Vampires was announced, I liked the look of them but I wasn’t too excited for them. It wasn’t until I sat down and actually played with them that I discovered just how much I love these Vampires in the Game Pack.
I think that the reason why I love these Vampires so much is down to the customisation options available to the player. The player is free to create any type of Vampire that they wish. In previous games, Vampires lacked customisation options which resulted in them having very limited playability. With The Sims 4’s Vampires, that isn’t the case.
As a result of the new Vampire’s Strength and Weakness system, you are able to pick and choose which type of Vampire you wish you Sim to be. Strengths can include Superspeed, Eternally Welcome, resistance to sunlight and many more. While Weaknesses can include being a Guilty Eater, increased hissing and little resistance to sunlight. There are many of these perks and the system in place offers a great change of pace to how you can approach the game.
By performing certain Vampire activities, such as feeding, sparring, using powers etc., your Sim will gain experience points (XP) which get added to a new bar at the bottom of their Motives Panel called the Vampire Rank. As your Sim earns more XP, they unlock more Vampire Points to spend on Strengths, and as they rank up, they must also take on a Weakness. This is a good way of keeping Vampires balanced, but still fun to play.
There are several ways for your Sims to become a vampire; they can ask to be turned; a Vampire with the right Strength can turn them; or Sims living on a lot with the Dark Ley Line Lot Trait my find their baby is a Vampire. Once your Vampire is a Teen or older, you can edit their Dark Form from using the “Change Sim” interaction on a mirror or dresser (not to be confused with “Change Appearance”).
In Create a Sim, you will find that your Vampires now have two different forms (similar to Alien Sims from Get to Work). By clicking on their Dark Form option, you will be presented with how your Vampire will look when carrying out certain tasks. Here you can also completely change up how the Vampire looks. What’s fun with this is whatever changes you make to one form makes no changes to the other. So feel free to make a monstrosity without fear of their human form looking hideous too! Certain looks can be achieved by adding various new skin decals and new teeth options to the Vampire. These new options are also available for a Vampire Sims’ human form too.
Gameplay
While it’s great having the option to create Vampires, the real fun comes from how you play with them. There is no rule with how you wish to play, if you want to be an evil Vampire who feeds off of every human Sim they see, you can. If you want to have a vegetarian vampire who feels guilty about feeding from humans, then you can.
One of the ways that I was playing when testing out the new Game Pack was I had two newborn Vampires who lived in Forgotten Hollow. Michael didn’t really care for human life, while his wife, Simone, did. During the day they would both remain inside either sleeping or leveling up their skills, but at night they would both go out together to feed. Michael would strike up a conversation with a Sim and then lure them away from the crowd to feed on them, while Simone preferred to get to know the Sim and then ask permission to drink from them.
This was working well for them for a while, but Michael’s thirst got the better of him one day (thanks to certain Weaknesses I took on) and his thirst became unbearable. He ran outside in the sunlight and fed on a Sim! Unfortunately, Michael also had a strong Weakness to sunlight, so on his way back to the house, he burst into flames and died. Simone, in her grief, became the most evil Vampire around. She began turning Sims into Vampires and creating a coven and together as a Group (using new Group options for Get Together), they would head out into various nightclubs and freely feed on any human Sim who dared cross their path.
Simone went from being a much loved Vampire to a Despised vampire very quickly, and her actions didn’t go unnoticed by a certain Slayer either. Bunny Winters, the Slayer of Willow Creek, travelled to Forgotten Hollow and confronted Simone where an epic battle took place in the main Plaza. After this battle, Bunny slayed (or is it slew?) Simone and cured her of her Vampirism. Simone, defeated and now human again, walked back home and wasn’t heard from for a very long time.
Verdict
The Sims 4 Vampires Game Pack is a fantastic addition to the game and has allowed me to play as an evil and twisted player, something I’ve never done in my nearly 17 years of Simming. While the main selling point of this pack is, of course, the Vampires, there is enough included that it will be a welcomed addition to your game regardless of how you play.
Thankfully NPC Vampires don’t take over your game and Vampires won’t turn other Sims into Vampires. Any Vampires created in-game is down to play control, so you don’t need to worry about your favourite family suddenly becoming Vampires!
My main drawbacks for this Game Pack is just how empty Forgotten Hollow feels. A few added activities would have made this a much more fun World to play in. I also dislike how little Create a Sim content we got for Children and the complete lack of Toddler Create a Sim content.
Overall though, I highly recommend The Sims 4 Vampires, it has brought something completely new to The Sims 4 and really sets the standard for how future supernatural Sims should be.
The Sims 4 Vampires Game Pack is now available worldwide. Thank you for taking the time to read this review and I hope it has helped you make a decision about the Game Pack Pack. Take care and have an amazing day!
