The Sims 3 Town Life is yet another Stuff Pack for simmers to add to their collection of stuff for their game. When Town Life was announced I must admit I was very excited to get some new and improved lots to place in my towns. I myself am not a builder, so having someone else do the work for me is just fantastic!
At first I thought we may be getting an awesome pack full of stuff to change our town. From decorating to building, I thought this pack was going to bring me what the game already lacks. Well, I thought right, for the most part. We did get some new buildings!
Clothing/Hairstyles
Town Life comes with some new outfits, hairstyles and such, but nothing fabulous. The clothing looks like recycled EP/SP/store content and does not really fit the theme of the this pack. I guess a Town Life clothing theme, doesn’t really exist. 😛
I also noticed that one outfit is almost identical to one from Generations. I would have been fine without yet another outfit like this one. Come on! Where is the creativity? The Town Life outfit (left) looks like the rough draft of the completed outfit in Generations (right). Well I could be over-analyzing I suppose, but I notice stuff like this!
On to the botched and ugly hairstyles. Why must we get 3 hairstyles that are all the same? Bring us some new stuff already! I will never use these hairstyles, so why cant they just be put into the store this way I can pick and choose? Again they look like rough drafts! These look like some “ugly makeover” hairstyles they forgot to put into Ambitions.
In my opinion, they could have skipped the clothing and hairstyles all together and focused more on including more objects and creativity for the theme of this pack. Town Life.
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Build/Buy Mode Objects
Don’t get too exited! This part of the game has barely anything new that you don’t already have in other EP’s/SP’s/Store. You would think with a name like “Town Life” you would be getting some handy building objects and decor to decorate your town. Hence the name of this pack.
Town Life comes complete with 40 objects. 5 come from Build Mode and 35 come from Buy Mode. Besides adding sectional seating with one of the new chairs (which you already got with the Gothique Library from the Store if you bought it), there really isn’t anything in this mode that you don’t already have….
….Unless of course you skipped High End Loft, Ambitions & Generations. In this case, you’re in for a real treat! Not only will you get washers/dryers, spring toys and new Gym equipment, you will also get a Tree House where your Sims will also be able to woohoo! Yes, you even get a new type of woohoo for your Sims…from a Stuff Pack. Would it have been that hard to add a diving board and pool slide to this pack? Sure would be a nice touch to a swimming pool for my Town since they skipped it in Out Door Living!
Besides all the remakes of previous content and the numerous amounts of clutter, you do get a few items to build your lots with. You get 2 windows, a column and 2 doors. Yes that’s it. Town Life ey? What good is a Town Life theme without stuff to add and decorate your town with? Every object added only fits the decor for lots they are including.
I would have preferred some new roofs, fences, staircases, trees, plants, shrubs and maybe even fence tools that allow you to build a Green House. Is that really too much to ask for from a theme like this?
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Town Lots & Venues
The more important part of this pack are the newly remodeled lots. Town Life comes with 7 new Lot types, that you can easily place around town, as long as you make some room.
Community Lots/Rabbit Holes
Town Life gives us some new modern looking lots to replace our Grocery Store, School & Cafe/Bistro with. I must stress that I have nothing more to say about these lots besides… 
These lots are definitely an upgrade and they are amazing builds. Must haves for your town. One minor complaint is that I wish the curved walls used to build these lots with, were included. Another reason why they should have skipped the clothes and went straight for the build.
Open Community Lots/Venues
Town Life adds more remakes of lots we already have in the game. The Gym and Library are in the game by default, but Ambitions brought us the laundromat and Generations the new Park. When you buy Town Life, you get those two new lots without needing the expansion they claimed it was exclusive to.
Well, I would have suggested they skip these all together and bring us some new types of hangouts for our Sims. I would have liked to see a Plant Nursery, Billiards (with pool tables!) and maybe even a clothing shop where you just went into CAS. Anything is more creative than repeats!
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Conclusion & Final Thoughts
While I do see where the idea sparked with this pack, I do not think the ideas were executed with the potential they could have had. This Pack gave me the impression I would have stuff to build and decorate my Town with, and everything in this theme lacked the items I need to make this pack feel right. If I had the chance to re-name it, I would call it Sims 3 Modern Life. The name “Town Life” can be very misleading.
This pack could have had the potential to introduce more options for builders in the community, as well as non-builders. What about the MAC users who don’t even have CAW? Where is the love for them?
If you are someone who does not get every Sims 3 pack and are debating on buying it, I suggest you take a look at the complete Sims 3 Town Life Manual I have made. This manual contains all items and features this pack has to offer and this way you can decide for yourself. Also, if you lack High End Loft, Ambitions & Generations, this pack is definitely adding some of the more dominant features to your game.
If you are someone like me who must get every game no matter what….well I guess you’ll have to settle for what it is. 😉
My overall Score for Sims 3 Town Life is 40/100. I must admit this is probably the only stuff pack so far with a great theme, however the ideas fell apart somewhere along the way. There was much more that could have gone into the idea of a Town themed pack.
