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MySims Agents (Wii)By Jim Webb - 10-19-09 Print  EmailIt's cute, it's colorful, it's easy and it's surprisingly fun. It's MySims Agents from EA. The 5th title from the MySims series; this time a mystery adventure that puts gamers in the role of a youth sleuth as he moves on from helping the neighborhood uncover secret admirers to saving the planet from the dreaded Morcubus and his search for the lost Nightmare Crown. The start as most MySims titles do with you creating the look of your Sim Agent. Don't see anything from the onset that really catches your eye, be patient as end mission bonuses, treasure chest and other circumstances will load your wardrobe a plenty. You can't transfer any MySims characters from previous titles but I found I prefer what is on offer in MySims Agents best anyway.  A simple on screen interface gives you access to 3 tools mapped to the D-pad, a cell phone and a notepad. The tools start very basic such as a magnifying glass, a wrench and crowbar but get more sophisticated with nice upgrades from Dr. F. The cell phone keeps you in contact with other members of your team that you recruit along your adventures. More on them in a bit. Your case data are kept logged in your notepad. Here you keep track of clues and suspects. It's all well organized and easily accessible. Knowing which tool to use at which time is offered by context bubbles over objects so you're never often wondering which tool you need. The notepad ensures you always have a decent idea of what to do next minimizing aimless wandering wondering what you've missed. But merely having the tool or the job isn't enough. Some object require you to shake (read: waggle) them and others take a few good whacks with the crowbar. But the fun ones are puzzles. Acquiring repair parts from any machinery you find laying around will give you gears, pulleys and electrical conduits to piece together to route electricity or mechanics. This can get pretty tough in the latter levels. Lock picking is a simple slide-the-pieces-around until a clear path is made for the locking mechanism puzzle. Your forensic work comes in the form of blue, green, red and purple orbs/atoms that must be arranged to create a molecule with all the proper bonding chains. Hacking a computer? Keep your on screen cursor inside the path as the screen scrolls to the side. Like the classic game of Operation, don't touch the sides.  You'll need to interview people, track the clues, solve the puzzles and fill all the requirements to close each case. Usually a who did it that may seem obvious but you'll need all those elements to prove it. As your caseload builds you're going to need help. You'll recruit your friends to work in teams of 3 to take on those extra cases. Each recruit has attributes that when combined with other recruits will help ensure they are qualified for specific cases. You don't want to send a team heavy into sports onto a case that requires a lot of smarts and vice versa or they'll likely fail the case. Each team will get their own floor in your HQ. You collect object throughout the game which you can use to decorate their floors. Objects also have the same 5 attributes as your recruits so you should tailor their floors to match their capabilities for maximum effectiveness. Don't forget to the pain the walls while you're at it.  Speaking of your HQ, it's located in the central portion of the city with a very conveniently located light rail station just outside. You use the light rail to get around to other sections of town such as your home neighborhood, the industrial district and the beach. For far away places you take the jet. Yep, your very own super secret agent jet. And the chicks dig it. The graphics are familiar to players of the previous MySims titles which means clean, colorful designs that don't try to do too much whilst still doing enough to make it easy on the eyes. Some lighting effects pop in from time to time but the frame rate can take a hit when trying to render a very large area. The audio is serviceable with a few catchy tunes here and there. The characters all speak just not in any language spoken on Earth save perhaps Indonesia. Similar to the old Rareware character languages but with more pronounced syllables, phrases and syntax. The voice overs are all well done. particularly Yuki. The young girl with a face biting fetish has a very infectious laugh and battle cry. Easily the best title in the MySims series. MySims Agents may be targeted for the younger crowd but it's a guilty pleasure for us older folk who may normally take a pass on such cuteness. Ratings |
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