The Sims Medieval
A quest-driven medieval life simulation with role-playing elements.
The Sims Medieval is a life simulation game released in March 2011 by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X as part of The Sims series. It departs from traditional Sims gameplay by setting the action in medieval times and focusing on quest-driven kingdom building. A pre-order exclusive Limited Edition was available during its presentation at E3 2010.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Maxis Redwood Shores; Magic Pockets (iOS)
- Publisher
- Electronic Arts
- Writer
- Sean Baity
- Series
- The Sims
- Composer
- John Debney
- Genre
- Action-adventure, social simulation
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
- Mac OS X
- iOS
- Windows Phone
- Mobile
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The Sims Medieval is a life-simulation game with action-adventure elements, adopting a more role-playing video game tone than earlier Sims titles. The player's objective is to build a successful kingdom by fulfilling a chosen Kingdom Ambition, which is selected at the start. Completing an ambition unlocks new ambitions for future playthroughs and freeplay for that kingdom. The game employs a quest-driven system: with the game paused, the player selects a quest required to fulfill the ambition, then chooses which Hero Sim to control. Hero Sims each have a profession such as monarch, knight, or merchant. Character creation, simulation, and architectural features are reduced and altered to emphasize role-playing; players can customize interior aesthetics and layouts but cannot change the basic structure or shape of buildings. Once a quest and Hero Sim are selected, the game unpauses and the player controls the chosen Sim during the quest. Upon completion, another quest and Hero Sim must be chosen. Non-controlled Sims, including other player-created Heroes, continue their lives during quests via a story progression feature similar to The Sims 3. The game includes dangers such as low focus, plague, peasant revolts, wildlife, poisons, duels, and death. Players earn ratings at the end and may see a Quest Failed screen if they do not complete a predefined goal within a predetermined time.
Development and release
The Sims Medieval used The Sims 3 engine, unlike The Sims Stories games which used The Sims 2 engine. Producer Rachel Bernstein stated that subsurface scattering was added to character models to give a painterly look, along with next-gen sims tech and a new lighting engine. The terrain features varied altitudes and layouts for a realistic geography, also with a painterly appearance. Bernstein conducted media interviews and narrated demos, and a television marketing campaign included actor Donald Faison in some advertisements. Patrick Stewart narrated the epic trailer and the intro cinematic. The mobile version was released in a 3D version for iOS (later ported to Windows Phone) and a 2D isometric version for Java-based devices.
Reception
The PC and iOS versions received generally favorable reviews from Metacritic. Nicole Tanner of IGN stated that the game breathed new life into the franchise and mixed humor with simple RPG mechanics for hours of fun. Felix Atkin of The Observer called it enchanting and immersive, with a clearer structure for quests and character development appealing to RPG fans. Edge magazine described it as a funny and sweet time sink enjoyable for any Sims fan. AJ Glasser of GamePro expressed disappointment but noted the game kept her coming back for 20 hours, calling it beautiful with fun ideas though not fully satisfying. Greg Tito of The Escapist gave the PC version four stars out of five, saying it succeeded enough to start its own branching franchise. Roger Hargreaves of Metro gave it seven out of ten, calling it a daring mix of interactive narrative, RPG, and life simulator. Samantha Nelson of The A.V. Club gave it a B−, noting that quests and leveling could be addictive but the game removed classic components like building design and Sim aging.
Expansion pack
An expansion pack branded as an adventure pack, The Sims Medieval: Pirates & Nobles, was released in North America on August 30, 2011. It includes a new kingdom ambition, new traits and legendary traits, new clothes, over 140 new objects, new quests, new social interactions, a treasure-hunting mechanic, pets, new NPC pirates, and a baby pit beast creature. The pack received average reviews according to Metacritic.
More in Sims & Personalities
Elsewhere in The Sims
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced