At first glance, 'Get Together' may seem like a bland rehash of Sims 2's 'Nightlife' and 3's 'Late Night'. But once it's inner mechanics are fully explored it's more than clear that this expansion is not a half-baked remake of previous installments, but actually a fresh and welcome addition to the franchise.
'The Sims 4' certainly has had it rough over the past few months -- in fact, rougher than any other game in the franchise: the lack of babies, pools and other core mechanics which were all available from the get-go in previous games certainly left a bad taste in the fanbase's mouths. EA has constantly been pushing updates that reintroduced missing features or added brand new ones - we had the first expansion pack, 'Get To Work', which reintroduced playable careers to the likes of 3's 'Ambitions', it garnered mainly mixed-to-positive reviews from fans and critics alike; some praised the new careers while others criticized the repetitive, almost "grindy" aspect that the playable careers had. We're now looking at the second expansion pack, 'Get Together', which was shrouded in mystery before release, many trailers, promo screenshots and renders were released but fans were left confused as to what exactly this new expansion was bringing to the game's scarce table of features. What is it about? Clubbing? Making friends? Being popular? Well, dear reader, 'Get Together' is about everything!
This expansion's main feature is the new club system, which basically allows you to create social groups with varying interests, gathering places, traits, uniforms and much more. This is, honestly, one of the most interesting mechanics the franchise has seen in recent years: it blends perfectly with the game's social fabric that sometimes you can't help but turn your attention to a small group of sims from the same club gathering - the way they interact with each other and go about their gatherings is so realistic that you can tell that a lot of work went into fine-tuning this new system; with the also new "emotions" gimmick, it all comes together to create the most human and realistic Sims we have ever seen.
Moving on, there's still much to be said about this new feature - should you decide to join a pre-made/pre-existing club, you'll get a call from the group's leader and be invited to a gathering where he or she will see if you're really fit for their group. You'll be immediately teleported to their defined gathering place, where they'll be waiting for you; and this is where the club system really shines the brightest: Sims interacting realistically, doing activities that match their personalities, all of these neat little quirks come together to create an identity for your club, you'll find yourself thinking "Hm, this guy must be in the Vanguard club" only to mouse over him and see that you were absolutely right just from pure observation of their behaviour around community lots. The game ships with 11 pre-made clubs in the new town of Windenburg, and you can create your own - if you find yourself already pleased with a pre-existing club but want to make a few changes; fear not, since over time, you can become the leader of every club in the game by working your way up in the social ladder. This system offers insane amounts of customization which The Sims 4 as a whole is definitely lacking.
Being a part of a club is more than a simple change on the UI, you also have new "Club Perks" which directly affect the gameplay, you can unlock various Club Perks by performing "Club Activies", which are activities condoned by your club, perks come in various shapes: You can get doors that only allow club members to pass, increased gain for certain skills and a handy starting boost in future relationships. This really adds to the feeling of progression, making you feel like you and your club buddies are really making a name for themselves out in the town - and progression, like customization, has been another factor that Sims 4 severely lacks in, so this is more than a welcome change.
All in all, this is a fantastic new addition to the series - it's fun, polished, interesting, endlessly customizable and oddly enough you'll find youself asking "How did i survive without this before?" if you're the social player type - this brings Sims closer to real life humans with the improved social dynamics and interactions.
Next, we have Windenburg, the new, European-inspired world that ships with 'Get Together' - and let me tell you that much: Windenburg is gorgeous! It's seriously one of the most breath-taking worlds i have ever seen in my 12 years as a Sims fan, yes, it's that good. While admittedly rather small, as are all the other Sims 4 worlds - each location has it's unique mood and character. You have futuristic danceterias and recreation centers; small, cozy pubs and even ancient ruins, all available for you to visit with your Sims! While i played the game on my own save, after the first few hours it became clear to me just how much thought and attention to detail was put into this world - you can hear new sounds, such as distant bell ringing at certain times, little animals strolling around and snowy mountains in the distance, - all of this makes the city feel somewhat alive which is often reinforced by the enhanced interactions between Sims - you have beautiful tudor houses spread accross the town where your Sims can live in, it's almost like a better Veronaville from Sims 2, which makes it nothing short of amazing! There's always something to do in Windenburg, it's a detailed, living, breathing world which i'm sure many of you will love.
As for overall content, supernatural fans may be a bit disappointed by the lack of a new supernatural type, and the fact that Windenburg would be the perfect setting for Vampire sims adds more insult to injury - moving on to what else 'Get Together' brings to the table, we see the return of the DJ skill from previous games and it's really good - you'll be able to play different genres for the crowd and the more you level up, the more genres will be available for you repertoire, including remixed songs from the iconic Sims 2 soundtrack, nostalgia overload! While sadly there's no DJ career, you can gain decent amounts of cash by taking over the DJ machine in clubs, if you're good enough, Sims will start throwing money your way. But if you're not one for public appearences, then we got you covered: You can make your own mixtapes and while you can play they live, at Level 9 DJ Skill, you can also sell the royalties to get some additional income.
Another skill introduced in this pack is the "Dancing" skill, which was a hidden skill for previous games; but now here it is! A fully-fledged dancing skill, with enough practice, your Sims can go from embarassing themselves to busting some serious moves on the dancefloor, each level unlocks new moves and the fact that you can have a synchronized dance routine with other sims makes it even better, i've never been so close to recreating the 'White Chicks' dance-off scene in a Sims game - as is the case with the DJ skill, the Dancing skill is really well done, props to the devs!
We also have new CAS (Create-A-Sim) items and objects too, of course. The clothes are all pretty good and well done, and so are the hairs. It's just a shame that, once again, male sims have a very small amout amount of choices if compared with female. New objects include the DJ booth, some sophisticated, hi-tech furniture and other Tudor-inspired ones and items to make your very own coffee shop! That's also a neat new little feature you get if you also have Get To Work - it's simple, fun and cross-expansion play at it's finest.
'The Sims 4' certainly has had it rough over the past few months -- in fact, rougher than any other game in the franchise: the lack of babies, pools and other core mechanics which were all available from the get-go in previous games certainly left a bad taste in the fanbase's mouths. EA has constantly been pushing updates that reintroduced missing features or added brand new ones - we had the first expansion pack, 'Get To Work', which reintroduced playable careers to the likes of 3's 'Ambitions', it garnered mainly mixed-to-positive reviews from fans and critics alike; some praised the new careers while others criticized the repetitive, almost "grindy" aspect that the playable careers had. We're now looking at the second expansion pack, 'Get Together', which was shrouded in mystery before release, many trailers, promo screenshots and renders were released but fans were left confused as to what exactly this new expansion was bringing to the game's scarce table of features. What is it about? Clubbing? Making friends? Being popular? Well, dear reader, 'Get Together' is about everything!
Moving on, there's still much to be said about this new feature - should you decide to join a pre-made/pre-existing club, you'll get a call from the group's leader and be invited to a gathering where he or she will see if you're really fit for their group. You'll be immediately teleported to their defined gathering place, where they'll be waiting for you; and this is where the club system really shines the brightest: Sims interacting realistically, doing activities that match their personalities, all of these neat little quirks come together to create an identity for your club, you'll find yourself thinking "Hm, this guy must be in the Vanguard club" only to mouse over him and see that you were absolutely right just from pure observation of their behaviour around community lots. The game ships with 11 pre-made clubs in the new town of Windenburg, and you can create your own - if you find yourself already pleased with a pre-existing club but want to make a few changes; fear not, since over time, you can become the leader of every club in the game by working your way up in the social ladder. This system offers insane amounts of customization which The Sims 4 as a whole is definitely lacking.
Being a part of a club is more than a simple change on the UI, you also have new "Club Perks" which directly affect the gameplay, you can unlock various Club Perks by performing "Club Activies", which are activities condoned by your club, perks come in various shapes: You can get doors that only allow club members to pass, increased gain for certain skills and a handy starting boost in future relationships. This really adds to the feeling of progression, making you feel like you and your club buddies are really making a name for themselves out in the town - and progression, like customization, has been another factor that Sims 4 severely lacks in, so this is more than a welcome change.
All in all, this is a fantastic new addition to the series - it's fun, polished, interesting, endlessly customizable and oddly enough you'll find youself asking "How did i survive without this before?" if you're the social player type - this brings Sims closer to real life humans with the improved social dynamics and interactions.
Another skill introduced in this pack is the "Dancing" skill, which was a hidden skill for previous games; but now here it is! A fully-fledged dancing skill, with enough practice, your Sims can go from embarassing themselves to busting some serious moves on the dancefloor, each level unlocks new moves and the fact that you can have a synchronized dance routine with other sims makes it even better, i've never been so close to recreating the 'White Chicks' dance-off scene in a Sims game - as is the case with the DJ skill, the Dancing skill is really well done, props to the devs!
We also have new CAS (Create-A-Sim) items and objects too, of course. The clothes are all pretty good and well done, and so are the hairs. It's just a shame that, once again, male sims have a very small amout amount of choices if compared with female. New objects include the DJ booth, some sophisticated, hi-tech furniture and other Tudor-inspired ones and items to make your very own coffee shop! That's also a neat new little feature you get if you also have Get To Work - it's simple, fun and cross-expansion play at it's finest.
Overall, if the general theme of the expansion is right up your alley, don't hesitate picking up 'Get Together'. It's an amazing expansion packed with well-done content, such as the incredibly detailed club system, which is endlessly customizable to your desires, the new world of Windenburg, which is seriously one of my favorites in the series - and the new DJ and Dancing skills; this definitely feels like a step in the right direction and we can't wait to see what EA has in store for the next expansions, we really hope it's as good as this one and maybe then The Sims 4 can fully bounce back to it's feet from the rocky start it had.
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