We’ve had beautiful worlds before of course, Sunlit Tides or Appaloosa Plains for example, and in Sunlit Tides, we were given unique rabbit holes and houses.
In Monte Vista they stepped up their work a bit more. I have been to Italy and instantly got the Italian feel from this world. The terrain is beautiful and painted with a lot of detail. I just loved seeing the sprawling hills in the background while playing.
The world has a central city area which is surrounded by walls. In the central area is the main square, around it are a few businesses and rich houses. This is typical in old European cities – a lot of cities are built around the main square (usually with a church) and the rest of the city is built around it. What is nice is there is a little starter house in this area too so you can have your starter family here!
From the city there are mountain roads that go to the remote areas. One of these areas is like a little village itself, with a swimming pool and a few businesses. Then throughout the world there are more houses you can move into. All of these houses have unique layouts that I personally associate with Mediterranean houses, yellow brick walls, low terracotta roofs, big rooms, long hallways and are multistory.
All the different rabbit holes are built in the same Italian theme as the houses. The best one has to be the stadium which the Coliseum.
One small detail that is better in this world than others, for example Sunlit Tides, is the layout – there is less travel time from one side of the world to the other. You are not constantly in the car going to and from work.
We can’t forget that this world also comes with a premium content item – the pizza oven. This is a great addition to any kitchen. It comes with new pizza and lasagna baking animations, your Sim does not need any counter space with it (everything is done on the oven) and so far I have not yet managed to set it on fire! Basically my Sims will not have any more stoves and just eat pizza or cal-zones all day! (I might be a bit jealous, I cannot do that in RL).
Last but not least, the world ALSO comes with a few CAS items,. As I usually play female Sims I am particularly impressed with the gorgeous new hair and formal clothes.
There is only one disappointment with this world and I have this with every store-world. It only has base game lots in it. Simgurugraham did make a festival lot for it on the exchange, but I wonder why the world team does not make expansion pack rabbit holes and community lots that are only added to the game if we have the expansion packs installed. To make the world complete we now have to go through the hassle of making all the different lots with rabbit holes that just look out of place in the world.