The opening sweep shows an atoll-style island, with two large volcanoes overlooking low-lying beach islands surrounding a bright blue lagoon, sunset and sunrise are the prettiest time of day. Beach front houses face both the lagoon and the open sea surrounding the island. No two lots are alike, and this contributes to the unique look of the world, the rabbit holes are also very unique unlike any other world we have. In short it is a gorgeous world with many beautiful places making it is a lot better than any other store-world we have had so far.
The lots fall into three categories – small starter homes, modern houses and beach house villas.The starter homes, like The Paradise Pad, are colourful, and fully furnished, the only downside being that the bedrooms are sized for single beds. Although the lots they are on are also small, some remodelling to allow a full sized double in them is fairly straightforward.
The modern homes, such as Jungle Dwelling, are simple and functional inside, but the exterior design really makes them stand out.
Finally, the villas, such as The Beach House, are huge mansions that could be straight from the movies!
There is no distinct residential, community or civic area in Sunlit Tides, each small island in the chain has something of each classification leading to the one real flaw in the world – it’s so easy to get lost!
Looking at the community rabbit holes, though, a lot of thought has gone into these. Not only are they thatched roof, surf hut style buildings, but the size of them is generally smaller than for typical world rabbit holes, which fits into the smaller population, and more laid back lifestyle you’d expect on an island like this! Places like the Stadium and Military Base have small rabbit holes with additional facilities around them, meaning that the style fits in, but giving us players the size of lats we’re used to! Overall they style and landscaping fit into a seamless world design.
The showcase rabbithole this time round is the criminal warehouse, sited atop a disused volcano -which will no doubt leave movie-goers looking out for a tank of sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!
For Sims 2 lovers, this time round it’s the Pleasants returning – their story is pre-Sims 2, with them on honeymoon in Sunlit Tides, long before Angela and Lilith come along, and with no sign of Kaylynn either. Will they remain happy, or will their Sims 2 strife still find them? Or will you just move them out and have your own Sims living in their gorgeous home!
The Pleasants home includes the premium content that comes with the basic download of Sunlit Tides – the Sauna. As well as steaming your sim, they can have a revitalising mudbath, which makes them a day younger, or a hydrotherapy bath for a moodlet boost. The sauna is also a new woo-hoo location which as the added bonus of being able to specify trying for a girl or a boy. This finally gives you some control over your family line, more so than the apple/watermelon trick.
The gold edition comes with the gorgeous Serenity Retreat, and the new massage table. Blackgarden treated herself to this, and has the following to say about it:
The new community lot is very pretty and I placed it near the Pleasant house. What I like best is the new massage table. The way your sim gets and gives an acupuncture massage is just hilarious and looks very painful!
Overall, Sunlit Tides is a fantastic looking world, giving us a taste of Hawaii, and I can’t wait to get Seasons to send them swimming in the lagoon! Huge thanks to EA UK for letting me try out Sunlit Tides!