The Sims 3 is one of those games that manages to keep a relatively low rating through careful treatment of its content but still courts a more mature audience. The launch trailer for The Sims 3: Island Paradise proves that, with holiday advertisement-style clips of the bikini-clad rears of Sim ladies walking away from the camera, an emphasis on topless pool boys and male lifeguards, and the description of the new world Isla Paradiso as a place where “WooHoo is the primary import.”
Commenters on YouTube picked up on the sexualised nature of the trailer, but aside from all that the video does feature some interesting glimpses at what else you'll be able to find in the new expansion pack. For instance, while one Sim is having the time of her life on a pair of waterskis, another is throwing up over the side of a boat.
Resorts, the focus of the “Resort Tycoon”-style part of the expansion pack, will range from “cosy” to “crappy” to “full-on deluxe”. The narrator plays with the star-rating system Sims will be able to use for these resorts by awarding, for instance, two stars to a water-slide and five to “fish-tailed mer-creatures and teeny tiny shells”.
As is traditional with The Sims, this new expansion also features new ways to make light of death. It looks like your Sims may fall prey to tentacled sea creatures of a range of sizes, and Death himself can venture underwater to claim a diver whose time is up.
The Sims 3: Island Paradise will launch next week, June 25, for PC and Mac.
