P4 A- Genre
Virtual Families Game Review
Virtual Families is a human life stimulation game which
allows you to “adopt” your own game character who moves into your home. You are
then able to go to the office section of the home and “order” a bride who is
compatible to your personality. This may lead on with the option to later start
a family with your new “significant other”. The game is available on the App Store, meaning that players can purchase this on an IOS device such as an I phone. Along with this, the game can be played through Microsoft, meaning that it is a multi-platform game.
When the Spouse arrives, your character will shortly embrace
with their new arrival, though this doesn’t always happen. From this moment on
you are able to roam your new house and begin your family. In some cases,
within the game you are able to interact with your partner, such as watch TV or
have a meal, however throughout the most part you are living separate lives
just within the same household.
The Game is played from an isometric view, allowing you to
see through an angle over the house and scrolling to move around when
necessary. There is also an option within the game to buy items such as food
for the house, or upgrade rooms or items whenever you feel necessary. You can
also adopt new children or pets and so on.
Virtual Families is made so that it fits with, or plays out
in time which is the same to real life. This means that if it is night time in
real life for instance, this will be the same in real life. Therefore, if you
were to close the game at one point, events will still occur throughout your
virtual home even though you are offline. However, it is noticed in the game
that time passes by relatively quickly- which could be a lot quicker to real
life. For example, when leaving the game for up to 24 hours with no attention
or care given to your virtual family, returning to the game after such time may
result in the unfortunate news that a family member has passed on.
Along with the noted issues of timing in the game, there are
also clear graphical problems. For instance, it is noticed at parts how
characters may be walking to an item such as the TV, and during their journey
they may walk over, or through, other items such as the sofa. This can cause
the game to appear somewhat unfinished, as this is a virtual reality game,
however we notice such events are unlikely to happen in reality.
Other interactions in the game involve helping a sick or ill
character. In order to cure them, you are required to purchase a medical item
or medicine in order to help them, noting that failing to do so may result in
relatively immediate death. Whilst dealing with such events, you are also left
with the option to “praise” or “scold” characters. This is done by clicking on
either of the green or red hands, (green for praise and red for scold) and then
clicking on the family member in which you wish to complete this action on.
This means that you are likely to reinforce good or bad behaviour, i.e., by
scolding a child for “jumping on the bed”, they are unlikely to complete this
action again, simply to avoid their punishment.
There are other features in the game which allow your
“virtual family members” to collect items from around and outside the house,
such as bugs, leaves and so on. If you are able to collect all items, you will
be awarded with a “game trophy”, of which is rewarded also when completing
other tasks or set goals throughout the gameplay. The trophy item is displayed
on the bottom right hand corner of the game screen under the tab “trophies”.
This presents which “tasks” you have completed throughout the game and also the
ones you need to complete in order to earn another trophy. For example, you may
receive a trophy once your family has earned at least $1,000.
When reviewing such a game as Virtual Families, it is hard
to distinguish whether this is actually a game worth purchasing or playing.
With the target audience being drawn to females of the age range 12-17 years,
it is hard to identify whether in fact people from other age categories or of
the male popularity even, would be interested in this game. For example, it is
displayed throughout the game almost entirely, that this is a game involving
themes of families, relationships and acts of dealing with daily life
situations such as designing a new house. These are all factors which usually
would fit with the female preferences, although it could be argued that this
statement is challenged throughout the game as many males may in fact be
interested in playing such a game.
Graphics
32%
The graphics in this game, as briefly mentioned above, are
poor. This gives the game an overall effect of appearing unfinished, due to its
numerous defects displayed. For example, the majority of the screen is unclear
due to poor graphics, with characters even being able to walk through or into
objects when moving around the house. The graphics in this game affect the game
drastically, due to the fact that as previously mentioned, the game appears
unfinished.
Gameplay
67%
The gameplay in Virtual families gives it an extremely
addictive nature. This is due to the overall theme of the game, which is very
similar to the Sims. For example, you are able to build relationships and start
up new families, which ultimately makes you wish to return to the game
repeatedly, to continue checking on your virtual beings.
Accessibility
44%
The accessibility of this game to download is easy, as it is
displayed on the Appstore as “free to download”, although it may require in-app
purchases, whenever you feel necessary throughout the game. However, it may be
argued that for new players, the accessibility of getting to know the game is a
struggle. Despite having a brief tutorial presented in the beginning of the
game, you are then left to figure out how to complete numerous tasks without
any guidance.
Lifespan
56%
The lifespan of this game could ultimately be regarded as
continuous, due to the idea of starting up new families repeatedly, although
the novelty of this wears off as it eventually becomes common and repeated. For
example, when a family dies you are able to “adopt” a new being and start up a
new family, though doing this continuously can become familiar and boring.
Innovation
27%
Although this game has been designed thoroughly with many
new aspects, a lot of the items and the overall theme in fact, displays many
similarities with the Sims game. It may not be the case that this was aimed on
purpose, however it may put game players off, that almost the entire game is
meeting the same outcomes in which you would aim to do when playing the Sims.
Overall Review- 72%
Despite the Virtual families’ game being considered as very
highly addictive, it ultimately appears unfinished. This is mostly due to its
poor graphics presented throughout, which as previously mentioned, provide a
drastic effect on the games overall experience. If the graphics were to be
improved, I believe that this would be a much more enjoyable and popular game,
as it no longer would have that “unfinished effect”. It may also be useful
throughout the game if there was a “help” option to provide more guidance when
completing tasks and actions ,as this may improve the accessibility for new
players of the game.
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