The magical ingredients are central to your spell casting and range from
common items to hard to find reagents. You can use some of the game's
objects to make your own ingredients, such as magic thread from a spinning wheel
or butter from a churn. Other ingredients can be purchased in Makin'
Magic's version of Downtown, Magic Town. However, don't expect the
merchants there to take simoleons. The currency of Magic Town is magic
coin, and to obtain some you'll either need to sell your homemade ingredients or
perform magic tricks for other sims. The final way to obtain magic
ingredients - and the only way to get some of the more rare ingredients - is by
completing quests for some of Magic Town's more magical residents. These
quests range from fetch-it errands to simple puzzles and so most gamers will
have no trouble completing them.
 |
| Magic Town. |
In addition to the magic vendors, Magic Town includes many new objects.
There are stages where you can perform your magic, roller coasters for your sims'
enjoyment, and food vendors to keep your sims fed. Magic Town is unique
among the series' previous out of neighborhood areas in that you can actually
move in. Save enough magic coins and you can purchase a lot and build your
own magical home complete with crystal gardens and magical plants. There's
a lack of restaurants, comfortable seating, and objects with a hygiene benefit,
so keeping your motives satisfied while in Magic Town isn't easy. Once
your sim becomes adept at magic he or she will have access to a wide array of
spells to help satisfy motives, but getting to that point takes some time and
can be tricky. The time that you can spend in Magic Town is pretty limited
compared to the amount of time you can spend in Studio Town or Vacation Island
before having to head home and take care of some of the more mundane aspects of
life. Also, since making magic full time doesn't pay, you won't be able to
quit your day job. If that day job is entertainment, you'll find it pretty
difficult to find the time to spend in Magic Town with all the hours you'll need
to spend at Studio Town. It would have been nice if Makin' Magic would
have eased the motives drain just a bit when spending time at Magic Town.
As it stands there are going to be plenty of frustrated junior spell casters out
there.
Makin' Magic won't appeal to all The Sims' players. If you're a more
serious player and can even get past the idea of magic in your life simulator,
you'll find it difficult to maintain your sims' motives and manage his or her
career while trying to squeeze in trips to Magic Town. On the other hand,
if you enjoy the wackier aspects of The Sims (or are not above the infamous
move_objects cheat), you'll more than likely love Makin' Magic and all the new
life it will breathe into your game.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
84%. This is the way The Sims ends, not with a whimper but with a
bang.
System Requirements: Pentium II 450; 128 MB RAM; 16 MB
Video RAM; 4x CD-ROM; 1.3 GB Hard Drive
Space; Mouse.
« Page 1 of 2
