Part of being a sim is going to work and earning cash in the form of the
game's currency, Simoleans. Simoleans can then be spent to purchase necessities
such as food, to meet financial goals for certain tasks, or to buy objects to
furnish and decorate your home. In other sims games getting a job meant
picking a career and disappearing offscreen for eight hours a day while at work.
Bustin' Out takes a different approach, turning work into play through job
mini-games. These games include riding a mower to chop weeds while
avoiding the flowers, lifting weights in a gym, and catching fish by selecting a
lure and casting a line. The job mini-games are simplistic fun and none
are hard to learn, and your score in the game determines the amount that you
will earn. To prevent you from spending all of your time at work raking in
the cash, you can only access each job once a day and each job is only available
for play a few hours each day. If you earn a high enough score and have
the requisite skills, you can even get "promoted" at each job. Earning a
promotion increases the difficulty slightly but also makes it possible to earn
more at the job.
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| Uh-oh, better find a bathroom! |
Bustin' Out wouldn't be a sims game without social interaction, and the game
delivers a whole town of colorful characters for you to get to know better.
When you speak with someone you see a close-up of their face and are given a
list of things to say. Say the right things and your relationship improves
and moves towards friendship - you can tell if you picked the right thing to say
by watching the other sim's facial expressions. Pick the wrong ones and
you'll literally lose points with the person. You'll need to spend time
talking with everybody, not just to satisfy your sim's social interaction motive
but because many of the other sims figure into your tasks. It certainly is
a lot easier to get what you need from a friend than an enemy. Figuring
out the right thing to say is not difficult as the compliments are easy to
discern from the insults. This coupled with the fact that there are a
finite set of things to say to each sim makes the conversations an exercise in
repetition after a little while
A big part of The Sims' appeal has always been the large number of objects
available and the freedom the game gave you to use them to design your own home.
Because of the natural limitations of the GBA you won't have as much to work
with in Bustin' Out. Bustin Out' is more focused on making your way
through the game's goals than on establishing roots anyway. However, if
you have the GameCube version of the game you can link up and share objects
between the GBA and GameCube versions of the game.
Bustin' Out is one of those games that is pretty simple in design but has an
addicting quality to it. Its simple qualities make it easy to pick up and
play, but also hurt its long term charm. It won't appeal to all gamers,
especially those who prefer action games., but many will find it a fun diversion
when gaming on the go.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
81%. The Sims' Bustin Out will appeal to many gamers with its unique
and addicting gameplay. If you prefer fast-paced, action-oriented gaming
though, you'll should probably pass on it.
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