SimAnimals

Developer: in-house
Format: Wii, DS
Genre: Sim

From the suburbs to the forest!



First Will Wright started with neighbourhoods - and The Sims was born. Then he extended the idea of focussing on single inhabitants and emerged with MySims on the Wii - where players controlled a whole town in a slightly dumbed down cutsey affair.

Well now Mr. Wright has moved away from neighbourhoods and towns altogether and has re-appeared deep in the depths of a wild forest with the forthcoming SimAnimals. Players will have the ability to touch, move and try to control a wide range of animals as you journey deeper and deeper into an all new free roaming gameworld.

From grizzly bears to foxes, trees and even flowers - if you see it you can touch it and move it via an on-screen animated hand. In typical Sim fashion how you treat the animals depends on how they react to you. We haven't found out if you can get munched by a grizzly if you slap it on the nose - but we doubt if much blood and guts will be in this kid friendly title.

Basic challenges and achievable goals are littered throughout the game, because the animals need you to help them thrive. Discover secrets, unlock forest areas and uncover one-of-a-kind objects and wild animals, some with special abilities, by successfully completing tasks. The Wii version brings a multiplayer element to the party. Up to three friends will be able to join in the fun in an off-line co-op mode for frolicking in forest, if that's your bag. A release is scheduled for Feb 2009.