Summary
- The Sims 4's StrangerVille game pack introduces a new town with a pre-established linear storyline, where players must solve mysteries related to the strange behavior of the town's residents.
- The town features a large crater housing something sinister, an abandoned lab with clues about the town's infection, and a mysterious mother plant as the source of the infection.
- Players can turn off the linear storyline and play the town normally, and the pack also includes a new aspiration, a military career, and a paranoid trait.
The Sims 4 follows the format of previous games in the franchise, where players can create virtual avatars and create any story they wish to pursue. While the open sandbox-style gameplay made The Sims franchise famous in its two decades of existence, The Sims 4's StrangerVille game pack breaks this mold by offering players a linear story-based experience. The StrangerVille pack introduces a new town of the same name, and once players enter the town, they will soon notice that something is off with its residents.
Like other neighborhoods in The Sims 4, StrangerVille is composed of several community lots and some residential lots. However, the town features a point of interest in the form of a large crater that may be housing something sinister. StrangerVille is also the first town in The Sims 4 to feature a pre-established storyline, and players are tasked to solve mysteries that may explain the weird behavior of the town's residents.
While the StrangerVille game pack features a linear storyline, this can be turned off in the game's settings, allowing players to play the town normally. Additionally, the pack features a new StrangerVille Mystery Aspiration, a new Military Career, and a paranoid trait.
The Strange Case of the Residents of StrangerVille
Upon arriving in StrangerVille, apart from some weird-looking purple plants, everything appears normal. However, after speaking with some of StrangerVille's residents, the mystery unravels. Players will notice that the townsfolk of StrangerVille inhibit strange behaviors such as possessed emotions, weird walking animations, and a peculiar rambling about a Mother Plant. Players will be tasked to talk to several residents to uncover the truth, explore various locations, and collect certain items. To add to the town's mystery, players will also notice that StrangerVille is filled with military personnel and scientists roaming around the area, suggesting something sinister is at play.
What Lurks Beneath the Abandoned Lab in StrangerVille
Upon conducting an initial investigation, players will learn that an abandoned lab is located just outside the town inside a giant crater, which will surely interest fans of sci-fi video games. Rumors circulated that an explosion occurred in the area a while ago, and ever since, the residents of StrangerVille have started exhibiting weird behaviors. As players enter the secret lab, they will notice it in a derelict state with papers scattered everywhere and a big hole in the fence, suggesting that people who worked there left in a hurry. Further exploration would provide players with clues as to what has happened in the lab, and the game will require players to do specific tasks, such as taking photos of the lab and planting bugs on military personnel and scientists to listen to their conversations.
After gathering enough evidence, solving certain puzzles, speaking to townspeople, and acquiring a hazmat suit, players will now be able to progress deeper into the lab, where they will find the basement infected with what appears to be mysterious foliage emitting dangerous spores. Thanks to the hazmat suit, the spores won't affect the player, but their presence paints a picture of what is causing the strange behavior of the townspeople. Venturing deeper into the lab, players will finally learn the source of the town's infection, showing that The Sims 4 can feature a storyline filled with secret experiments and infected people similar to games like Resident Evil. Inside a room in the lab's basement stands the mother plant, a strange creature surrounded by an electric fence that appears to be the source of the infection StrangerVille is suffering from.
Due to the enormous size of the mother plant, players realize that they cannot defeat it alone. However, players must first synthesize and test a vaccine for three infected residents. After successfully creating and testing the vaccine, players can recruit these cured individuals to defeat the mother plant. Fighting the mother plant is undoubtedly one of the unique gameplay mechanics in The Sims 4, given that the game doesn't feature much combat. Upon successfully defeating the mother plant, players will notice that the town will be rid of all the weird plants surrounding it, and the residents will return to their usual selves, solving the great mystery of StrangerVille.
The Sims 4 - StrangerVille
StrangerVille is a rural desert town featured in The Sims 4 expansion. The town is known for its unusual weather and creepy inhabitants, and dangerous plants and strange collectibles are among the oddities in StrangerVille.
The expansion allows Sims to engage in unique and mysterious events with government agents and unmarked vans seen in the neighborhoods. Sims can use their Military training to investigate the town's mysteries, and much more.
