It’s hard to get excited about another Sims “Stuff” expansion. These packs contain only items that can be used in the game, none of which changes the way the game actually plays. We already saw the High End Loft Stuff which certainly was not worth the money or the effort. Now we get our second set of stuff, all to do with fast cars. The end result? Rip-off!

Yip, the field of expansion is pretty narrow with this one, and if you add every item and piece of clothing to one room, you will end up with a scene similar to the workshop where John Travolta and his gang did a song and a dance in the movie Grease. Except you cannot dance on the roof of your car, or brush your hair with motor oil. (Disclaimer: I am not a fan of the movie, I’ve just heard that’s what they do… honest!)

You get a few cars to add to your garage, some of which are truly fast, some of which are simply nice to look at. You also add a workbench to your garage that allows you to tinker away on them with no effect at all. In order to decorate your new garage you have a few items to stick to the walls like a collection of rims, or some girly posters from the 60’s. If you feel like going after an even more authentic 60’s look you can add a carpet that looks like an LP and a gas pump. But you need to dress to the occasion and here you will find a few new hairstyles out of the different racing eras, and clothing to suit up with. My favourite has to be the huge Johnny Bravo hair style. It’s the only style that can be considered a “style with style.”

Stuff packs like these used to be what Sims fans looked forward to. When the Sims 1 had an expansion pack the stuff was all included and you knew you would not have easy access to more goodies. Now with the Sims shop built into the game, you have easy, cheap access to only the goods you want. It’s a win for EA who sell individual items, and it’s a win for us who only buy what we want, and not the unwanted stuff.

“Stuff” packs are bloated by distribution costs, cover-art design and attempts to add some sort of theme. Adding these packs as downloads rather than disc based packs will save everyone money. Everyone except your local games shop that is, so I guess it’s not all bad. But anyone willing to spend this much on so little content has either too much money, or really wants a reason to talk to the cute girl behind the sales counter.

The good: Fast cars, cool furniture.
The bad: Not much is included.
The ugly: The worst kind of money making expansion – rip-off.

Purchase:

Country	Name	Link
		Click to buy The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff