After 4 months since the exciting announcement brought to us by SimGuruRachel at Gamescom, The Sims 4 Get Together is finally here! However, did this expansion pack justify the delay that was announced early in October? Let’s find out!

This review is based on 20+ hours of deep game play.  Even though I was given an early review copy to test the game, I am not by any means paid or bribed to state positive (or negative) opinions about this expansion pack.  I will give my honest opinion of the expansion pack; it’s contents and what it brings to the game.

Create A Sim

No Sims pack is complete without new Create A Sim Assets (CAS).  Get Together did not let me down! With over 120 new items, there’s something new for each gender and age! What I liked about the CAS aspect of this pack is that it brought so many different styles of clothing and hairstyles.   Just like the brand new world Windenburg, they can be separated into 2 categories: Classic and Modern.

I have to admit, I was really surprised to see those knight costumes! They are a really nice addition to the game and if you ever plan to create a club they will really stand out from other townies in Windenburg, I say dress up all your sims in these shiny costumes and roam around the streets!

New Items

Your Sim can Get Together and enjoy over 350 new items! Yup, you heard that right. Although in that number I also counted; wallpapers, floor tiles, columns, fences, doors, and windows.  That is still an impressive number of items!

Here are some of the new styled rooms…

….and new interactive objects!

The mixture of classic and modern themed objects fits in just right with this new Sim world.  This is something that can be hard to do in a real world so it is impressive that the Sims team managed to pull this off in a game world.  Since I’m not much of a builder and let us just say that most of my finished build projects are rather bleh, I cannot wait to see what you creative builders do with all these new items.  I am sure that once the builders get their hands on this pack there will be all sorts of interesting and creative designs that combine these old and new world themes.

New World – Windenburg

Although it took more than a year since The Sims 4’s launch, The Sims Team have really outdone themselves! I can also honestly say that compared to Windenburg; Willow Creek, Oasis Springs and Newcrest feel REALLY small!  To me, it feels as if that time was well spent in the creation of this world.

Windenburg introduces 7 NEW NEIGHBORHOODS with this pack! That is two extra neighborhoods when compared to Willow Creek and Oasis Springs.  Even if we take hidden worlds into consideration, Windenburg still beats previous worlds with one extra neighborhood.

Every one of these seven neighborhoods has it’s own beauty and charm!

The Old Town is a mixture of venues and residential lots. It features some beautiful landmarks such as the chess garden area and a huge sculpture of what appears to be the founder of the Old Town.  For those of you who love to send your Sims fishing, you will be happy to learn that there are some new fishing spots.  This area is a great place for your Sims to stop by and get a cup of coffee!  Your Sim could even participate in the age old hobby of townie watching as they sip a latte while sitting in one of the quaint areas and watching Sims mingle and interact.

The ultra modern Business District is filled with fountains and attractive venues such as the Nightclub, The Gym, The Cafe and The Pool Venue which was introduced with the latest update. There is also a park.  However, honestly I barely noticed it because I was distracted by the entire neighborhood and all it had to offer.

The Rural Neighborhood has more beautiful and attractive areas which include fishing spots, a windmill, and other magical areas that I will leave up to you to discover.  This area features four lots, one venue, and one empty lot.  There is a 64×64 size lot which should thrill the builders out there.  This is the biggest lot size to date in the Sims 4.  As I was exploring, I could not help but wonder if The Sims Team got inspired by The Shire from the Lord of the Rings movie when they created this neighborhood.  The area felt so magical that I half expected Bilbo and Frodo to stroll past.

The Island is an isolated neighborhood.  It is surrounded by another island that your Sim can also visit; the Island Bluff.  Most of the residential lots on this island are modern with the exception being the 64×64 lot where the Villareal household lives.  What I loved the most about this neighborhood were the two bonfire areas.  The addition of the woohoo bush in the center of the island was a nice touch and makes it a great place for your Sims to go on a date and engage in some romance.

Finally, there are the three Hangout Neighborhoods.  They are not exclusive to clubs though and your Sim can visit these neighborhoods whenever they want.  That being said, holding parties and starting gatherings is one of the main purposes for these neighborhoods.  In this grouping you will find the Chalet Garden, this beautiful area is designed mainly for the Gardening, Bookworm, and other highly intellectual clubs.  This area is ideal for hosting a wedding party because it is not only beautiful but romantic with an old world charm.

The second Hangout Neighborhood is the beautiful Island Bluff.  You will remember me mentioning previously that this area is visible from the residential island.    The Island Bluff main feature is the natural pools.  This is a new type of pool introduced with Get Together.  It is a great place for your Sims to throw a party and have some splashing fun.  This island has so much to offer that I cannot describe it all in this review.  I will leave it up to you to further explore.

The third and final Neighborhood Hangout is the Ancient Ruins.  You will remember this area being featured heavily in many of the trailers from The Sims Team.  Your Sims are sure to have an amazing time here when they throw a Dance Party!  I recommend throwing them at night because that is when the true beauty of this area is unveiled.

Windenburg without a doubt far exceeded my expectations.  Unlike previous worlds, the neighborhoods in Windenburg feel truly connected visually.  The lots are not as close together as they are in Willow Creak and Oasis Springs which always gave me a sense of claustrophobia.  In my opinion, the Sims in those worlds did not have enough space for activities.  I’m glad that Windenburg not only improved in terms of how lots are placed but also that the four main neighborhoods feel much larger than in other previous worlds.

I can see myself playing in Windenburg 90% of the time when I am playing The Sims 4!  I feel it trumps the other worlds that much!

Clubs & Skills

The biggest feature included in Get Together are the Clubs.  They promise a lot of fun activities but do they deliver on these promises?  Let us find out by creating our own club.  For this review, I created a brand new household because I truly wanted to test how Sims progress from being a zero to a town hero!

To begin, you create your club by selecting the icon with three Sims that can found on the bottom right corner.  The Club Creator interface is very simple but also very powerful.

The top left corner of the Clubs Creator Interface lets you choose the icon of your Club. These icons will appear in the hexagons above your Sims heads (Group indicator). There are plenty of icons to choose from!

Once you have finished that, it is time to write the name of your group and it’s description. I have decided that my first group will be all about music!  Next, I picked which Sims I wanted in my club.  You can only pick Sims that your Sim has met at least once.  So, if you want to add the ever-so-popular Paolo or Ulrike to your club?  Then make sure your Sim meets them first.

Next comes the most important step;  choosing the club’s requirements and activities. Requirements are pretty much optional. If someone wishes to join your club, they have to follow the certain requirement that you have set in order for them to apply. The same goes for your Sim if he/she wishes to join a club.

There are six requirement categories: Age, Career, Marital Status, Financial Status, Traits and Skill Levels that are higher than level 2.

So for example; you can create a club that requires you to have at least level 2 of Gardening in order to join the Garden Club or your Sim has to be an Alien to join the Alien Club. You can have up to five requirements per club.

Now, the most interesting part: club activities! Inside nine different activity categories there are plenty of activities for you to choose. So, let’s say that you want to create a club where your Sims tend to kiss a lot. You will want to go under the social section and select the kiss activity. The more activities you choose for your Club, the more it defines what your Sims are destined to do inside a club.

For my The Musicians Club, I’ve chosen these four activities: Use DJ Booth, Dance, Listen to Music, Play an Instrument and WooHoo (because each club should have a small twist to keep things interesting). Some activities such as WooHoo have even more options: you can choose with who does your Club like (or dislike) to WooHoo. So for example, if you have a Club made consistently of Young Adults, you can set the WooHoo activities so that they only WooHoo with other young adults and avoids Adults and Elders. You can also set it so that your Sims like (or dislike) to WooHoo with a certain club.

Now it is time to select the banned activities. These are the activities that you should definitely avoid in order to maintain a good relationship with other Sims in your Club. Same activities are counted in.  For The Musicians Club I have only set that my Sims cannot be mean to The Spinmasters and Partihaus because they share similar interests in Music.

Now all that is left is to choose my club’s hangout location. We can always choose to hang out at our home; but I thought it would be more fun to choose a very special place for them, so I have decided that my Sims will hang out at The Island Bluffs.

We’re ready!

Our gathering at The Bluffs started pretty well, until one of my Sims decided to immediately ask another Sim to WooHoo in the bush. She was of course rejected due to low relationship points, but it left a mark on her emotional status. I think it is time to quickly edit the Club Activity from WooHoo to be Friendly before any more embarrassing moments happen…

The gathering turned out to be pretty good, but I think it is time for my main Sims to build up some skills before they unlock the full potential of Music. I have sent them to the Business District and made them work on their DJ and Dancing Skills in the park so they can show them off with their group during a future gathering.

Sims will start out really slow during the first few levels of their Skills; however once they get the hang of it, the talent (and simeoleon tips) will just flow through them!

TIP: You can place skill items such as the DJ Booth and the dance floor anywhere in the neighborhood! I figured that out after recording the video, but oh well..

After several days of practice, it was time to make our Club famous!

I have decided to throw a Dance Party at The Bluffs.  After everyone arrived, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to start our club gathering – at a party! It is awesome to do what the club likes doing most while meeting new people and showing off your skills.

While my Club was on the dance floor, I decided to make our Club stand out by performing the One, Two, Steppin’ dance exclusive to the groups. Everyone backed away and watched as our Club slayed the dance floor!

My Sim behind the DJ Booth also unlocked some new options after working on his skill. He can now ”Feel the Crowd” and give them emotional buffs such as Confident, Flirty, Dazed and Energized. It is a great way to boost my club confidence for future dancing show-offs!

Here is just a small taste of what happened during the party:

My household Sims met some awesome new Sims at the party, so I think it is time to expand my club with two more Sims which brought the total club members to six.

We earned lots of new Club Points that night so I think my club is ready to become a bit more unique. I purchased a new handshake in the Club Perks section and now every time my Sims greet, they will use the Front Back High Low handshake!

 My Club discussed the latest party while having either croissant and coffee. The Coffee Shop is definitely a place to visit every morning!  Your Sims can watch other Sims mingle while ordering food and drinks from the barista (an NPC newly added with Get Together).

Now that our Club is more known to the masses, it is time to make us really unique by creating custom outfits for our club! I purchased a club leather jacket in the Club Perks section and then assigned custom clothing for our Sims to wear whenever they are at a gathering.

So now whenever my Sims decide to meet, they will be the most fashionable club in town!

While you are in a Club or a Group gathering, you will notice that interactive objects have ”…Together”. For example: Sit Together, Fish Together, Dance Together, Play Together etc. It is a perfect way to get your Sims do what they love…but together!

Sooner or later you are going to get invites to other Clubs around the town and it is up to you to either accept them or decline them. The good thing of being in multiple clubs is that you get to enjoy multiple benefits. If one Club has the benefit of learning the DJ Skill faster while the other one lets you build friendships faster, you can attend gatherings in both clubs and progress more quickly in these areas!  You can be in up to three clubs at once, so choose wisely if you are looking to get the most from them.

As you play with your club more and more you will notice that you will get more opportunities, such as invitations to a Club, invitations to a party/gathering or simply messages like this:

Integration with current and future Packs

The Sims 4 Get Together is not just an Expansion Pack of the Base Game, it is also an expansion of previous (and future) Expansion, Game and Stuff Packs! The club features integrates perfectly with the new interactive objects, skills, traits, careers and more added by packs for The Sims 4. Here are a few examples:

The Zen Club

The Aliens Club

The Verdict

Summary: The Sims 4 Get Together comes with 120+ new CAS items, 350+ Build Mode items, a new world filled with new lots and activities, clubs system with over 50 perks and unlockable features, 2 new traits and an aspiration, new interactions and A LOT more!

What I like: This Expansion Pack is unlike any other I have played thus far. Not only because it introduces some old objects and features from past Sims games (and improves upon them greatly), it also adds a new clubs system that will continue to grow as new content for The Sims 4 is released. There are so many options when creating a club that it lets you create millions of new and unique stories.

What I dislike: The 15 year old chain of new occult type with each Expansion Pack has been broken. Get Together did not come with any new creatures or supernatural sim states thus breaking an age old Sim tradition.

Score: 10/10

The Sims 4 Get Together is Maxis’ most unique Expansion Pack in the entire Sims Franchise thus far! With new items, a new world and plenty of new game play, this pack will definitely bring hours and hours of never ending fun to any old time Simmer or even a new player just discovering the Sims game!

The Sims 4 Get Together can be purchased on Origin for 39,99USD. GET HERE!

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