Review: Sims 4 Discover University brings relatable experience
Finals are next week. Naturally, instead of studying or working on final research papers or getting an adequate amount of sleep, I’ve purchased the Sims 4 Discover University expansion pack to escape the mundaneness of reality and traipse around in pixelated procrastination. Doing your homework in the Sims is just as good as doing your homework in real life, right? Except, sometimes, even my sim escapes reality by playing the Sims and everything suddenly becomes super meta.
Existentialism aside, for the moment at least, the Discover University pack ranks as my second overall favorite of the released expansions after City Living. The pack comes with a few super clutch features like bicycles for transport, roommate living options, dorms and career boosts if your sim graduates. The game also comes with ultra-real consequences, like actually getting rejected from a college, taking out loans, applying for scholarships, buying a $700 textbook and eating in the dining hall alone.
The first interaction you get with the expansion pack is the marching band background music when you boot up the game, which adds major school spirit vibes (like when you first came to Augustana full of hopes and dreams and bought nine AU-branded shirts from the bookstore).
Your sims get a whole new wardrobe in Create A Sim with 121 new clothing and accessory items. I felt slightly attacked by how accurately some of the new clothing items matched my real life style: high-rise mom jeans, hipster button-ups, cozy sweaters, leggings and Dr. Martin-esque boots.
The accurate college aesthetic continues with the 181 new build mode items, including cluttered desks, mini-fridges, eclectic posters, uncomfortable single beds, a ping pong table and $65 succulents. I didn’t realize, however, that once your sim moves into the dorms, you cannot access the build mode to purchase new items. So if you want to buy anything to decorate your dorm room, you better buy it before your sim moves. Sims can still purchase some necessities from a kiosk on campus, like a $4,250 laptop or a $150 pineapple-lime juice keg.
The game even gives you a couple options of colleges to choose from: old school University of Britechester or the more contemporary Foxbury Institute. Each one has a different set of perks, such as having prestigious majors or certain organizations to join. You get to choose your major, how many classes to take and an elective class as well.
I decided to have my sim pursue the ultimate liberal arts degree: villainy. The courses were Minor Pranks and Misdemeanors, Exploiting Weakness and Trolling The Forums For Mischief. Honestly, an ideal semester.
As a real life poor college student, I am indeed cognizant of spending $40 to play a simulated version of life. Nonetheless, I am an avid lover of making my Macbook sound like it will combust as it overheats to run the game. As silly as it sounds, the Sims reminds me to have some fun with life and do some glitchy stuff from time to time. If you want to add flavor to the base game with an expansion pack that makes the possibilities endless, the Discover University expansion adds enough dramatic flair and creative content to keep you glued to your computer for hours past your deadline.
Dag dag! (That’s “goodbye” in Simlish for you uncultured dweebs.)
