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It's been about a month since The Sims 3 Generations was released, and reviews seem to have dried up, so I think now is a good time to wrap-up my reviews coverage. In case you've forgotten previous times, this means comparing the pretty-much-final Ranking at GameRankings and Metascore at Metacritic with those attained by previous expansion packs and the base game. But first, let's look at all the reviews I've found since last issue.

First is Game Chronicles who rated it 7.6 out of 10:

Generations goes for the typical expansion suggested retail price of $39.99 and may be hit or miss for you, depending on what you like about The Sims 3 and whether you’d appreciate the more understated improvements of this expansion pack.

The review includes six new screenshots which you can also view over on the game page if you prefer (update of Tuesday 28th June).
 > The Sims 3 Generations review at Game Chronicles
 > The Sims 3 Generations screenshots

AtomicGamer rates it eight out of 10:

With its reputation system and life stages, Generations is a solid, if not stellar, expansion. Its features are more subtle than those of previous expansions, being more behavioral than item-oriented and because of this, gamers looking for a slew of new locations or a truckload of new furniture are likely to be disappointed.

  > “The Sims 3: Generations Review“ at AtomicGamer

El33tonline rated it a “Good!” three stars out of five:

If you are a Sims fan this expansion will surely be of great appeal and I can recommend it for all the little, nearly imperceptible changes. Everyone else should wait for the Sims 3 Complete Collection Chest and install it all at once.

  > The Sims 3 Generations review at El33tonline

GameSpot rated it a “fair” 6.5 out of 10:

Glitches aside, Generations adds entertaining moments to a franchise that turns routine duties, like taking showers and tossing salads, into compelling delights, but these new moments are too infrequent and unexceptional to justify the high price tag.

  > “The Sims 3: Generations Review” at GameSpot

GameSpot’s review includes a game play video which you can also watch here if you don’t fancy reading the review:

So, to wrap-up. GameRankings first, and the Ranking stands at 76.20% based on 10 reviews. This is slightly higher than Ambitions which got 75.19%, but lower than World Adventures and Late Night, which got 82.74% and 81.50% respectively. As with all the other expansion packs so far, this is lower than the base game which got 86.65%. Comparing to The Sims 2 expansion packs now, and Generations has a higher Ranking than Nightlife, Bon Voyage and FreeTime, but lower Rankings than all the others.

GameRankings sources (with specific Rankings):

• The Sims 3 Generations (76.20%)
• The Sims 3 Late Night (81.50%)
• The Sims 3 Ambitions (75.19%)
• The Sims 3 World Adventures (82.74%)
• The Sims 3 (86.65%)
• The Sims 2 University (81.11%)
• The Sims 2 Nightlife (75.90%)
• The Sims 2 Open for Business (79.07%)
• The Sims 2 Pets (76.23%)
• The Sims 2 Seasons (76.71%)
• The Sims 2 Bon Voyage (73.44%)
• The Sims 2 FreeTime (76.18%)
• The Sims 2 Apartment Life (78.86%)

Metacritic now, and the Metascore currently stands at 71 based on 14 reviews. This is a lower 'score than that attained by any previous expansion pack, which range from 74 to 81. Again, no expansion packs have managed to top the base game's 'score, and Generations is no exception. You know I just said than it attained a lower 'score than any previous expansion pack? Well I can actually include The Sims 2 expansion packs in that too, as they range from 74 to 81 (the same as the range for The Sims 3 expansions before Generations, interestingly). So according to Metacritic, this is the worst expansion for a The Sims game since The Sims 2 (i.e. excluding expansion packs for The Sims 1). Oh dear.

Metacritic sources (with specific Metascores):

• The Sims 3 Generations (71)
• The Sims 3 Late Night (74)
• The Sims 3 Ambitions (74)
• The Sims 3 World Adventures (81)
• The Sims 3 (86)
• The Sims 2 University (81)
• The Sims 2 Nightlife (76)
• The Sims 2 Open for Business (78)
• The Sims 2 Pets (76)
• The Sims 2 Seasons (78)
• The Sims 2 Bon Voyage (74)
• The Sims 2 FreeTime (74)
• The Sims 2 Apartment Life (75)

So that concludes my reviews coverage. I won't write news about any reviews I may find in future, but they will still be added to the game page, with that update included in the Latest Updates box at the top of the News Email. I'm still after you're reviews though! If you have an opinion on Generations, click the link below, login with your Google, Yahoo!, AIM, Twitter, OpenID or NetLog account if you haven’t already, then type away.
 > The Sims 3 Generations Visitor Reviews