~ Liever de Nederlandse versie? Klik hier! ~
Hidden Springs has a irresistible attraction to the rich and famous who are looking for relaxation and who want to escape their day to day life. They cannot resist the stories about magical powers which slumber in the woods and lakes. Some of the town folks who live near the woods are acting mysterious and it seems as if they have a greenish skin colour. Is there really magic going on in the woods?
You can walk along the lake, relax at a spa, hike though the forest and even solve old secrets in the museum of magic and spiritual business. What are you going to discover in Hidden Springs?
Introduction
Like the description of Hidden Springs on the official The Sims 3 website explains, Hidden Springs is a strange town. Well, in short you could say that. Surrounded by mountains and near a big lake, this town has to deal with some unusual rumours and the mysterious Sims make it only worse.
Hidden in the forest there is something magical going on. Think of plants and waters with so-called supernatural powers, light green Sims and more. In short, when you start playing in Hidden Springs, you do not know what to discover first.
The town and the area
The Centre
Hidden Springs is, just like a lot of neighbourhoods, built with a large square in the middle. I am very frank when I say that this square is the most dull one I have ever seen.
The only colours of this square are: grey, black, white and really bright pink. Pink is the least used colour of all. The entire, depressing square has one small building for a cup of coffee. You would expect that EA put a lot of work in this building, since it is the only thing to be found on the square. Bu no, they only worked on it for three minutes, at least by the looks of it.
The square is decorated with a lot of lampposts, square stones, four picnic tables and three trees from which one has no leafs. That is really minimalistic. Perhaps EA did this on purpose for a certain look and atmosphere, but in my opinion they just failed.
surrounding the square you can find the standard lots as in the town hall, the supermarket, the bookstore, the library, the snack bar, the theatre, the restaurant and the police station. There is nothing special about them, we already knew them.
There are also two unique lots to find, the Crystal Solarium Rejuvenating Waters and Lars’ Disco-tech. Both of the location are a nice adding to Hidden Springs. The crystal solarium is a public pool which looks like a spa. The inside could have used some more but the outside looks stylish and beautiful.
Lars’ Disco-tech is a hangout for youngsters, in the eighties style. So bright neon colours combined with black, which causes it to look dark even in the daytime. This place is really nice and worked out wonderful.
The suburbs
All the above is the entire centre of the town. Besides two highlights it is not so special. Will the magical places by in the suburbs? The answer to this question is no. The suburbs are also not that special.
Before I discuss the houses of this town, I want to tell you about Silver Zephyr Health Spa . I think this is a really nice rabbit hole, EA did a very good job of putting it into Hidden Springs! The style is very unique and fits perfectly into the town. Plus, the pools are very handy to train before or after your spa visit!
The main road of the town ramifies into smaller ones which will lead you into the mountains to the bigger houses. These are mansions and luxurious log cabins for the rich and famous. Hidden Springs is famous for this, escaping your day to day life and how can you do this better than moving into a big house in the woods?
There is not really one style of houses, they all look like big concrete blocks with absolutely no decorations in my eyes. Everything has a different colour and are placed far off each other, for some houses it takes a couple of hours to ask for a cup of sugar!
The insides are largely equipped, big rooms with expensive furniture. Exactly what you would expect in this town. But is this unoriginal or good? I would say the first one. I do not like big houses, I like small and cosy. It could be that you like it, this is all about personal preferences.
What’s really nice is that this neighbourhood comes with a few new objects in build mode. A new mailbox, new windows, new doors and lots more.
The woods
Now we finally get to the point which should match the description of the town. Nu komen we aan op het punt waar de stad een beetje gaat voldoen aan de beschrijving. De bossen hebben een bepaalde uitstraling, die een mysterieuze gedachte doet opwekken bij mij. Er zijn drie locaties die ik even aan het daglicht wil stellen..
Let´s start off with the waterfall. To be frank, I expected more out of this. I thought you would find the fountain of eternal youth here, but that is not true. The fountain is nowhere in the town! Sims with a good income can buy this item for 495.000 Simleons. Funny thing is that that price could give you a very very big mansion! That is why I placed the fountain nearby the waterfall, because besides some rocks, trees and the waterfall this place is quite boring.
For everyone who did not know: The fountain of eternal youth will grant your wishes! However, this will not succeed every time. The outcome can vary from getting a mood boost to a change in your traits. We will not tell all the outcomes, you need to find them out for yourself!
Next, the Redwood Heights Luxury Lodge. This is a beautiful lot with a marvellous view, on the top of the highest mountain of Hidden Springs. The view really is breath taken. From this lot you can really see the beauty of the new world. A beautiful lot with enough toilets for after a long journey.
The last thing I want to say about is that there are some nice parks for the Sims to sit, relax or play. That all depends on the Sims’ wishes, age and traits!
The residents
Families
Just like any other town has Hidden Springs some Sims and EA put quite some time in creating these with an interesting story line who are all unique. But did they do this this time as well? Or will they be like some of the squares?
Hidden Springs had a lot of intriguing families in all shapes and sizes. There are even some green Sims! Everything is possible with The Sims 3, but it really fits the town. The differences you find here cannot be found in Sunset Valley and Bridgeport. That’s what I like beste besides the cool buildings.
Some of the Sims in town have a nice story with which you can do anything. Even though I often to not play with premade Sims, since I always create my own, I liked to play with them. Because of this review I did and now I understood how much work EA put in them! There are Sims with new clothing, since you will get 6 new outfits: four for women and two for men. Just a small bonus.
Conclusion
Hidden Springs: negative and a positive side, beautiful and ugly, unfinished and a lot of details. It is so personal whether you like Hidden Springs. However, in my opinion EA put quite a lot of work in this neighbourhood, but there are some lots who could have gotten a little more attention.
The price of this neighbourhood can make you doubt whether to buy it or not. It will cost 200 Simpoints till the end of this year, which is equal to 14 euro’s, so it depends on you taste whether you think it is overpriced or not. Whenever you like chalets, big rooms, a lot of woods and nice families, this neighbourhood is something for you. When you like tiny places, cozy spots and colour, I would let this one pass.