The MySims series started out as a cutesy, cartoony version of the Sims series for PC and Wii that would let a younger generation of gamer take a crack at the building and customization of the Sims without asking them to navigate sexual relationships and simulated job grinds. From there, the series experimented with a more structured kind of game – like MySims Racing or MySims Kingdom – that had elements of other game genres around to direct gameplay objectives. However, it was still mostly a free-roaming game without much direction.

Now we have MySims Agents, an evolution in the MySims series toward a serious adventure game. Sure, it's still cutesy and cartoony – and about 85% of the cast is made up of Sims we've seen in other MySims game – but this is a game on a mission. And the mission is to become a secret agent.

What Is It?
MySims Agents is an adventure game for the Wii following the rise of a gumshoe detective to world-class agent as he works to recover the stolen Nightmare Crown. Players take the role of this young detective and progress through a series of mostly-linear levels to find clues, interview people and ultimately get to the bottom of the bigger mystery. Most of the gameplay is centered around gadgets that the player levels up over time – like evolving a basic magnifying glass to a high-tech footprint sensor – as well as the leveling of companion detectives that the main character can recruit.

What We Saw
I sat down for about an hour's worth of fiddling at EA Redwood Shores. The save I was playing on was toward the end of the game, so a lot of stuff was unlocked and gadgets were already leveled up.

How Far Along Is It?
MySims Agents is due out in September just before the mega-October rush. The build looked solid to me, although my hands-on time was limited to certain areas and puzzles because they were 100% finished.

What Needs Improvement?
Mind The Puzzle-Platform Ratio: A lot of Agents involves solving agent-y puzzles like lock-picking or hacking a computer. However, there are some platforming sections where the player has to guide the Agent through a jumping puzzle or across balance beams. Depending on how the ratio of puzzles-to-platforming stacks up, these sections will either blend in seamlessly with the secret agent theme or leave the player grumbling in frustration about how James Bond never got mobbed by butterflies and fell off a cliff.

What Should Stay The Same?
Adventure Gameplay: Part of the problem with the adventure-flavored MySims Kingdom was that there just wasn't enough structure to the story. It was hard to care about what the King wanted when there were endless possibilities for rearranging your house décor and endless numbers of Sims that wanted you to build junk for them. MySims Agent zeros in on the story and while it still that "Hey, let's go rearrange furniture in your secret headquarters" gameplay, there seems to be enough structure to the game to propel you out into the world to start solving mysteries instead of aimless wandering around to provoke local wildlife.

Fixed Camera: MySims Agent has a fixed camera that the player cannot control. This works well with the gameplay, because it allows the level developer to hide things from the player that they have to do detective work to find. It also makes Build mode less tedious because the Agent has to stand on a specific spot to enter build mode so that the camera can fix itself in the best possible angle for seeing the building area – a definite improvement over MySims Kingdom.

Smooth Sim Integration: A big part of any Sim game is working on inter-Sim relationships. This element makes its way into Agents through the recruitment system and the special side missions system. As the player goes through the game and meets all different kinds of Sims, he or she can recruit Sims as secret agent operatives. Recruiting a Sim moves them into the Agent's headquarters and the Agent can send them out to do side missions for other Sims, which improves the Agent's relationship with those Sims. While on these special missions, your Agent can carry on with main story missions and receive updates (or pleas for advice) from your other Agents in the field via text message. So it's almost like you're playing two games at once and that way, you can reap twice the benefits. Depending on who you recruit and how you train them, you can have a crack team of investigative Sims – or a bunch of bums that clutter up your basement.

Masks: There're a lot of hidden things in every level like bonus outfits or special items – but the big ticket items are always masks. Each mask a Sim finds has special abilities attached to it, like charisma or athleticism, and hanging the masks on a particular floor of the Agent's HQ trains all Sims that live on that floor in those skills. This is a neat way to customize your crack team of investigators because different missions require different combinations of skills. You can of course pick and choose different Sims from different floors to go on special side missions or take with you on main story missions – but sending an entire floor of Agents to do your bidding is both convenient and cool.

Final Thoughts
I'm looking forward to MySims Agents because I want to see MySims series evolve into solid adventure games. Between the collectibles and the unlockable hard puzzles, there's enough content here to move MySims away from the stigma of "baby's first god-complex game" and toward a series that appeals to everybody. During my demo, one of the MySims development team guys compared the series to The Muppets, saying that it'd be ideal to have a franchise of characters that you could use to tell any kind of story – or in this case, populate any kind of game. I'd be down with that; and I really hope Agents can lead the charge.

First up was My Sims because I got it confused with My Sims Kingdom. My Sims is already out on Wii but the upcoming PC release introduces new community features (like shared Gardens where you can hang out) and six new character NPCs that sort of (but not really) tie into My Sims Kingdom. My Sims on PC looked to be more user-friendly for the builders among you than it was on Wii (or maybe I say that because I’m a klutz with the Wii Remote) and I noticed that the terrain now has different elevations. Terraced garden, here I come.

After extricating myself from My Sims, I immediately tumbled into My Sims Kingdom. This is essentially the same as My Sims on the Wii – only there’s a plot and tons of RPG elements tossed in. It almost reminded me of Little King’s Story or My Life as a King – one of those cutesy RPGs with a twist. In this case, it’s the building gameplay. The whole story is that you’re customizable character graduates from lowly pig farmer to King’s Builder and are given a wand to go around the kingdom, building stuff and making things happen by talking to people. The kingdom is broken up into different islands, each with its own theme. We got to see the home base island where the king’s castle needed some bridge-building and later a space island where we got to build a rocket ship. Unicorns, fishing, and princess fill out the fantasy storyline and if you’re a kid, or a girl, or can swallow your testosterone long enough to play the game, it’ll probably charm you senseless for at least a couple of hours.

I hit a wall with My Sims Kingdom when I was told they weren’t ready to unveil Drama Island yet (damn!), so I moved on to SimCity Creator and had a tough choice to make: DS or Wii version? I opted for the DS demo and got a nice look at the Challenge Mode where you’ve got to play through the Ages to win. The guy running the demo took me from the Stone Age where people are incapable of using possessive pronouns through Ancient China with its awesome pagodas into Industrial Revolution Europe where we had to figure out where to put the oh-so-cancerous coal mines for the sake of electricity. The graphics were typical SimCity dull, but the promise of a “Future Age” after completing Challenge Mode had me wondering if there’d be teleporters and rockets and stuff…

I would have stuck around to see, but Challenge Mode would easily take the rest of the afternoon to complete, so I got up to dash to for another game before the demo hall closed when the guy running the Wii version called, “Wait, what about me?”

I’m a bleeding heart, despite my foul mouth, so I turned to the guy and said, “You’ve got three minutes.”

He jumped right in: “Curvy roads. Godzillas. Natural disasters.”

That got my attention. I’m the jerk who kills my pregnant sims, after all. “Show me.”

The roads were curvy, all right. And the graphics were head and shoulder over any SimCity game I’ve ever seen, even on PC. And sure enough, there were Godzilla-type monsters and natural disasters you could inflict on your city with the flick of the Wii Remote of the press of a button.

“Awesome.”

And before I realized it, they were closing down the hall and having last call at the bar. So at the very least, these games all hold true with a basic Sims property: they’re like black holes for time.

Here’s what My Sims Kingdom looks like:

And this is SimCity Creator:

THE SIMS ANNOUNCES MYSIMS KINGDOM, THE NEXT EXPERIENCE IN THE POPULAR MYSIMS FRANCHISE, COMING IN FALL 2008

Create Your Story Of Adventure To Make The Kingdom Great

Guildford, UK — May 14, 2008 — The Sims™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Label, today announced first details for MySims™ Kingdom, the next experience from the creators of MySims™. Launching exclusively on the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ platforms, MySims Kingdom sets you on a story of adventure, discovery and exploration to help King Roland and his subjects revitalize the Kingdom. Launching globally in autumn 2008, MySims Kingdom for the Wii and Nintendo DS puts the creativity in your hands to make the Kingdom something to behold!

MySims Kingdom for the Wii
King Roland needs your help to make the Kingdom a better place. Throughout this tale to bring the Kingdom back to its former glory, you must help new and old friends alike, discover new lands and build to the limit of your imagination.

Your MySims Kingdom experience begins in The Capital, the majestic land at the center of your story-telling. Check out the Castle, explore this first land and begin to meet your first set of new friends, including King Roland, Princess Butter, and the Wizard Marlon. Find out more of what awaits you here and then get in your boat to sail to many more lands on the horizon!

Throughout your journey new characters, lands, and clever new contraptions will be revealed. Construct and do everything from tending your pigs to finding treasure chests. Newly-added building options will help you accomplish the tasks you're challenged with along the way, including building broken bridges. In true MySims fashion, everything is customizable, allowing every creation within your world to have a signature look.

There is a lot more to discover in regions beyond The Capital, so stay tuned for more characters, contraptions and lands that are yet to be revealed!

MySims Kingdom for Nintendo DS
Take the Kingdom with you! MySims Kingdom on Nintendo DS adds a new chapter to the saga, challenging you to help the King thwart the plans of evil in a far flung corner of the Kingdom. Many new activities and mini-games are included to help you persuade the King that your island is the ultimate royal destination.

"MySims has been met with such enthusiasm by players and families everywhere, we are excited to make MySims its own franchise within The Sims Label," said Rod Humble, Head of Studio for The Sims Label. "MySims Kingdom has players helping King Roland and his subjects make the MySims world a better place by completing rewarding quests, building houses, bridges or even making contraptions powered by electricity or water. And MySims Kingdom on Nintendo DS, adds many new activities such as kayaking, ski jumping, populating the town zoo and many others!"

Since its launch in September 2007, MySims quickly rose to global success and is loved by players everywhere, having sold 2.8 million copies worldwide to date. The second installment in the franchise, MySims Kingdom, will hit retail shelves across North America, Europe and Asia in Fall of 2008. For more information on MySims, please visit www.mysims.com.

Get ready to embark on your own story-telling journey of discovery and exploration in MySims Kingdom this fall.