Reviews: The Sims 4: Get to Work Review

Introduction

I recently got my hands on a review copy of The Sims 4: Get to Work and I figured I'd play for a few days and then publish a nice and thorough review. Boy, was I wrong! And that's a good thing by the way. I did my very best to write a short and informative review. I will post more in-depth pages on several subjects later though. But to give you a quick impression of the game, here is a short review. Enjoy!

Magnolia Promenade

The new expansion pack The Sims 4: Get to Work comes with a whole new town. It's a beautiful town. The only downside is that it has just 4 lots. I really think this is not enough. Luckily you can have shops in all the other towns as well, not just in Magnolia Promenade. I wonder what made the team choose to have just 4 lots. With the variety of shops we can create with Get to Work, this doesn't make any sense to me. But it is what it is. It's a very pretty town though. Just take a look at the pictures below:

Magnolia Promenade comes with four lots. Three of the lots are already pre-built with a number of shops. And there is one empty lot where you can build your own shop. You don't have to build shops in Magnolia Promenade by the way. If you want, you can also live in this town.

A nice view of Magnolia Promenade.

Inside one of the pre-built stores. You can buy clothing and furniture/items here.

The outside of one of the pre-built stores.

Another one of the pre-built stores. This is a clothing boutique.

And the third pre-built lot is a shop where your Sims can buy toys.

Scientist

There are three new careers in The Sims 4: Get to Work. One of them is the Science career. As with every career there are 10 levels. The big difference between the base game careers and the careers in this pack is that you can actually join your Sims as they get to work. You don't have to go along with them, but it's so much fun I recommend you try it at least once.

In the Science career your Sim goes to this Science Lab in the desert:

There is nothing else except the Science Lab. But it's pretty big and you can find a lot of collectables in the area.

The Science Lab.

Here's my sim Rosie inside the Science Lab. The decor is awesome. It's great for storytelling.

This is the Invention Constructor. Sims can use this robot to invent new devices such as the Sim Ray and the ElectroFlux Wormhole Generator.

The animations of the robot are very, very cool.

Also, the robot is extremely cute at times. You can talk to the robot.

A sim brainstorming using the Invention Constructor.

This is a Chemistry Lab. Just for fun I wanted to show that Sims can change into their normal everyday clothing at work. But they will go to work dressed in work clothes by default.

Here's my Sim experimenting on the Chemistry Lab. She's making a serum here.

Rosie is using the previously mentioned Sim Ray on one of her colleagues, using one of the upgrades (Mind Control: Change Outfit).

For a moment I thought it didn't work...

But then he changed into his swimwear!

She used the same Mind Control on another colleague.

Needless to say Sims can have a lot of fun with the Sim Ray.

Above you can see the ElectroFlux Wormhole Generator being upgraded on the Invention Constructor. By upgrading it, you will be able to travel to Sixam, the new alien world.

If you play throughout the Science Career, you will unlock a variety of items to buy (although you'll get some of them for free after a promotion). This is a Custom Room which my Sim unlocked in the Science career. It's filled with various Science objects, and perfect for the Mad Scientist at home.

Detective

The second career you can play in The Sims 4: Get to Work is the Detective Career. This career also has 10 levels and in this career you will also unlock a lot of awesome items as you progress.

This is the police station. It's located in a separate town, with the hospital in it as well (and a looooooot of decorative houses and buildings). I like that the police station and the hospital are in the same town.

Rosie is off to work as a police officer.

This is where it all happens. Well not everything of course. But the huge bulletin board is used for a lot of things; You can use this bulletin board to Travel to the Crime Scene, Issue an APB, Add new Clues, Go on Patrol (and there is more). The computers also have a lot of Detective specific interactions. Getting a new Case Assignment is done by using the computer. But Detective Sims can also Browse Police Database and File Paperwork, among other things. You can also use the computer to Issue an APB and to Go on Patrol. Some things can be done through a number of objects, including the computer, bulletin board, and the front desk for example.

Here's the front desk. You can choose to Staff the front desk yourself. But seeing as you have a bunch of tasks to complete on each and every work day, it's up to you to decide if you want to do this or not.

This room has three desks with computers on them where you can complete certain tasks. If they're taken by another Sim, just click on what you want to do and what until they leave.

The Chief's office is next. Occasionally you need to talk to the chief. He's usually very blunt and not all that positive. But talking to him might increase your daily progress bar.

At a Crime Scene your Sims has to Dust for Fingerprints, Take Photographs for evidence and Talk to Witnesses.

Back at the police station you have to Analyse the samples you collected at the Crime Scene.

The Police Station comes with a couple of cells. Sims inside the cells often shake the prison bars and scream for attention. You can tell them to calm down, or don't do anything at all. Prisoners will socialise with each other and sometimes with police officers too. 

This is where your Sim can collect Fingerprints, Take Mugshots, and Search the Suspects.

Fingerprints.

This is the bulletin board where your Sim will collect and add clues while solving a crime.

Time to arrest a suspect! You have to make sure to arrest the right suspect though. Hints on who the perp is can be seen in your Notebook, which can be found on your Sims's cell phones.

Searching the suspect back at the police station. You'll often find some interesting things.

Here's a Crime Scene, with funny graffiti prints on the floor.

Sometimes you'll go out on Patrol and you'll find Sims picking a fight. You can try to be the nice cop, but in my experience all the Sims in the area were grumpy, and my Sim ended up being very angry.

So when she found two Sims fighting, she issued citations for both of them. They were none too pleased.

And on a funny note, if your Sim has access to a Sim Ray, which you can get in the Science career, you can do fun things while on Patrol as well. This Jane Sim was really insulting my Sim Rosie, so I decided to play with the Sim Ray...

And we left Jane in this frozen state haha! 

Doctor

The third career in The Sims 4: Get to Work is the Doctor career. Now unlike The Sims 3: Ambitions, you can now actually go inside the hospital and do all sorts of fun (and some not so fun) activities.

The hospital.

At the front desk. You can socialise with your co-workers if you like.

But there are patients waiting to be examined. When you start out the options are limited. As you progress (and get promoted) you'll get more interactions. A few of them include Check Ears, Check Eyes, Body Scan, Discuss General Health and a bunch more. This helps to diagnose the patient. While patients are waiting you also have the option to give them food. I think this makes sure the patient can wait a bit longer before they get upset for having to wait so long.

And sometimes, Sims just look so creepy. I tweeted this earlier with the caption "Here at Willow Creek Hospital we smile all the time!"

Besides examining patients you also get to do research and log information on the computer.

But the beds need to be made as well.

And that's your job too!

Collecting a Swab from a patient can be tricky. It usually took my Sim at least two attempts before she got one. Sometimes she just dropped it.

We all have those days...

Analysing the sample from another patient. Most of the time you need to do several tests and examinations before you can decide what kind of illness you're dealing with.

And when analysing a sample isn't enough, your Sim might be disappointed.

This is the X-Ray scanner, one of the many ways your Sims can get tested.

One of the funniest things in The Sims 4: Get to Work is the Surgery Table. This isn't only used for surgery when a Sim is ill. It's also used for delivering babies! Just look at that mother's happy face! Oh and don't be surprised if your Sim takes out the wrong organs every now and then haha.

In The Sims 4: Get to Work you can work as a doctor and help deliver babies. But as a pregnant Sim, you can also visit the hospital to give birth, and join them too. When you do this, you will also get a birth certificate!

There is a lot more to see in every career, but I could only play with it for a short time to write this review! There's a lot for you to discover and do. It's a lot of fun and trying to complete the daily tasks bar is really addictive. When you want to stay late at work to finish a couple of tasks you can! You'll get paid more as well. You can also leave early, but this will result in losing job performance.

With this expansion pack you don't just get a new career, you also get illnesses. Meaning your Sims can get sick now. You can buy medicine online by using the computer to cure most illnesses though.

Photography Skill

One of the new skills in The Sims 4: Get to Work is the Photography skill. Most skills have 10 levels. But not the Photography skill. This skill has just 5 levels. There are three new cameras in the game. The most expensive one being the one that has the most features/best quality.

This is the photo studio. You can customise the backdrop among other things.

Your Sim can take pictures of individual Sims, or a group photo (though only 2 Sims at the same time, so that's hardly a group). You can take a " group" photo of adults, and a "group" photo of children. I tested this in my household with two adults, a teen and a child. For whatever reason the teen couldn't go on a group pic. I'm not sure if this is a bug or just deliberate. You also can't photograph an adult and a child together. Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph an entire family at once either. I really think this object would have been better with some more options.

You can sell your photos directly, from your Inventory, or if you like, you can open up a Gallery where you put up the photographs for sale!

Photographs can be edited by adding a filter. You can change this afterwards. You can put the Photograph on the wall, but you can also add a frame for a finishing touch.

Baking Skill

The second new skill in The Sims 4: Get to Work is the Baking skill. We already had the Cooking and Gourmet Cooking skills, and those come in very handy when you want to run a bakery/deli! The baking skill offers a variety of new dishes to eat and sell, such as bread, cookies, pastries, special cakes and then some! When your Sim gets better at baking, he or she can also decorate baked goodies with frosting and such!

Here are a few examples of items my Sim has baked. Mind you, some of the dishes on this picture were created using the Cupcake Factory!

There are a lot of new things for your Sim to bake. Many of these things require certain ingredients.

Retail

One huge aspect of The Sims 4: Get to Work is retail! Your Sims can sell pretty much anything you can buy in the Build/Buy catalog, as well as craftables/collectibles.

You can't live on the same lot where you work. Or rather, you can't actually have a shop on a residential lot. However, you can add a recreational area on your retail lot where your Sims and employees can freshen up, including sleeping and bathing.

You can choose to run the shop on your own, or with family members (teens and up), or you can choose to hire employees who help you run your shop alongside you. Depending on their skills they'll take some of the work load away from you. Beware for lazy employees though. Some employees just don't try at all! Depending on their skills, employees make a certain amount of Simoleons per hour. You can also change the employees's uniforms. Tasks include Ringing up Customers, Answer Customer Questions and Cleaning the store. There are more activities, but these should give you an idea of what employees can do for you!

Customers need to be pushed into buying stuff. So when they're looking at the products in the store, you'll be best off talking to them, answering their questions, asking about their budget and all that. If you don't look after your customers, they will leave (and they won't want to come back either).

Prices in your stores are up to you. You can set them to be cheap, expensive, and a couple of things in between. Cheap will mean you won't have to look after your customers too much. They might be convinced to buy something without you interfering. It also means you won't make as much money. Making an item expensive will take more of your Sims to convince the customers to buy it, and they certainly won't buy anything without persuasion. But if you do succeed, you'll make more money. It can really give you an extra challenge while playing.

Buying a store or retail lot is pretty easy (but you'll need money to do so, of course). Just use the phone or computer to buy a retail lot. You can transfer household money to the company and back.

You can have as many stores as you want! You can't be at all the stores at once of course...

Attracting customers can be done in a number of ways. There is of course advertising which will lure customers to your shop. But you can also use decorational items like (neon) signs. This will draw attention and therefore attract more customers. A wide variety of items in your shop also gives Sims a reason to visit more often. A nice looking store will get better results in the end.

Another fun addition is Perks. Old school Sims players might know them from The Sims 2: Open for Business. Perks are little extras and bonus features you can unlock by running a store. As you run your store, helping customers and selling items, you get Perk Points. These Perk Points will allow you to buy Perks and grow your store even more.

Bakery

I think The Sims team is pretty aware of what the Sims fans want! The Sims 2: Open for Business was one of the most popular Sims games ever, and I can see why. It added a whole new dimension in gameplay to the game. During The Sims 3 era, fans kept asking for a bakery, and we ended up getting a store venue/set which allowed us to have a Bakery. And now in The Sims 4 it's actually in the first expansion pack! You can cook/bake and prepare food at home if you want, and then bring it with you to the bakery. But you can also serve the food at the bakery itself. I had my Sims also use the Cupcake Factory to make a bunch of cupcakes which were very popular at the bakery!

Using the refrigerator displays will help your Sims to keep the food on display fresh for a lot longer than when it's on a regular display. But having food for sale in the first place will also increase the time before it starts to spoil. Not in this picture are actual new refrigerators where your Sims can store perishable items. Customers can buy items from within these fridges.

This is the first bakery I built in The Sims 4: Get to Work and I'm loving the new build items!

Gallery

Fancy painting? My Sim Mollie does. In The Sims 4: Get to Work you can sell paintings created at home or in the gallery. My Sim Mollie created a lot of her paintings at home, and then some at the gallery itself while the customers were shopping.

Mollie at work in her humble gallery with one of her daughters, who is at the cash register.

Mollie painting in her gallery.

Here you can see the gallery in action. Mollie is greeting new customers while her daughter is helping customers, answering their questions and persuading them to buy!

When a painting (or any other item) is sold, it's replaced by a small sign. When you click it you can replace the item (at a certain cost of course) which your Sim will then restock.

While I showed a gallery of paintings here, you can also sell photographs much like this.

Bookstore

If you download a book store from the Sims 4 gallery, or if you build one yourself, your Sims can go to the bookstore and buy all sorts of books! Your Sims can also sell their own written novels in their own stores. Since the new update you can easily copy craftables (like paintings, photos and books), meaning you can continue selling it. 

A row of bookcases showcasing skill books.

Another picture of the book store I created. I love this so much!

Other Ideas

Here are just a few ideas I decided to highlight to give your some inspiration on what kind of stores you could build/start in your own game: 

You can sell all collectibles as well. Including (but not limited to) crystals, metals, MySims characters, frogs and a lot more.

Fan of gnomes? Why not sell them

Although there isn't a flower workshop or a flower making skill, you can still have a plants/flower shop if you want!

Apple store anyone?

Clothing Store

The Sims 4: Get to Work comes with 8 mannequins to use in clothing stores. One set of mannequins is realistic whereas the other set is abstract. Both sets have adult male, adult female, child male and child female.

There are a couple of new interactions that come with the mannequins.

My Sim trying on the same outfit as the mannequin. You can also buy the outfit, and you can dance with mannequins, which looks really funny. Of course you can change the clothing the mannequin is showcasing.

Aliens

If your Sim is in the Science career and managed to build an ElectroFlux Wormhole Generator, you will be able to contact aliens, and you will also be able to travel to Sixam, the new alien world. As an alien, the Wormhole Generator will give the option to go home instead, seeing as Sixam is the home of the aliens.

Sixam is beautiful. I've also mentioned this in my hands-on preview last month, but it really reminds me of Darkspore and The Sims 3: Lunar Lakes.

On Sixam you can meet aliens, and you can also find alien plants/flowers and collectables you won't find at home.

Here's one of the aliens on Sixam.

Aliens have the ability to hide in a human Sim shape if they so choose. In their alien form they don't have hair and they have limited outfit options. Though at the time I'm writing this review there is a trick to get your aliens to wear normal clothing anyway; Just get the aliens to buy clothing the mannequins in clothing stores are wearing.

You can travel to Sixam with several Sims at the same time if you like.

Fun fact about aliens: you can create aliens right away in Create a Sim. So you don't have to go to Sixam to encounter aliens. But it's definitely worth a visit.

When you're on Sixam, you can't use your cellphone (no reception). But when you met aliens at Sixam and you're back home, you can definitely call them to keep in touch!

Conclusion

Overall, I love this pack. And I'd almost go as far as to say it's better than The Sims 2: Open for Business. However, there are a few points I'd like to see addressed by The Sims team. One major point is the fact that we can't lock doors in our houses and even worse, we can't lock them in our shops. In my opinion this is crucial to keep customers away from private areas. When I build a shop with a recreational area for the employees, I don't want the customers to go there as well to chill and watch TV. Second point I found rather annoying is the fact that in my bakery, the customers would go behind the counter to look at items, and not just in front of it. I love that Sims in The Sims 4 aren't complaining about not being able to go places. But right now it feels as if they are able to go everywhere, and in stores that doesn't make any sense.

I would have liked some of the skills/activities from The Sims 2: Open for Business and The Sims 3: Ambitions. We don't have salons, architects, flower workshop, toy workshop, or robot workshop. Those are things I've played with a lot. Then again, we did get a whole new Baking and Photography skill, making the stores/galleries a lot more exciting. And seeing as we can still buy toys and plants/flowers in the catalog, Sims can still have those kind of stores. 

The pack offers a lot of new gameplay. I thought I needed a couple of days to get a decent impression of the game so I could write this review. But I needed a couple of weeks instead. That's a good thing. It means you won't get bored easily. You should know that I personally think this review is way too short. But there is just too much to do and see!