The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure Review – Should You Buy It?

The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure on PC

The Sims 4 game packs have been (for the most part) a lovely distraction between releases of the real stars: Expansions. Some have been hits, some have been misses. One of the biggest misses, in my humble opinion was none other than the other vacation game pack, Outdoor Retreat. But is Jungle Adventure worth it? Yes. Sure. It’s no expansion pack, but it’s a good game pack. Okay, review’s over! Hope you enjoyed my words. What’s that? You want an explanation? Ugh, fine. You’re so needy.

Jungle Adventure is another vacation pack that introduces the destination of Selvadorada. It’s a mix of South America and Central America, with more influence coming quite obviously from Mexico. You’ll be able to pick up your sim’s phone and head on over to the new jungle-filled world for how ever many days you want to. You’ll choose your lodging and you’ll be on your merry way. To death.

Selvadorada is scary. Sure, the public lots are safe for you to indulge in the culture with some new food, music, and locals… but once you head out into the jungle, you’re boned, man. There’s even a lot trait to make your lodging have spiders comin’ out the wazoo.

The new mechanic was obviously the jungle gameplay. It was hyped up a lot and I’m worried it will disappoint simmers once they get down to it. While it is cool, I found it really easy to get through the new Jungle and Temples. I will say, though, that my sims got really banged up doin’ it. It’s hard to survive out there. Bugs will come out of nowhere and if they don’t burn you alive, they’ll poison you. My sim family was so much in the red that I had to retreat and come back with just one to ensure I was able to explore more.

I really enjoyed the “Choose Your Own Adventure” aspects (I always do with the series) that come from the exploration when first venturing through a new area. Depending on your skills, you’ll have more options to choose from and different outcomes will occur depending on that.

The entire archaeology skill is great, too. If you have some art history or archaeology nerd sims, they’ll be in heaven. The new statues and such that will come from it (an especially all the jungle treasure) are lovely decorations for any home. Speaking of stuff, all of the build and buy options are great, as always. Same goes for the CAS options. This must be obvious though, right? More stuff is always a plus and adds more value to these game packs.

Oh, and that skeleton butler, though?

The Sims 4 has had its fair share of criticism, though, and I will stop talking about it once it’s actually addressed. While at this point it’s become as though I’m beating a dead horse, I can’t get over that these vacation packs are lacking when compared to The Sims 2 or 3. You can’t buy a vacation home, you’re not going on some grand adventure to increase your visa, and there won’t be many lots to explore outside of the jungle area. Jungle Adventure is so far above Outdoor Retreat, yes, but as a longtime player of the series I’m still disappointed that these bare-bones game packs are being sold instead of putting more effort there. Especially with how long we have to wait for expansion packs.

But, still, Jungle Adventure for The Sims 4 is a breath of fresh air after Outdoor Retreat after all. I cannot recommend Outdoor Retreat less and have actually steered away people that have asked whether it’s worth it. (Unless you really want a haircut, you know?) And as a Latina, seeing my sim salsa dance and kiss on the cheek to say hello in this beautiful world has been the absolute best.

Score: 4/5 – Great

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