The Sims 3: Ambitions

An ambitious person knows that you don't achieve great things overnight. It takes much hard work and the completion of numerous small goals to make big things happen. Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that.

The Sims 3: Ambitions literally takes baby steps toward the overarching objective of embellishing the core Sims experience with meaningful gameplay - something the previous standalone expansion The Sims 3: World Adventures tried and failed to do.

While it can't be described as exciting or a major step forward, this second expansion does offer enough improvements to render it a decent pick up.

New careers, new mini-games, an overhauled house customisation interface, and babies - the game's features hit list is substantial.

Confined within the city limits, you're given no choice but to concentrate on building a career. Whether you opt for firefighting, embark on a career as an artist, or hit the pitch as an athlete, most of your time is spent primping your Sim for the top of his or her chosen profession.

New mini-games tied to each career provide substance where it was lacking in previous games, as well as bringing life to the hum-drum work day. These mini-games aren't ideal, though: not enough thought went into their creation.

As an aspiring athlete working as an entry-level jogger, it doesn't make sense that my Sim would be asked to complete a football-themed mini-game.

A mini-game involving sprinting or marathon trainer would make better sense. It's less an issue when climbing the ladder as a firefighter or making a name for yourself as an artist.

When it comes to personal living, Ambitions finally introduces one of the most significant additions made by the main PC series: babies. Adopting a little one brings dimension to the personal side of the game, providing more to do than chatting up friendly Sims and watching TV at home. It helps that they're damn adorable, too.

Other changes have been made to streamline mundane daily tasks. Cooking no longer requires purchasing individual ingredients - just buy a recipe and money is subtracted from your account for the necessary components when you whip it up at home.

Furniture can be bought and rearranged more easily thanks to an improved customisation system that allows effortless manipulation from a top-down perspective. Adjusting the layout of your home is also easier as a result.

These changes are only baby steps; incremental improvements that advance the game, yet don't fundamentally shift its focus. In other words, Ambitions feels like a recapitulation of The Sims 3 with features that should have been included in that game appearing here. Much of your time is spent doing the same things as in The Sims 3.

If you've never played the original, Ambitions will seem fresh and exciting. Having thoroughly mastered every goal in The Sims 3 you're sure to love the babies, but the baby steps made in terms of new features and content won't impress you quite as much.