The night is young, and The Sims 4‘s werewolves look to be as fleshed out as vampires.
After much speculation, the new occult was officially announced as the theme of the next Game Pack last week, alongside a trailer that teased some of the gameplay tied to this interpretation of the creatures.
Now, EA and Maxis have unveiled further gameplay details for The Sims 4 Werewolves including information on transformations, abilities, and temperaments.
The first thing to note is, there are two types of werewolf transformations. A ‘controlled’ transformation – gained as an ability – allows a werewolf Sim to transform back and forth at will. But there’s also a Fury meter, and when that is filled to the top, the Sim will have an uncontrolled transformation and go into a rampage.
While in a rampage, Sims cannot change back to their human forms immediately and have the tendency to carry out destructive and animalistic actions. They also lose the ability to perform many everyday interactions, like sitting in a chair.
There are several different things that can contribute to the Fury meter building, from temperaments and preferences to, unsurprisingly, the full moon itself. Temperaments add some personality to werewolves, helping to make them feel a little more unique. A werewolf Sim who has the ‘Wracked with Guilt’ temperament may feel remorse for their actions and generates additional Fury when sad, while a ‘Frisky’ one feels the beast within them awakening when in a flirty mood.
For us, probably the thing we’re most looking forward to trying for ourselves is the abilities tree, which unlocks additional gameplay for werewolves as well as further contributes to making werewolf Sims more distinct from each other. The abilities tree is very similar to the one seen for vampires, with 25 abilities split into five tiers that players can spend points on.
The ones in the bottom tier are cheaper and generally help the Sim to meet their needs in werewolf form – whether it’s the ability to groom themself, sleep anywhere (rather than being limited to the bed), scare other Sims for fun, hunt for food in the wild, or ‘mark territory’.
As you move up the tiers, you can unlock some more powerful abilities, like being able to turn another Sim into a werewolf through a cursed bite, or being able to dig tunnels to reach a destination quicker.
There is also a second smaller category of abilities, titled ‘Dormant Abilities’. Each of these requires the completion of a specific activity to be unlocked. As an example, the ability to perform a controlled transformation can only be earned once a Sim has gone through an uncontrolled transformation without scaring anyone.
All of this adds to a potentially satisfying experience as your Sim comes to terms with being a creature of the night. We’re intrigued to see how it complements the rest of the pack – such as Create-a-Sim (CAS) mode and the world of Moonwood Mill – as well as the wider game.
Werewolves are something that many fans, including us, have wanted for quite a while. Let’s hope the pack is worth the wait.