The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles expansion adds torture chairs and attack birds

Pirates sure are popular these days, and for good reason - they know how to have a good time.Simsknow how to party in their own waytoo, soit was practically inevitable that the Sims series would jump on the pirate bandwagon eventually, and now it has with the first expansion for The Sims Medieval, Pirates & Nobles. So how much debauchery will this add-on allow?

As the title indicates, two factions have arrived to stake their claim in your fantasy kingdom, the pirates and the nobles. Both are a treacherous lot, and each group has their advantages. For starters, Sims of both groups get their own bird companions to do their bidding, naturally with parrots for the pirates and falcons for the nobles. Ostensibly these birds can be summoned by their respective owners to carry out various tasks, but we maining focused on using them to attack other Sims during our brief hands-off demo.

Above: Treasure huntingquests are also included in the expansion - but beware of subterreanean fauna

The other big addition in Pirates & Nobles is the torture--erm, "interrogation" chair.To use an interrogation chair, you can order any nearby Sim to sit down, then strap them in and choose your method of interrogation. You can tickle your victim with a feather to get him or her to spill the beans on a secret, but we preferred the invisible chinchilla attack method. Your goal is to lower the Sim's Will stat through your interrogation tactics without torturing your victim enough that he passes out. If your Sim happens to be a masochistic deviant and enjoysbeing tickled relentlessly, it's also possible that your efforts will backfire.

The Pirates & Nobles expansion of course comes with all-new quests that revolve around the conflict between the two groups, and we're eager to see what sort of cheeky shenanigans go down between such unscrupulous adversaries. Look for more coverage asweapproachits August 2011 release.

Jul 8, 2011