MySims Agents is the fifth instalment of The Sims spinoff series MySims. It was released in 2009 for the Wii and Nintendo DS.
The game's story tells how a secret agent (the player) successfully saves the world from an evil corporation, with the Framing Device being an in-setting comic book adaptation written by Buddy, who was said agent's partner.
Unlike previous instalments that have a focus on crafting and forming relationships, gameplay is primarily a series of missions focused on solving cases by investigating and finding clues that lead to various suspects. The game also introduces puzzles that need special gadgets in order to solve each case, and dispatch missions where the player can send other recruited agents to solve smaller cases and earn rewards.
This spinoff includes examples of:
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Completing dispatch missions and main missions rewards you with costumes that you can wear.
- Alternate Universe: If the player sends Rosalyn to solve a dispatch mission called "Time For Toast", it’s implied that MySims Agents takes place in a different universe from the rest of the series, as Rosalyn says that she saw a different dimension in which she was the mayor of town.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Chaz has feelings for Summer in this game.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: At one point in Agents, you play as T.O.B.O.R. He controls just like the main character, with the addition of a rocket boost (this allows him to jump at twice the normal height).
- Artifact of Doom: The Crown of Nightmares.
- Big Bad: Morcubus is the boss of MorcuCorp, the evil corporation that's mentioned throughout the game, and his various attempts to find the Crown of Nightmares push the player to take on each mission.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: One case revolves around a missing person called Preston that many witnesses claim got kidnapped by an actual yeti, and later property damage that the yeti is also accused of. However, Preston wasn’t kidnapped at all, and he’s also responsible for the property damage; he faked both incidents in order to make the ski lodge go out of business so he can acquire the ski lodge after it closes down. The investigation, however, does uncover a REAL Yeti named Paul, who used to be a human scientist that worked for MorcuCorp until the Nightmare Crown transformed him and he was fired.
- Bittersweet Ending: The main story ends with Morcubus' plan to open a Nightmare Realm Portal being foiled, trapping him in said realm and saving the world; however, this is only due to Evelyn’s heroic sacrifice, pushing herself and Morcubus into the portal. Fortunately, you can actually rescue Evelyn from the Nightmare Realm if you complete all the dispatch missions in the postgame, but doing so also lets Morcubus escape from the realm, and he's able to evade the agency's tracks while vowing to make more trouble again in the future.
- The Butler Did It: The mystery at Madame Zoe's manor has about five plausible suspects, but none more conspicuous than the undead butler, Zombie Carl. It doesn't take long for the player to find substantial evidence that yes, the butler was the culprit, but only because of Zoe using mind-controlling magic to force him to do it.
- The Cameo: Faith Connors from Mirror's Edge shows up twice in Agents, first as a portrait in Cyrus Boudreaux's mansion, then as a collectable trophy. Issac Clarke's armor also appears as an unlockable outfit.
- Collection Sidequest: Each location visited contains hidden treasure chests that holds outfits to wear, furniture, and paint to decorate your HQ.
- Cool Plane: Your HQ has a private plane that's used to travel to distant locations.
- Corrupt Politician: Mayor Skip, who’s responsible for ransacking Evelyn’s house, and for creating a fake "Flower Requisitions Board" in order to hide his involvement with Morcu Corp.
- Crate Expectations: Your character will need to pry open locked crates scattered throughout the levels to find clues, as well as for costumes, paint, and furniture.
- Delinquents: Derek is this.
- Detectives Follow Footprints: A reoccurring mechanic throughout the game is the player character needing to use a magnifying glass to search for footprints that lead to clues required to solve each case.
- Developer's Foresight: Every recruit has at least one unique message for every dispatch mission, even ones that don't have the traits required to solve them. For example, if you send the Nature and Charm-focused Renee on the Paranormal and Smarts-focused “Episode X” mission, she’ll say that her pig Percy loves Starcruiser X.
- Dumpster Dive: Like the hidden chests and crates, there are some dumpsters that have to be dived into for clues and cosmetic items.
- Expy: The versions of Vic Vector and Rosalyn Marshall in Agents are pretty clearly parodying Mulder and Scully of The X-Files.
- Evil, Inc..: MorcuCorp is always involved in nasty business, such as ransacking Evelyn’s house, shutting down a ski lodge and club, searching for the Crown of Nightmares, and kidnapping Poppy's dog.
- Fluorescent Footprints: MySims Agents uses these to highlight tracks found with the magnifying glass, allowing players to track down characters and animals that have gone missing during a case. The first example has you following a dog around, but later on the player will find themselves hunting yetis through the mountains and a criminal through a dark manor.
- Fun with Acronyms: The Sim Protection Agency, or SPA.
- Government Agency of Fiction: The Sim Protection Agency, the agency that you work for.
- Hacking Mini Game: One of the reoccurring puzzle mechanics is one, in which the player needs to keep a dot in a maze while the screen scrolls horizontally until it reaches the finish point, hitting information points along the way. Moving the dot too slowly or moving outside the maze will decrease a timer, and the minigame is failed when the time runs out, but thankfully the player can just try again.
- How We Got Here: The story starts with an older Buddy, the creator behind a bestselling comic book, telling a story about his adventures with the player character as secret agents who save the world, which is what inspired him to write his bestselling comic book.
- Indestructible Edible: During the early cases that involve Gino’s restaurant being set on fire, the player character notices that his cooked pizzas are still intact and not even slightly burnt upon examining them.
- Instant Fan Club: DJ Candy has one with Sapphire and Zack, like in MySims Kingdom. Chaz has one as well with Tim.
- An Interior Designer Is You: You can add all sorts of items and furniture that you collect throughout the game to your headquarters. You can also have the Sims you recruit hang out there at your discretion.
- Kick the Dog: Morcubus, our main villain, is introduced trying to steal a little girl's puppy and claim it as his own. Your first case is proving the dog doesn't belong to him.
- Kissing Cousins: At one point, Makoto says that she needs a date for the prom, or else she'll have to go with her cousin, T.O.B.O.R! (Keep in mind that they're robots.)
- Leap of Faith: One of the obstacles in the final level is a massive pit at the end of a path. The only way past is to jump right off it without any way to know you'll land okay. Thankfully, a gust of wind carries you to a platform on the opposite side of the massive temple.
- Love Triangle: Chaz, Summer and Luke.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: King Mike, the crazy explorer you find at the jungle temple, is later revealed to be Evelyn’s father.
- MacGuffin: The Crown of Nightmares. The crown can allow the user to make their nightmare into reality. Fortunately, it’s hidden somewhere in the world. Unfortunately, the evil Morcubus is looking for it, so it’s up to the player and their fellow agents to stop him by searching for the crown themselves.
- Macguffin Delivery Service: This is how Morcubus gets his hands on the Nightmare Crown at the very end. This being a MySims game, no actual force is required, just a few "hand it over" motions.
- The Men in Black: Rosalyn and Vic Vector are black-clad government agents concerned not with mysteries and corporate intrigue like you, but with explicitly paranormal threats like a supposed yeti attack.
- Mr Fix It: The player character can fix any machine that is broken, as long as they have spare parts obtained by scavenging them from working machines and electronics.
- Old, Dark House: The Boudreaux Mansion is a bleak, colorless mansion in the middle of a dark bog in a level that is eternally set at night. It harkens back to the setting of many classic murder mysteries, which is fitting considering the level is a whodunnit.
- Player Headquarters: You get a headquarters in name, as well as function. Here's where a good part of the plot happens, and you go everywhere from here. Also, this is where your recruits hang out when you haven't sent them on missions.
- Permanently Missable Content: The locations that require your Cool Plane to access, such as the snowy mountain and Jungle temple, cannot be revisited upon finishing the mission and returning to the HQ. Be sure to explore them thoroughly to find any hidden treasure chests that may contain costumes, paint, and furniture before solving the case!
- Posthumous Character: Cyrus Boudreaux, former owner of the Boudreaux Mansion.
- Power Trio: You, Buddy, and Evelyn.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Sim Protection Agency becomes one as more cases are solved and new members join. Fanfic writer as the receptionist? Check. A comic writer working as your partner? Check. A caveman as an agent? Check. A zombie as an agent? Check.
- Rewarding Vandalism: Want to solve a case? Then you'll need to pry open crates, unlock any safe, and hack into any computer you find while their owners are still in the same room with you, in order to find the clues.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Wolfah, the pet wolf of Paul Wisniewski the Yeti, is a helpful ally in solving both a main case and various dispatch missions.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Preston, the "missing person" in the snowy mountain case, dresses up as a yeti to frame a real yeti for damaging ski lodge properties. Hilariously, when he’s forced to wear the badly-designed yeti costume you uncover to prove that he's the real culprit, he gets stuck in it and cannot take it off due the zipper being broken.
- Shout-Out: Par for the course in the MySims series, there's plenty of them.
- In the main street area, there’s a suspicious unmarked van located on the far left of the map. Your character comments that their detective-sense is tingling....
- When meeting Dr. F, he will say "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this," then will give you the magnifying glass upgrade.note
- At the end of the same paragraph he says "For Science!!"
- Examining a certain pipe in the Industrial District Sewers gives us this gem: "I hope nothing comes spilling out of this sewer pipe. I wonder if there are any turtles living in there?"
- Vic Vector is a government agent obsessed with finding evidence of the paranormal in even the most apparently straightforward of cases, and Rosalyn Marshall is his by the book partner who tries to reign him in while remaining staunchly sceptical even in the face of some pretty compelling evidence. There's even spooky theremin music playing in the background during their first case with the player. Sound familiar?
- Sending Lindsay out on the last dispatch mission causes her to say "Why did it have to be snakes?".
- In the Candypaluna Dispatch mission, DJ Candy mentions that they found a mysterious black monolith under the surface.
- If you send Marlon on the High School Yearbook mission in Agents he will comment that young wizards have to go to a different school via train and that things are always trying to kill them. I wonder why that sounds so familiar...
- Side Quest: Completing the dispatch missions usually just unlocks outfits, paints, and furniture. However, completing all dispatch missions after you finished the final main mission will give you the option to rescue Evelyn from nightmare realm.
- Speaking Simlish: As is traditional for the Sims series of games, every character makes gibberish-sounding grunts as they speak.
- Temple of Doom: The final level is an Indiana Jones-esque jungle temple filled with booby traps and caricatured Central American architecture.
- Tightrope Walking: At various points, you need to balance your player character while crossing a very thin surface, such as cable or tree branch, to avoid falling from it.
- We Need to Get Proof: In every case, the player needs to collect proof or clues to find the real suspect.
