Maxis and Electronic Arts' long-running life simulation series has a firm place in the heart of many gamers, and the hype is already building for The Sims 5. Details are currently fairly scarce, but fans do know that Project Rene – the codename for the upcoming game – is aiming to be the "new future" for The Sims franchise. This is an ambitious claim for a series that already has four mainline entries under its belt and an impressive amount of expansion packs and spinoff titles, and players are eager to learn what The Sims 5 might entail. Despite its new focus, many are also hoping the game retains some of its previous features and memorable faces.
Although gamers are in charge of creating their own experience in the world of The Sims, with the ability to build a neighborhood however they like, construct a house from the ground up, and start their own family legacy with the characters they design, there are some aspects that help them along the way. Each town in The Sims has its own story, with a handful of pre-existing residents that have surprisingly deep backstories that cover anything from heated love triangles to potential murders and even alien abductions. One of the standout stories that features across multiple titles is that of Olive Specter and her family – a narrative that deserves a comeback in The Sims 5.
The Specter Family In The Sims
First introduced in The Sims 2, the Specter family is an intriguing bunch. From the outset, death surrounds the Specter family, with Olive and her niece Ophelia residing at the aptly named 13 Dead End Lane. Olive has a complicated past and was left at the altar by her first fiance Earl E. DeMise. He died shortly afterward and set a precedent for the widow's other paramours as well. It is rumored that her estranged son Nervous was the son of the Grim Reaper – a frequent visitor to Olive's house given the number of graves she has there.
Olive makes a return in The Sims 3, this time living with her toddler son Nervous in Midnight Hollow, and although the timeline is altered slightly from The Sims 2, the mysterious widow already has a few dead husbands in this neighborhood too. As with other Sims characters, puns can be found aplenty in the Specter family tree, including Olive's jilting lover Earl E. DeMise and her husbands Rigger Mortis and Hugh Thanasia. Whether Olive has a hand in their deaths or if she's just plagued with bad luck is unknown, but The Sims 5 could certainly have a lot of fun exploring this deadly widow's story further.
The Case For Sims 5 Reviving The Specter Family
Fans don't know yet what The Sims 5 will look like or what changes it's going to make to the franchise's formula. It's a safe bet that developer Maxis is aiming for more or less a fresh start if its comments about reimagining "The Sims you know and love with new ways to play" are anything to go by, but the studio has also assured players that the game will be "built on a foundation of charming Sims, powerful tools, and meaningful stories" like its predecessors. The next generation of The Sims seems like an ambitious step forward, but it looks like it's hoping to retain the basic building blocks of a Sims title as well.
This bodes well for gamers who want to see some features make a return in The Sims 5. Across each previous mainline entry, there have been some common threads that encompass similar expansions, ongoing plots, and returning characters to keep the games connected. Some infamous NPCs have been reimagined across multiple entries, and it's not hard to see The Sims 5 pulling a similar trick. The Specter family is a Sims staple, and their inclusion – perhaps with a new, Grim Reaper-themed twist – would be a cool way to incorporate The Sims 5 into the tradition of the previous games and serve as an intriguing Easter egg for fans at the same time.
The Sims 5 is in development.