Well, Ambitions makes your sims more interesting, but it's also makes controlling them painfully convoluted.
If you're reading this you probably have a history with the series and it's plethora of expansions, then you pretty much know how much content to expect from Ambitions. Don't get me wrong, as far as Sims expansions go this is a pretty good one, it's actually heavier on content than the majority of them, and it's fun, for a while. As you probably know, this expansion is focused on your sims' careers, finally giving you control over your sims in the workplace. Since most people define themselves by what they do to make a living, and how they contribute to society, the ability to control this aspect of your sims' lives adds some much needed character to your little computer people.
However, this comes at a great cost as you will eventually reach a point where you no longer care about the work your sims are doing and it becomes as monotonous as their early morning routine. Each profession is played out very differently and many of them manage to add the sense of adventure and excitement that until now your sims could only experience when on their World Adventures, but the goofy sims humor that the series is known for eventually kills this by making all of these seemingly important jobs into jokes to the point where you realize your characters entire lives have turned into a comedic story with no weight whatsoever. This might not bother you, especially if you are younger, but it's hard to take myself seriously as a private detective when I spend most of my time digging through trash cans finding "dirt" on people to satisfy the trivial jealousies of the boring, lifeless (and ugly) sims. Or even less excitingly; finding dates for the towns many desperate (and again ugly) lady-sims, being double-crossed by (increasingly growing ugly) child-sims, or finding evidence that wedding rings have been bought by (need I say it?) future husband-sims. Honestly, what kind of PI is outsmarted by children? An *******, that' who.
As you've probably guessed; these characters are all cheapened out of the initially apparent depth provided by Ambitions because you'll be doing the same exact missions with different sims who spew the same lines at you. More on this realism thing later, it may not seem important in such a goofy game but this a life simulator and it is increasingly becoming a more and more complex one with each expansion.
Believe it or not, The Sims has changed greatly since it's roots. All of the basic gameplay has not changed, it has just been added to so much that it now feels more like a pretty deep RPG. This can easily be overwhelming if you're trying to manage an entire families' professions, adventures, and goals and aspirations, and, unlike The Sims 2, completely unplayable if you plan on managing numerous families throughout the town. The Sims is constantly focusing itself on a smaller scale and the most fun you'll have in this game is getting attached to a single sim as he or she continues on a path to greatness. Many of the professions demand a certain level of attention and I quickly got bored of managing a simbot firefighter, a private investigator, and his stylist wife at the same time. Switching quickly several times between a robot fighting fires and saving people, and a lady standing around in a salon waiting for customers is jarring at the least, and increasingly tedious.
Besides the professions there are a few other additions, like the simbots, new personality traits, and the two new skills; sculpting and inventing. Although I have yet to try sculpting I imagine it is similar to painting and photography but based on sculpting sim statues and objects instead of merely taking screenshots. You can sculpt these usable objects and statues out of various materials that you gain access to as you become more skilled, and, like all of the skills, you can now choose to do this as a career with ranks and various perks along with it. Inventing is actually very deep and provides you with some of the most interesting and unique objects in the game such as the miner which allows you to harvest gems and other materials in you're own backyard. The most illusive and fabled of these inventions is the Simbot, an entirely playable sim that's somewhat unique but really just makes me wish we had access to the goofier sims from The Sims 2 like the aliens, vampires, witches etc. Simbots can also be attained through a lifetime perk so any of your sims can get one eventually.
But what's my problem with this game,? It's always growing in terms of features and it's almost gotten to the point where you can make any character you can imagine, but your experiences quickly become shallow and so the game attempts to hide this with its quirkiness. If every sim talked to you in a straight forward way you'd notice it's recycled-ness all the more. Life is supposed to be random, I want more danger in my sim's lives. I want my private investigator to be involved in cases that really matter, I want to be responsible for issues that affect the lives of every sim in town, that makes their lives more or less difficult do to the presence or lack of crime. I want my firefighter to be saving more realistic lives, if he fails I want him to feel the weight of allowing the amazing potential of a human being to be destroyed, extinguishing all the possible meaningful interaction with the sim and changing the course of the town's future permanently. But no, it ends up with me just clicking on the same **** everyday and watching my sims live in a predictable boring fairytale world with no sense of realism or danger, no pressure of surviving, no pressure of providing for a family, community, or world, and therefor, no sense of actual life.