The Sims 3 Review: Revolutionizing a Virtual Dollhouse

To fans of The Sims, The Sims 3 has been a long time coming. Announced in back in 2005 we finally have our hands on the third true game of the series.
The Sims series has always been known as a jewel of the game industry. Originally created by legendary game designer Will Wright, The Sims took off selling over one million copies in less than ten years. Smashing records the game moves into its third evolution.

The Sims 2 expanded upon the original Sims by introducing a brand new 3D engine. The Sims 3 adds greatly to the 3D engine rendering an entire town all seamlessly. The visuals for The Sims 3 look fantastic. You will see many breathtaking vistas upon your tour of sunset valley. Many visual areas from The Sims 2 have been improved as well. The foliage has had an incredible amount of detail put into it, and it shows beautifully. The Sims themselves have also gotten a facelift making them more realistic looking then their Sims 2 counterparts.

The biggest new addition to The Sims 3, that sets it apart from previous entries in the series, is the new seamless neighborhood. Your Sims can walk around and talk to other Sims in the neighborhood, which was previously never possible. There are no loading screens to split up the action. If you want to go shopping all you have to do is click on the location, and the Sim will immediately go. No loading screen, no slowdown. The town works incredibly well and is a great addition to the franchise. It refreshes the way you play and feels like a living, breathing town.

Another big addition to the Sims 3 is a new way to characterize your Sim’s personalities. EA has gotten rid of the old personality points system in favor of traits. You no longer have an outgoing rating of 6. Instead you can pick the “Flirty” trait. The new traits feel much more personable and realistic. There are a lot of neat personality traits to explore ranging from things like “Good” or “Neat Freak” to straight up bizarre like “Kleptomaniac” or “Never Nude”. Some traits effect your Sim’s physical interactions with the world and are pretty obvious. “Athletic” or “Natural Cook” are good examples of traits that are pretty easy to figure out. Other traits require more playing to see how they affect your Sim’s behavior such as “Daredevil” or “Family Oriented”. You can mix and match any 5 traits to make your Sim different than any other Sim. The traits feel much less robotic then the personality points in previous games.

One of the big differences between The Sims and The Sims 2 was the introduction of aging. In the Sims 2 your family would age and move on as the game progressed. The Sims 3 expands on this premise by aging the entire town as you play. As your Sim’s life progresses so does the entire town. While playing your Sim’s boss may pass away, thus your job performance may suffer or improve depending on how well you know your co-workers. It’s this new take on an old trick that makes The Sims 3 a more dynamic game then its predecessors.

The Sims has always been about creating a community, and this continues with The Sims 3. The new “Create-a-style” feature lets users “recolor” in game objects however they like. This new tool allows you to create very consistent homes. This tool is also used on clothing. If there is any object in the game you don’t like the color of you can change it in just a few clicks. The create-a-style tool is very simple to use yet at the same time can be very deep.

The Sims 3 is much more impressive on the web then The Sims 2 ever was. The new website provides tools such as a movie mashup maker that allow for casual players to experience a whole new area of gameplay without requiring expensive tools and tutorials. Obviously the tools aren’t very expansive but they’re not there for experienced movie makers, but rather for aspiring new directors looking to get started.

The sound design is as always a subtle mix of ambient noises such as birds and crickets mixed with a peaceful soundtrack composed by Steve Jablonsky. It’s a very nice and upbeat soundtrack that nicely compliments the gameplay and never gets in your face. It’s just there to back up the atmosphere.

Overall The Sims 3 is a definite pickup for any Sims fan out there. All the basics have been covered and improved upon. You won’t find much from previous expansions to the game in The Sims 3 but I’m sure they’re not far behind. If you enjoyed playing with dollhouses before you’re sure to enjoy playing with an entire town. The Sims 3 is a game that appeals to everyone whether a casual player or a hardcore gamer. There is always something to do in The Sims 3. Now stop reading this review and go buy the game.

Quick Site Update

I've been loaded with Finals over the past week, but i have managed to play a lot of Sims 3. So far i really like most parts of it. The Traits are really neat, and i really enjoy them. Same can be said for the open world. The only main issue i have with the game is that... Well it's going to take a really long time to go anywhere, as the jobs pay next to nothing so far (i've reached level 5).

I will be posting a lot of news tomorrow and Friday hopefully! Oh and if you visit The Simmers Club, you might just be able to nab some free Simpoints ;)

The First Sims 3 Review is In!

You Heard Right, a full 2 weeks before release the first review has trickled in. The review comes from the magazine PC Zone UK. They gave the game a 9.2/10

These improvements over the previous game nailed it - I became absolutely besotted. I've lost so many hours to The Sims 3 the PC Zone team were convinced they'd have to surgically remove my mouse from my hand to get me to work.

So There you have it, unfortunately there is no better excerpt from the magazine other then the one listed above. There should be More reviews arriving soon however.

SimSocial Impressions

The SimSocial feature on Thesims3.com is a very interesting online based version of The Sims. The Sims is all about creating everything in the world, and then watching it grow, prosper, and mature. SimSocial takes that philosophy and streamlines it to a turn-based system.

SimSocial has many features you would expect from a Sims product such as the ability to create your own sim. The options, while limited, allow the user to personalize his sim to make it 1 of a kind. There are enough options so you can make a completely different sims, although a few more clothing and hair options would have been welcome.

A big aspect of SimSocial is the ability to socialize with your Sim’s friends. The socialization sector of the game seems to be a game more so of chance then actual decision making and chemistry. Granted there is a panel where it displays your friend’s interests and dislikes, but some of this is hard to match up with things you might actually do. While the actual socialization mechanic is a bit of a letdown the robust options more than make up for it. There are a lot of things to do, people to meet, and places to go in SimSocial. Things ranging from “Go to the movies” to “Stare at the walls”. Even the TV has channels to watch, giving you different mood or skill benefits. The interactions are divided into 2 sections, one you can do with friends, and the other you can only do alone. Each section has a bevy of places to go, and some you can obviously only do when you have the money, whereas others might be free.

One of my major gripes with SimSocial is the career system. When you exit the “Create A Sim” feature you are prompted to choose your lifetime goal and career path, which you can change at any time. This works fine for a while, but then you begin wondering “Why do I have the same job?” or “Am I ever going to see a different line of dialog?”. The career progression is never really explained, and feels like it was tacked-on. With the exception of the career panel there isn’t much to telling you what you are supposed to, and the information on the panel is lacking at best. There is an option to take evening classes in addition to your day job. I really wish this feature will be implemented in The Sims 3 when it ships this June, as it is a fantastic idea, even if in SimSocial it lacks grace. The idea of being able to take classes in various skills is a really nice alternative to using the bookcase to study skills every day. IT breaks up the reputation of collecting skill points. The problem with this feature it gives you very little in terms of details as to what you are doing. “How many classes do I have to take until I unlock the next class?” As you ask yourself that question the game never answers it. The career features were really good in feature, but felt more like an afterthought.

Another issue I have with SimSocial is the needs and skills system that is implemented. None of the needs are never explained, and seem to just be there. There is no real way of seeing what is affected because of needs. The job performance is about the only thing I can see that is affected, and that is because they tell you that in the career panel. Other then that the needs section of SimSocial just seems not needed, and pointless. The same can be said for the skill section, “Why am I going to classes again?” I often wonder to myself while I play, the game gives you no reason to actually gain skills. My other issue with the needs and skill sections is that there are too many of them. Since when do we have a “Loneliness” need? Or an “Excitement” need? The skills are the same way, dividing skills up into different levels such as “Basic Cooking” or “Food Safety”. It just seems to be too much micro-managing for a small web game that could have been simplified and streamlined.

The last issue I have with SimSocial is the timer. After a certain number of days your sim will “Fall Asleep” or at least that is what the game tells you. Once your sim falls asleep you cannot play for another 4 hours. This is obviously a means of getting you to come back often to continue your game, it is just an interesting way of implementing it. It reminds me a lot of the strategy used for Nintendogs where you could only do 3 competitions a day, and then you would have to come back the next day. While this feature isn’t disappointing it breaks up the gameplay quite a bit.

Overall I enjoyed SimSocial. It is a neat little web application which for the most part works really well. If it is any indication of what The Sims 3 will be like then we probably will not have much spare time for a few months. The social aspect of the game is the best part of SimSocial, even if it is flawed in some of the gameplay. The user interface is the most problematic part of SimSocial. It pollutes the screen with unnecessary information which is not needed to play the game, and hides the more important features under a layer of junk. I recommend SimSocial, just expect to be taking frequent breaks, and don’t plan on getting anywhere quickly, it will take time.