The Sims 3

I’m kind of overdue for a review on this due to website problems but dagnabbit I’m gonna review it anyway! I have a weakness for games like this and so naturally I’ve been a Sims player from the first iteration of the franchise.

In Sims 1 I only really liked to design houses and kill off my Sims in amusing ways. In Sims 2 the gameplay was actually engaging and hilarious and I ended up playing the game properly… well, most of the time. So I’m probably going to end up comparing the next evolution in ridiculous life simulation, The Sims 3, to Sims 2 quite a bit.

Of course, I’m not the only one. I’ve seen alot of complaints that there are things “missing” from Sims 3 that were present in Sims 2. However, I don’t find this to be very fair as most people are bellyaching over things that were in the numerous expansion packs for Sims 2. If you were to compare the Sims 2 core game to the Sims 3 core game there is simply no contest, Sims 3 wins.

The only thing I’ve felt is really missing is your Sim receiving an inheritance when a relative dies. What the hell happened to that? Otherwise there are a few things included in Sims 3 that were in Sims 2 expansion packs, such as gardening and fishing. There’s also functioning restaurants, grocery stores and other business in town, although these are actually community lot objects and you can’t see inside of them. Your Sims can now also collect various objects such as gems, meteorites and bugs and do some small things with them.

But for me the gameplay is where Sims 3 really shines, mainly because it cut out so much of the stupid, stupid time-wasting monotony of Sims 2. The living, breathing, seamless town is a big part of that, no more will you suffer loading screens and time warps when you just try to send your Sims out of the house. Now while they’re at work or school you have a variety of options to choose from that can result in a promotion/higher grade, skill raising, relationship building and other game aspects. Job promotions also no longer require 10 or 20 friends who each need a phone call a day just to keep them interested in your Sim’s friendship. When a Sim leaves the house they will automatically hop into a taxi or vehicle they own, so you don’t need to call first and wait 2 minutes each way. Also everyone automatically has cellphones, no more having to buy them or running into the issue of not being able to contact a Sim because they don’t have a phone in their house.

Some people have complained there’s a lack of objects and clothing in the game, and it seems EA (on top of the inevitable 15 expansion packs Sims 3 will have) has decided to dickishly nickel and dime players for items that should have been included in the game. However, the ability to skin every article of clothing and piece of furniture in the game as well as the option to change the colors of several different parts of most of those patterns and textures is really really awesome and allows you to create countless looks.

People have also bitched that the Sims are now “pudding faced” because they don’t look like dead-eyed, smooth dolls anymore. They look like, you know, real people. Although I’ll admit the new look did take some getting used to, but their over-exaggerated actions and reactions are still very much Simmy.

Another problem is you can only play one household at a time, if you wish to switch households you stand to lose all the current wishes and aspirations and such of the last household you were playing. I found this was alright for me, as a family of four kept me pretty damn busy and everyone in the neighborhood thankfully ages at the same rate now. You can also merge households at any time, the only issue I really had was choosing which sibling to follow out of the son and daughter from my first family. I had them live together for a while, reached the guy’s lifelong goal of becoming “Master of Evil” (he was uh… kind of a black sheep) and then sent him off into the wild with his girlfriend and their kid and put all my focus on his sister and her wife. It’s pretty nice, because if you’re sick of a Sim you can just boot them out or plop them in another house. However NPC families can move away for good sometimes and just vanish from the neighborhood. The only way to find out is by reading the in-game newspaper.

Lastly, the traits system is great, although sometimes I wonder how effective it is. I had a neurotic Sim that would freak out every now and then, I had the aforementioned evil Sim who would take EVIL showers and sleep EVILLY and could steal candy from babies, and those with the loser trait are habitually humiliated at work, but otherwise I haven’t noticed any overt qualities for most of the other traits, it mostly affects their wants and fears. The points you gain from fulfilling their wants now allows you to choose from a variety of bonuses that range from boosting charisma to making them only have to pee once every few days. The manner in which you raise skills also results in several bonuses, that coupled with branching careers means even two very similar Sims will play differently.

All and all though I can highly recommend Sims 3 to people who like the Sims franchise or who have always wanted to try it. If you’re mad about some of the more quirky shit that’s apparently “missing” from game (being able to converse with ghosts and have ghost babies aside) just wait for the 20 some odd expansion packs that will unavoidably be released.

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