Review: The Sims 3

Appeasing your inner voyeur-slash-puppetmaster has never been so much fun.

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How did it go.
The recreation. Do you have screenshots? Please. That would be the coolest thing ever if done well.

I'm thinking about buying this now. I think you've convinced me. Although I may wait until there is a stronger modding community before I leap into The Sims 3.

Nice review, I like the game a lot but the graphical glitches (which are probably caused by my video card or driver) put me off big time..

I tried to play this, but apparently my technically supported GeForce 9300M GS isn't actually supported.
Shucks.

Oh well, maybe some day. I love the idea of the open town. That's what really attracted me to this one.

More on topic: Good review. Love the beginning of the video supplement: 'It's the Sims.' *Credits roll*.

The review cemented the stuff that I knew and hoped to know about the Sims 3, I have to wait till payday before I can cash in my bloody pre-order slip. (I've had it since February, when it was supposed to bloody come out)
I'll definitely enjoy getting my hands on my own copy.

Glad o know that I'm not the only one with problems with the computer games. And it's weirder cause my fav sim to play is also a scientist

Strange, the review completely ignores my favorite part from the Sims series; building your own stuff. Designing houses, parks, and in the previous Sims games vacation resorts, restaurants, etc etc etc was incredibly entertaining. The last 2 days I spend about 6 hours building a 50.000 bucks (plus interior, I didn't use cheats, yay for marriage) 2 story house. Living a Sim's life is fun, yes, but it doesn't beat the creative proces of building your own town. That is, imo.

PS: Yes the Sims looks like a meek game, but remember: it's the only game (I can recall) in wich you can torture children (without mods and stuff). So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

Assassinator:
Strange, the review completely ignores my favorite part from the Sims series; building your own stuff. Designing houses, parks, and in the previous Sims games vacation resorts, restaurants, etc etc etc was incredibly entertaining. The last 2 days I spend about 6 hours building a 50.000 bucks (plus interior, I didn't use cheats, yay for marriage) 2 story house. Living a Sim's life is fun, yes, but it doesn't beat the creative proces of building your own town. That is, imo.

PS: Yes the Sims looks like a meek game, but remember: it's the only game (I can recall) in wich you can torture children (without mods and stuff). So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

just yesterday i filled my house with a bunch of teenagers, brought then up to the second floor then deleted all the stairs and stuff.they all died a week later

Assassinator:
Strange, the review completely ignores my favorite part from the Sims series; building your own stuff. Designing houses, parks, and in the previous Sims games vacation resorts, restaurants, etc etc etc was incredibly entertaining. The last 2 days I spend about 6 hours building a 50.000 bucks (plus interior, I didn't use cheats, yay for marriage) 2 story house. Living a Sim's life is fun, yes, but it doesn't beat the creative proces of building your own town. That is, imo.

PS: Yes the Sims looks like a meek game, but remember: it's the only game (I can recall) in wich you can torture children (without mods and stuff). So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

Well, that's been a staple of The Sims since the first one. I tried to cover MOSTLY stuff that was new to Sims 3. But yeah, the building your own house thing is always fantastic.

Assassinator:

PS: Yes the Sims looks like a meek game, but remember: it's the only game (I can recall) in wich you can torture children (without mods and stuff). So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

I thought he did. Last time I heard, Jack Thompson hailed Sims 2 as a "paedophile training game", in which you could "Have sex with any character, however you wanted, and control every action - regardless of their age."

On topic, however, I'll certainly look into Sims 3 simply because it was neat to make a little Sim, but awesome to design your own home. I used to go through patches of not caring and then suddenly have a burst of playing-to-the-point-of-not-sleeping enthusiasm for the game. Sims games are plain weird how they do that; no other game like it interests me...

Assassinator:
So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

He did but it was mostly over the nudity mods or the censor removing mods. Something along the lines of pedophiles being able to see the unblurred fully barbied bodies...

Also the modding community have already descended on TS3, they learned how to tweak the skin alphas, remove slider limits and add their own patterns to the game. Joy ^-^

Dammit Anglo beat me!
... >_>

I think I'm one of the only people in the world who HAAAATES the sims.

I tried to get into it. I made my own character and hoepd to have fun... but it was so tedious and boring. I spent thirty minutes listening to my guy mumble gibberish with a neighbor with nothing else happening I made the decision that this game can burn in hell for being the most boring waste of plastic in all existance. Maybe I'm being to harsh. Maybe it's just not for me.

I tried to return the game, but the dude just looked at me and tried o explain why it was the "greeteest" game evarr and after ten minutes of listening to this dork ramble on I broke the game disk in front of his face and left. That was satisfying.

I'm wondering how making the Persona 4 characters actually turned out. Do you have screens?

Sims 3 is up there on the list of PC games I need to purchase. Just below Starcraft II.

Having watched that im tempted to buy...however i know it will take over my life over the summer and i would rather that not happen.

I'd enjoy this a lot more if the game wouldn't simply lock my entire computer up after after a while. According to the Sims 3 forums .. I'm not the only one. Here's hoping a patch will fix that. Or should I say.. expansion pack?

Just a shame it consumes so much memory...

Mariena:
I'd enjoy this a lot more if the game wouldn't simply lock my entire computer up after after a while. According to the Sims 3 forums .. I'm not the only one. Here's hoping a patch will fix that. Or should I say.. expansion pack?

Oh come on, EA would never do that to u- You know what? Never mind. Carry on!

The review concentrates too much on what The Sims is about, but I think that almost all of us already know that. It would have been more interesting to know just what differentiates Sims 3 from Sims 2. After reading the review and waching the video, Sims 3 looks almost exactly the same as Sims 2 with slightly better graphics. Is that really all?

That actually looks pretty good, I might buy it. How well would a nVidia 8800 GT OC run it?

I liked the end "It's like looking into a mirror...."

Symplify:
That actually looks pretty good, I might buy it. How well would a nVidia 8800 GT OC run it?

I liked the end "It's like looking into a mirror...."

That's what I'm running on my rig :) so it'll look about the same.

Tiamat666:
The review concentrates too much on what The Sims is about, but I think that almost all of us already know that. It would have been more interesting to know just what differentiates Sims 3 from Sims 2. After reading the review and waching the video, Sims 3 looks almost exactly the same as Sims 2 with slightly better graphics. Is that really all?

The living town is totally new, and the mood gauge / wishes / careers / customization are all significantly deeper than in Sims 2. But otherwise ... dude, it's The Sims. They're not reinventing the wheel here :P

I'll bet someone a kidney they end up popping something completely overpowered in for the last expansion pack. Any takers?

On a slightly less blood-filterly topic, the review has made me really want the game. But I just bought Empire: Total War. Accursed computer-monkies and their demands for actual currency. I will pay you in snail shells and you will like it!

ye like Assasinator said, hte best part of the game for me is the creation side
i love making awesome houses (using motherlode mostly)

I thought one of the big things was that Sims this time around would better be able to take care of themselves (which I think is what they said about The Sims 2 as well).

Are Sims noticeably smarter about not dying this time around?

zoozilla:
I thought one of the big things was that Sims this time around would better be able to take care of themselves (which I think is what they said about The Sims 2 as well).

Are Sims noticeably smarter about not dying this time around?

They are more capable of taking care of themselves. However, sometimes their AI gets screwed up and they neglect certain needs in favor of continuing some pointless activity. I've seen Sims stay on a treadmill for hours, only to pass out on the floor after getting off it.

Assassinator:
Strange, the review completely ignores my favorite part from the Sims series; building your own stuff. Designing houses, parks, and in the previous Sims games vacation resorts, restaurants, etc etc etc was incredibly entertaining. The last 2 days I spend about 6 hours building a 50.000 bucks (plus interior, I didn't use cheats, yay for marriage) 2 story house. Living a Sim's life is fun, yes, but it doesn't beat the creative proces of building your own town. That is, imo.

PS: Yes the Sims looks like a meek game, but remember: it's the only game (I can recall) in wich you can torture children (without mods and stuff). So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

I agree exactly with this. I only played the sims 1 and I loved building and furnishing my houses most of the game. The day to day life got boring fast but its nice to see they try to fix that with the lifegoals.

As admiring and amazing this turned out to be, I wouldn't go ahead and buy it right here and now. Instead, wait a few months and see add ons to the Sims 3 just like Sims 2. Not to mention they will probably allow downloads to have amazing new looks and unreal items. It happened to Sims 2 after a few months it came out then added Sims Pets and Nightlife, so with this I think they will add more to it

Where is the Foozeball table? I didn't know one existed in that game.

Post the Persona 4 family!

PS: Solid review, which is really tempting me to go out and buy it.

Internet Kraken:
They are more capable of taking care of themselves. However, sometimes their AI gets screwed up and they neglect certain needs in favor of continuing some pointless activity. I've seen Sims stay on a treadmill for hours, only to pass out on the floor after getting off it.

I think they prioritise commands you've given them. So if you tell them to step on that treadmill, then they will stay on there until you cancel the command, no matter what else happens (even missing work or collapsing). But if they do it of their own accord then they'll usually stop if something more important comes up.

Miral:

Internet Kraken:
They are more capable of taking care of themselves. However, sometimes their AI gets screwed up and they neglect certain needs in favor of continuing some pointless activity. I've seen Sims stay on a treadmill for hours, only to pass out on the floor after getting off it.

I think they prioritise commands you've given them. So if you tell them to step on that treadmill, then they will stay on there until you cancel the command, no matter what else happens (even missing work or collapsing). But if they do it of their own accord then they'll usually stop if something more important comes up.

Yeah but I was just observing random Sims that were not under my control.

But the bottom line is that the AI is more competent than in the Sims 2 and the Sims not under your control are capable of taking care of themselves.

This review kind of blew.......hard. All that is talked about is the aspect of creating and controlling your Sim. ITS A SIMS GAME WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU DO, CUT UP THE CD AND EAT IT? Completely ignored a lot of the aspects of them game. Failed to mention things such as how the game ran, load times, was the building aspect similar to the old or was it renovated what (besides the live town) differed this game from the past Sims...etc. Also, you don't need the word OR when separating, choices, ideas, decisions, OR thoughts between every SINGLE one. The video flows about as well as a truck going up hill on its rims. Whether you wrote it out yourself or you were handed the material, read it a few times, get a rhythm that attracts people going. The video mentions a few more points (and even those are only in passing) but spends an exuberant amount of time on creating your Sim just as the article, when it could be discussing other aspects of the game that get less time in the sun than an inmate in a high security prison, and has the gaping hole to attest to that.

Writing: 2/10
Video: 2/10

CantFaketheFunk:

Assassinator:
Strange, the review completely ignores my favorite part from the Sims series; building your own stuff. Designing houses, parks, and in the previous Sims games vacation resorts, restaurants, etc etc etc was incredibly entertaining. The last 2 days I spend about 6 hours building a 50.000 bucks (plus interior, I didn't use cheats, yay for marriage) 2 story house. Living a Sim's life is fun, yes, but it doesn't beat the creative proces of building your own town. That is, imo.

PS: Yes the Sims looks like a meek game, but remember: it's the only game (I can recall) in wich you can torture children (without mods and stuff). So why exactly didn't Jack Thompson trash The Sims yet?

Well, that's been a staple of The Sims since the first one. I tried to cover MOSTLY stuff that was new to Sims 3. But yeah, the building your own house thing is always fantastic.

Actually, you did fail to cover one brand new aspect of building in the Sims 3: applying "Create a Style" to your room designs.

Just as you can do with clothing, you can enter "Create a Style" and edit wallpapers, floors, and furniture. Wish your desk was made of wicker or metal instead of wood? Done. Or for that matter, make your desk leopard print or covered in silk or leather or make it just matte black or whatever. All of the patterns are re-colorable too, so if you want a blue and purple leopard skin print, go for it.

It improves the building situation dramatically... at least if building and aesthetics are fun/important for you in the Sims. Sims 2 was notoriously bad for including build objects that didn't match other build objects... for example, a lovely wine colored wallpaper but looked hideous with whatever you might choose for the floor or furniture. Trying to match wood tones from furnitures, walls, and floors was especially annoying. Being able to edit from "Create a Style" makes all of this go away. It's a very cool feature and definitely deserves mention.

A more minor "build" change would be the new ability to arrange furniture diagonally. Seemingly small, but a player of past Sims installations will appreciate this immensely.

CantFaketheFunk:

Symplify:
That actually looks pretty good, I might buy it. How well would a nVidia 8800 GT OC run it?

I liked the end "It's like looking into a mirror...."

That's what I'm running on my rig :) so it'll look about the same.

Fantastic. How much CPU power and RAM do you have? I feel like those two hold me back (1.8 ghz and 2.5 gigs, respectively)

DeathQuaker:

Actually, you did fail to cover one brand new aspect of building in the Sims 3: applying "Create a Style" to your room designs.

Just as you can do with clothing, you can enter "Create a Style" and edit wallpapers, floors, and furniture. Wish your desk was made of wicker or metal instead of wood? Done. Or for that matter, make your desk leopard print or covered in silk or leather or make it just matte black or whatever. All of the patterns are re-colorable too, so if you want a blue and purple leopard skin print, go for it.

It improves the building situation dramatically... at least if building and aesthetics are fun/important for you in the Sims. Sims 2 was notoriously bad for including build objects that didn't match other build objects... for example, a lovely wine colored wallpaper but looked hideous with whatever you might choose for the floor or furniture. Trying to match wood tones from furnitures, walls, and floors was especially annoying. Being able to edit from "Create a Style" makes all of this go away. It's a very cool feature and definitely deserves mention.

A more minor "build" change would be the new ability to arrange furniture diagonally. Seemingly small, but a player of past Sims installations will appreciate this immensely.

I have a woefully underdeveloped style/fashion sense :(

Symplify:

CantFaketheFunk:

Symplify:
That actually looks pretty good, I might buy it. How well would a nVidia 8800 GT OC run it?

I liked the end "It's like looking into a mirror...."

That's what I'm running on my rig :) so it'll look about the same.

Fantastic. How much CPU power and RAM do you have? I feel like those two hold me back (1.8 ghz and 2.5 gigs, respectively)

That... could be a problem. I'm running a 3.6ghz dual core, and 4GB of RAM.

O.o