I've played all the Sims games from the original to this one and pretty much all of the expansions and stuff packs. I have to say the changes in this version are well worth the purchase...though there are caveats. One thing to note: this is the first game released as part of EA's backstepping away from DRM. Just the CD key and the CD...no DRM required. Nice timing.
I'll split this review into two pieces and won't go into crazy depth as those depths are covered elsewhere anyway. If you've played the previous Sims games, skip the next section. Otherwise, newbies, read on.
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New to the Sims Universe?
If you're new to the Sims Universe, the simple version is that you should just start here with Sims 3. A lot of the "updates" that were incorporated into this version are long needed and really enhance gameplay. The biggest problem we used to have was loading screens...constant loading screens. Those are gone so now the game is a lot more immersive.
You create and take control of a Sim which you can define with a number of traits and of course design from the ground up to look however you want. It's very RPG in the end but open-ended as you can follow any career or life path you want. Feel like creating an Evil slacker that mooches off the neighborhood? Go for it. Want to be the leader of the free world? By all means.
With a combination of skills you can learn/improve on (Cooking, Fishing, Logic, Charisma, and others), you gradually open up choices and opportunities. Speaking of which, as you progress through your sim life, you'll get opportunities which are essentially missions to undertake with rewards of money and other things tangible or intangible. These combined with random events (like grill-offs, or chess tournaments) are designed to get you out there interacting with other sims and advancing your sim. In the end, what happens is all up to you.
Your sims can eventually die (though you can turn this off) so you'll likely want to look at starting a family and progressing your family tree. This essentially means, the death of one character isn't the end of the game.
Now, this isn't a traditional RPG so you have to keep in mind that there are moments of boredom where you wait for something to happen (really that's only when your sim is at work). You can speed up time but for things like work, you're sitting around for a couple minutes waiting. Not terrible but it can become a drag at times. This combined with the needs for your sim (hunger, energy, etc.) which without help from lifetime rewards (rewards paid for with points you accumulate living your life) can sometimes leave you in a time management crunch. It's one of those things that you learn to deal with as you play but it can become tiresome after a while. Consider yourself warned.
There's also a huge community of people tossing up items, sims, and the like on the Sims Exchange online. EA's also got a store where you can buy more items, sims, lots, etc. for a price. The average item will cost you anywhere from 25-100 sim points. The exchange rate is $1 = 100 sim points. You can buy more points on the site. Just keep in mind that the bread and butter of this franchise is expansion packs and stuff packs which add features and content to the game every 6-9 months. You can either stash cash for these packs or just microtrans your way into a new car or new set of furniture that your sims can eventually buy.
All in all, though, the game is fun. There are interesting interactions and sometimes surprises. You have a lot of freedom which is great but if you're the type that really needs goals, unless you put your sim through the career paths offered in the game, you might find yourself bored with nothing to do. Yes, it's a bit like playing with a dollhouse but I look at it more like an open-ended RPG where you've got to kick your imagination into gear and have some fun playing around with your sim.
Take a look at the Sims 3 site () and watch some of the videos. If you like what you see, you'll probably have fun with this game. If you're a hard-core gamer, you're probably already steering clear of this game so you're good to go. :)
For newbies, I definitely don't recommend the Collector's Edition. Unless you really want that USB flash drive or the $10 of sim points (= 1000 sim points), it's not really worth the extra $20. The prima guide thing is ridiculously short and is more of a teaser to buy their full guide at 25% off. Ignore.
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Sim Veterans, stop here!
What can I say? No more of those damned loading screens! You start up (which is a bit faster than the Sims 2) and load a saved game (no more lot saves) which takes a lot less time to load than lot loads in Sims2.
Once you're in, you've basically got a big map of a town that you're looking at top-down. You can zoom in to the house level but have to switch to sim mode in order to see inside. Kind of stupid...should've been one continuous movement but this is what you get.
At the map level, you get SimCity (3000) style bubbles attached to landmarks that you can click to show the bubble menu (like when you click on a sim) and select actions related to those places. Once you get the hang of it (which doesn't take long) it's really nice not having to go through all the hassles of picking a lot to go to and waiting for loads. It's such a big deal, I can't tell you. One thing they also did was move some of the functions you might have done at home (like ordering groceries) into the logic place for those functions (grocery store).
The UI is still familiar because most things are in their original places but a lot of things have also changed. No more aspiration points or influence. Now, you've got lifetime wishes (essentially your lifetime aspiration) and one off wishes which are sort of like selectable wants. So, instead of the Vegas-style slots where you just got random wants you could achieve, now there's a box with the Sim's wishes that pop-up for a short time. You can add up to four wishes to the Sim's wish list and try to fulfill them for lifetime happiness points. These points are sort of like an amalgam of achievement points, lifetime reward points and whoknowswhat. These points are generated from wish fulfillment but also by just being in a good mood. They buy enhancements or one-off benefits for your sim like Steel Bladder (which eliminates decay on your Bladder meter). Interesting idea but we'll see if it works in the long run.
The other big thing is the traits system. Instead of the five traits (Shy vs Outgoing, etc.), there are a lot more individual traits of which your sim can have up to five. These can be positive or negative traits. If you grow a sim from a baby, the traits are randomly picked (though slanted based on the mother's traits). If you create a sim from scratch, you get to pick them. The traits work a lot like those Sims 2 traits in that they affect the way the Sim responds to events, other people, etc. and also infer bonuses. For instance, you can add the Bookworm trait to make it easier for you to learn from books. They're pretty interesting and definitely add to the color of the game.
What else? 45 degree angles on furniture placement, free movement to anywhere in town without a loading screen, new interactions--some of them based on your skills--and the ability to upgrade some furniture items. There is a lot to see and discover. There are a lot of good enhancements. When you're on the job, you can change your actions so you can slack off or work harder.
What's missing? Vacation homes, pets, apartments, loading screens, etc.
What's wrong? Here's a dumb idea...let's take the interaction to Call someone off your Sim and put it on the landline only. Or you can click into your inventory and select the phone and then finally call out where there isn't a phone handy.
The main problem: we're starting over again. You know we're going to start seeing expansion packs and stuff packs or something like that by Christmas. Sure there are somethings (like hobbies) which are largely included and there are a lot of little things to do as you explore careers and locations and start building your own towns. It still sucks that you can't have pets, can't do the apartment thing, and can't do vacation homes/trips. It always feels like we're getting used again.
Still, all the new changes (and it runs pretty smoothly despite those changes) definitely help take the bite out of that snub. I still can't tell you how great it is not to deal with lot management any more. When you head to work or head off to the neighbor's that first time and follow your sim around, it's beautiful.
What can I say? You have to buy it. I kept my Sims 2 install in place just in case but I seriously doubt I'll head back there any time soon. Give it a little time and I'm sure they'll put out an expansion to rectify some of those missing activities. Then it'll be time to uninstall the old and let all those packs collect dust.
What about the Collector's Edition? It's the same as the newbies. Unless you really want that USB key, it's not really worth the extra $20. The guide is anemic, the sports car is interesting but you'll be able to find something else on the Exchange eventually, and you can just buy $10 of sim points online. If you can find it discounted to the price of the regular game ($49) then it's probably worth the pick up but by then you'd have missed out on a lot of gaming fun.
UPDATE: A few people complained about bugs (babysitter running off with kids, storytelling toggle not working, etc.). EA just released an update for the game, 1.2.7. Fire up the game to download it. Release notes are here:
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I have been playing the Sims since the first incarnation, and purchased every single expansion. When Sims 2 came out, jumped right on that, and was thrilled and blown away by the game right from the get-go. Also bought every expansion pack for that game, too. When I heard about Sims 3, I seriously rolled my eyes and swore I wouldn't jump on the band wagon and get sucked into buying the game at all, envisioning the multitudes of expansion packs that would surely follow. After seeing the many videos and advertisements for Sims 3, I was blown away by what was shown, and I pre-ordered the game shortly after, even paying for Release Date Delivery.
I should have stuck with my original intent of not getting the game. To say I am completely underwhelmed with this release would be an understatement. Let's start with the Sims 3 Collector's Edition pack. The extra $20 spent over the basic edition is hardly worth it. The "extras" listed are actually quite misleading in the wording, making it sound as if you get a lot more than you do. You have essentially spent $20 on a thumbdrive that is compleetly impractical to carry around with you. The sports car download has yet to actually work for me, although I have applied the code at least 4 times so far (that in itself is amazing, as usually any codes used are immediately void once used once). The $10 worth of Sims points is beyond ridiculous, because you will burn through that fairly quickly if you decide to get anything worthwhile. Everything on the Sims Store page is riduclously expensive, and it is quite obvious that EA has held back considerable content to trick players into blowing even more money. I, for one, will not be falling into THAT trap.
Now onto the meat of the matter. This game has been shipped out with a considerable number of bugs. If anyone has checked out and the foum over there, there are tons of people having any number of issues with installing and running the game. Granted, many of these issues may stem from players having computer systems that do not meet the minimum requirements listed. However, my system more than meets these requirements, and I had issues with my system even being able to recognize the game disc as being in the drive. After waiting 40 minutes on hold for a tech support person, I was pretty much told that they didn't know what was wrong, and asked me to attach a file from my computer in a reply to an email they sent. I was then asked to send the SAME file no less than three times, but no solutions were ever forthcoming. Thankfully, my roommate is a computer tech himself, and was able to move some stuff around in the computer itself to get the game to work. Please note, this is the ONLY game I have ever had to do this with. Yeah, it could have been my setup causing the issue, but it just seems odd to me that this is the only game this has ever happened with. Moving along...
So after fighting all night on release day, I finally get to check out the game the next day. The quality of the game itself is just utterly poor; in fact, for a game released in this day and age, it borders on embarassing. The opening video quality was just terrible. It's the same video that's been played on youtube.com for some time... and it looks JUST like it. The quality is grainy as hell, and is a poor representation of what this supposed leap forward in graphics has been hyped to be. The Sims themselves are disappointing to the extreme. The advertisments all claim that you can create millions of unique, REALISTIC Sims. The Sims Creator in Sims 2 blows the Sims 3 out of the water. Every Sim I made looks like a freaking Muppet, and it's not because I don't know how to use the editor. There are maybe 10-12 harstyles for the men, each one more hideous than the last one. I did like the ability to assign 5 key personality traits to the Sim, but that is hardly a ringing endorsement on an otherwise lackluster release.
I didn't really get a chance to play around with the house building tools, but have been seeing that unlike before, where you could place a lot and then start building a house, you now either have to build onto an existing house, or plop a lot, move a Sim in, then build with the Sims remaining money. Hardly a selling point to folks like myself who actually prefer the game just for building and decorating.
I will give a kudos for the ability to change the pattern and color on clothes, walls, floors, and objects. I think that does add a degree of flexability to the game. However, unlike in Sims 2, where you had one item in the list, and clicking that item showed you the other colors available, each time you recolor an object and save it, it's added as an additional item in the list (at leats, that's what I saw. I could be wrong). Seems like that would get confusing very quickly.
The Sims 3 could have been a great game, if it even came close to living up to the hype of EA's marketing. At this point, the game is easily outclassed by The Sims 2's base game release. Too much has been withheld from the Sims 3 base game to make it enjoyable, and I am somewhat dubious as to just how much improvement will be seen from the mulitudes of expansion packs to follow. I personally wish I had waited, or better yet, stuck with my original intent to avoid another Sims franchise.
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With all the hype surrounding this game, I had high hopes for it as a Sims fan since the original. I should have learned my lesson from 'Simcity Societies' and 'Spore'. This game is mediocre at best and vastly inferior to its predecessor.
For one thing, there has been pretty much zero improvement in terms of graphics. The graphics are about the same as Sims 2, and where they differ, 2 usually looks better than 3. The sims in this game all look fat and deformed and there's nothing you can do about it with the primitive version of "Create A Sim" they included. The level of realism is a downgrade. Animations for sims getting into cars or getting bottles out of the fridge for babies are gone: instead they just magically appear. The interface is also clunky and counter-intuitive.
The game was released filled with bugs and, in some ways, just plain broken. Many people have problems with the game speed controls not functioning properly, and the Story Progression toggle, a major game feature, doesn't work at all. If you switch to play another family (which the game makes difficult to do to begin with), don't be surprised if your original family loses their inventory, spawns random babies (even single males), or moves out completely after all the work you put in with them.
As for the game play, the seamless neighborhood was a good idea, but executed poorly. You can't go into most of the buildings anyway. The fact that you can't see into something as simple as a one-floor diner suggests that this was a deliberate move by EA to ensure more expansion pack sales down the road. That and traits, the only other notable new feature, are okay, but seriously do not justify a brand new $70 game.
And lastly, the amount of content included is truly pitiful. Not surprising considering the launch of EA's new "Sims 3 Store" to rip people off. Looking for basic Sims items like a piano, diving board, or changing table? Not going to find it here. The game was deliberately crippled to sell more junk on their store.
That fact was made more apparent by the large amount of content already available on the "Sims 3 Store" on release day, content that would cost hundreds of dollars to buy altogetherhuh, we just paid $50-70 on a new game, content that was ready should have been included in the game in the first place! Not like there was a whole lot in the game to begin with that could somewhat justify this practice. To add insult to injury, prices are ridiculously high as well. $20 for one furniture set?
Also God forbid EA include previous expansion pack content so they would actually have to INNOVATE for new expansions. Instead we'll get the predictable Pets, Vacation, Nightlife, etc. lineup, dropping $30+ each to regain features we lost with the sequel.
And to the sycophantic EA defenders, drop all that "this is only the base game!" nonsense. After dropping $70 on a game, I shouldn't have to spend a single penny more to have a game that at least feels complete. Having major features broken, especially after the four-month release delay, is just lazy. The lack of polish and the bare-bones amount of content included is embarrassing for a costly AAA title. EA needs money, so it thinks it can squeeze its customers for all they're worth with dirty tricks. Well I'm not buying anymore.
I feel bad giving a Sim title 1 star, but I just can't fathom giving it any higher, at least until (and if!) EA addresses the issues. Major disappointment!
Honest reviews on The Sims 3 Collector's Edition - PC
The Sims 2 was a direct, undeniable sequel to the Sims that took everything from the base Sims game and added onto it. The Sims 3 feels much less like a direct sequel but an off-shoot of the series, more like a console version of the game but done right.
That said, considering the new gameplay experiences the game itself as a new incarnation of the Sims would be good but I can't help but feel there is much missing from the previous version.
For starters, you're buying a game with content withheld. You don't have a hot tub or even that many appealing hairstyles because EA decided to withhold these items from the game to coerce you to spend more money immediately after purchasing the game on their website. Additionally, you aren't only unnecessarily spending money for content that should've shipped with the game but you are forced to install the EA Download Manager which is how EA will infect your computer with their invasive Securom virus. While some may argue this unfair practice is A-okay, it's not, and as a consumer you should be appalled and find this absolutely unacceptable.
Secondly, the create-a-sim is extremely disappointing. Based on the ground game of S2 and S3 I found the customization tool in 2 to be far more advanced allowing greater customization. I'm sure in time as the community releases custom content we may have a greater degree of power in customizing our Sims to our likings but from the getgo I found the Sims 2 to be far superior. The only real improvement with 3 is the personalities and how we can tailor them.
Thirdly, the UI... I find the UI to be extremely tacky looking and I loathe the way the job requirements look (A smiley face, for reals?!!?). I can't help but feel EA has undermined the intelligence of those of us who play The Sims. When I first went into Buy mode I was taken aback by how the items are listed by "room" but fortunately you can switch to a category view, however, in Build mode you cannot... The listing of categories in Build mode is little pictures of the wall/fence/roof/etc... Very tacky and annoying and an insult to the intelligence of Sims players.
Less Realistic: Sims no longer visit the fridge to get a baby bottle, they magically swipe it from behind their back and diapers magically vanish in thin air... Rather upsetting at first but considering you can take your baby around town it makes sense (You don't want diapers all over the streets). However, you can call a repairman at any time and he'll be over within an hour. In previous Sims he'll be over the next day which is far more realistic. Children also can't call for repairs or even delivery anymore.
The graphics are far less realistic as well. I feel the Sims look very cartoony as does the entire town in comparison to the Sims 2. In 2 everything looked far more detailed and realistic where as in 3 it looks cartoony, dumbed down and far less realistic. Back to customizing your character, it's impossible to get a decently built male Sim without an oversize neck and it's impossible to get a female Sim with a proportionate bust-size without being obese, this was not the case in 2.
Overall I'm extremely disappointed in the game as I can't help but feel they took away too much. The only obvious improvement is the open town and the personalities but it certainly doesn't make up for what is missing. Also, the heinous practices of EA are unacceptable. Withholding content to charge consumers after paying a premium price (Would be okay if there was a price break in the game itself but at the regular price... No). Also, if you have to do reinstalls good luck trying to replace whatever you bought from EA's store, it's never as simple as claimed.
I would probably issue this game a 2 or 3 star rating but considering all the kool-aid drinkers that are just going to 5 star it blindly I'd prefer to even out the rating some. Nonetheless, the actions of EA easily warrant no stars or a call to boycott until it hits the sales bin.
It should also be known you can only have ONE active household in your town. You can switch to another home but it's almost like having to remove the battery from your cell phone just to switch memory cards, a hassle. You also lose wishes/promises when you switch so it's not at all as easy as it should be.
BUGS: I've experienced two freezes where I had to manually turn off my computer and one crash to desktop, all three incidents were pretty much isolated and not something I would say I fear from the game as I do believe they were attributed to a particular driver that when changed seemed to have resolved the problem.
There is an issue in sound, major issue. For one, 5.1 does not work, at least not for me. I get sound out of the three front speakers, mostly the middle, and that's it. Only when switching to stereo or using my speakers upmixing do I get "surround" which then sounds crappy. Also, an even greater issue, the music in Buy and Build mode sometimes does not play whatsoever which makes you feel very lonely and empty when building/decorating. An even greater issue is the sound cutting out when in Live mode. There are times when two Sims are talking and their voices just cut out and it takes some dramatic maneuvering of the camera to hear them again... It's extremely annoying.
I haven't encountered any game-breaking bugs and don't believe I will as I find myself pretty bored by this game already but what I did encounter is just annoying at best and hopefully will be resolved by a patch.
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I have been addicted to the sims since the original game. I moved on to the sims 2 when it was released and purchased all of the expansion and most of the object packages along the way. So it was a no brainer for me to pre-order this game.. And I have to say I am completely disappointed. I have a quad core PC with plenty of ram and a decent graphics card. But the game is a bit dodgy even on my system. No longer can the direction of the mouse dictate where your view goes you actually have to click and drag now for the screen to move. It is a HUGE annoyance for anyone who played the other games. All of my sims look the same.. The faces are all round and they have chicken gullets. I have tried numerous times to get rid of those using the sims editor and no luck.. The color changing option is cool but it is a daunting task to change EVERY piece of furniture to match or coordinate using this feature.
I like how my sims can go downtown or work easier.. That is pretty cool.. How I can follow them instead of seeing the loading screen or having them disappear all together. But it's pretty retarded that I cannot follow them into the stores stores that I cannot go into or help my sims interact with other sims while they are in the stores or even at work. To me that defeats the purpose. Also you can only load one house hold at a time. Each house hold has its own town.. Which makes it hard for two sims families to come together when their children marry later in life.. Also what is up with the way the pregnant sims walk????
I like the additional interactions with objects and books. The new triplets feature is cool too..
But even with the few cool things this game to me is a dud! I have since gone back to the sims 2. Maybe things will change as time goes on, maybe they will release an expansion pack that will cost another chunk of change that will fix the problems. But for now I would say stick with the sims 2..
