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The Sims 3 review
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My sim likeness complete with shirtless boyfriend (accurate)
As a veteran of both The Sims and The Sims 2, I was extremely excited to play The Sims 3. The jump from the first title to the second was a major shift in gameplay. Sims aged in the second installment, they had access to many more features via expansions, and they looked considerably better. The transition to The Sims 3 is less impressive but still worthy of you PC gaming money.
I don't want to burden the review with a bunch of details but I do want to touch on a few aspects that really impressed and some that did let me down, personally. My overall impression of the game is a good one as you'll see from the rating I'll give it at the end of the review. But it goes without saying that The Sims 3 is not perfect.
Positives
There's a lot for your sim to do. The open neighborhood makes this possible but so does the existence of skills that weren't in previous Sims games. Although you could take part in these activities in The Sims 2 they were never measured by a skill. Fishing, writing, gardening, and guitar are great examples of skills available in The Sims 2 that now have 10 levels like the cooking or logic skills. This measurement of progress really helps if you plan on really making a living off of one of those activities. Not to mention they each have a journal for you to view the progress and goals of each skill giving you certain objectives to work toward.
If you ever read my MMORPG blog you know I'm obsessed with in-game fishing. That's true of my time spent with sims as well. I love fishing. You can go to certain spots to fish like ponds or the beach, but you can also fish in your own backyard if you create a pond back there (terrain changes are free). Currently you can save fishes in the small fishbowl no matter what size they are. That's cute but you can only put one fish in there. I'm hoping for an aquarium of some sort where I can show off all my fishes.
Sims feel more like individuals now with the trait system in place. Even if you make a sim with four of the same traits as another sim that one trait variable will make the gameplay different. Literally your sim will have different interactions available based on their traits to the point that you can build an easy sim to play or a hard one. Not to mention, there's an entire trait dedicated to stealing. The kleptomaniac gives your sim the power to steal stuff throughout the neighborhood. It's great if you plan on "living off the land" so to speak. The way this trait works is it allows you to take three items a day. You can't tell your sim what to take, but you can get him or her near the thing you want and select the "Swipe Something" option from clicking on the ground near the object.
Neutral
I stay mostly at home in this game just like I stay mostly at home in real life. I'm somewhat of a homebody and that translates to my gameplay. The neighborhood being open is a nice feature and some people will love it. I, however, don't really use it. It's nice to be able to go to a friend's house. It's nice to be able to go to the beach, but ultimately this wasn't a game changing activity for me. The most fun I got out of being able to wander around was fishing and stealing stuff, as stated above.
Negatives
Although there's a lot less to micromanage, it seems like energy is something not easily obtained or kept in the green. This makes a sim pretty unhappy at times and can completely hinder gameplay at certain points. Keeping a house clean, decorated, and appropriate for that particular sim will make up for the unhappiness being tired creates. But no matter what I did or how great my bed was my sim was always tired (no traits affected this certain sim).
I'm also bothered by the online store. This is probably the biggest complaint in the community. The Exchange, where players can share custom content for free, is great. The Store is asking a bit much. In previous "stuff" packs ($20 packs with nothing but items and such) players were given hundreds of items. In The Store a 15-item set of furniture is 575 points ($5.75). It seems like a little gouging especially since the Tiki set includes things that came standard in previous Sims titles.
My only other complaint stems from a lack of testing probably. A maid will get hung up on his or her cleaning duties if you're asleep in the bed he or she is trying to make. No one thought about a person sleeping while the maid was on duty? That seems like an oversight. Other buggy type things like that bother me, but nothing's a deal breaker. When I picked up my furniture to move to another house, items in the refrigerator moved with me but my bookcase was emptied (full of the books my sim had written). It's all little stuff that some people won't even come across in a game this large and unique.
Conclusion
Honestly, I can't complain. I've been playing the game non-stop and I really love what I've been able to do. I feel, though, like I've taken a step back without my pets and some extra content from expansions or add-ons that are currently missing. Expansions that offered vacation stops and dating opportunities are integrated into the game right now. There's even ways to own a business, but I do miss having a pet. On a 10-point scale where 10 is the best, most perfect game, The Sims 3 warrants a 9. I wanted to give it lower because I'm not a fan of paying so much for individual items, but the more I play it the more I like it. And that store is optional.
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