The Sims 3 Review: How I Like the Game, pt. 1
I thought I wouldn’t make it even this weekend, but I managed to. Yay! My review will give you the idea of how I like the game and tell you what I think is cool and what’s not. It’s not a review of how the game works, it’s a review which will tell you what’s better in the Sims 3 and what’s not. Again, suggestions appreciated, feel free to ask me anything in the comments.
First Impressions
When I first ran the game, I was pretty confused. Too many buttons, new menu, new town. Somehow I managed to enter one of the houses and then I got stuck with it for a while just to learn the basics. However, I got used to new things pretty soon. I fell in love with the Crate a Style tool instantly, and so I did with the new environment of the game. The new town looks wonderful! But it’s not only the town, it’s also how Sims live in it. It doesn’t seem empty, nor crowded. There’s always something to do. Whether you want to go to cinema, see a symphony, a rock concert or just go fishing, you can find it outside. Endless possibilities — but with no loading screens, which is awesome.
The Sims
One of the things I really needed to get used to (and I think I’m still just getting used to it) are the Sims and how they actually look. They’re different, I think everyone noticed that. But are they really ugly? Uhm, no, I think not. But whoever started the whole “pudding” comparasion, he got it totally right. They do look puddingy a lot. But it doesn’t mean they’re ugly. In fact, I find them cuter in many ways now. Their faces look much smoother and detailed now. There are no wierd polygons that look sharp — it can be seen very well on their noses, for example. They just look smooth.
I also noticed that the animations are mostly used from the old game. At first, it was very noticeable, but then you really just stop perceiving it. Some animations are different, though, which is better. When Sims read books now, they no longer make that silly smiling face they used to. They just move their eyes, which looks more natural. I could give you many examples, but it’s really not worth mentioning.
Inventories
One of the cool things about The Sims 3 are the inventories. Sims can store in them nearly anything, which means that you can carry your notebook around the town and surf the simternet (yeah, I think they needed a new name for that) anytime. They can carry around their books and then read them in the park. The same thing goes with fruits you buy in the shop (or you grow them in your garden if you want) — some of them like apples or watermeloon can be eaten anywhere, which is perfect for Sims who like to stay away from the house.
If you play with more than just one Sim, you can also easily share the stuff between them. Unfortunatelly, there’s no special interaction for giving gifts, so you can’t share anything between a Sim you play with and a Sim you don’t. I’m sure this will come sooner or later, though.
Cars and Car Pool
Cars are one of the things that are slightly improved but also look like a one step backward. One of the good things is that there’s a much bigger variety. The other good things is that you can also “carry” them around the town and go anywhere with them. Even better, if you have a bicycle, it’s great for losing some weight.
The weird thing I still can’t get used to is how they disappear on the road and suddenly appear nicely parked near the buildings. I believe it’s due to how cars actually work in the game now. I mentioned the first thing — they are now stored in inventories with other things. The other thing is that the driveroad can be placed anywhere on the lot, which means there are many possibilities for placing a car, but it’s made the whole thing much more difficult with animations. I think the animations would be much more complicated (and might cause bugs) if Sims drove their cars around the lot just to park them in the parking lot. That’s why they dissapear and suddenly appear on the drive lot.
I have to admit I still don’t really like it very much. This looked much nicer in The Sims 2 and I’m sure that moviemakers had much more fun with this. On the other hand, when I don’t think about it too much, I think I don’t care while I play the game.
One thing that bugs me and I still haven’t figured it out is the carpool. Maybe it’s a bug, but if you know anything, please let me know. The thing is that when my Sims own a car and I set the owner, the car pool still arrives. The car pool also arrives when Sims are not at home. I find it a little irritating, especially the thing that Sims prefer going to work with the car pool rather then with their own cars.
The Almighty Hand
I think I wasn’t the only Simmer who didn’t like that your Sims had to do all the boring stuff all the time. The newspapers were always piled up in front of my houses, the Repo Man sometimes appeared because I couldn’t find the bills (this stopped happening after I had Seasons, where “Pay All Bills” option was introduced), there was always some food in the kitchen that would soon got spoilt, because my Sims forgot to put it in the fridge before they left the house.
In the Sims 3, now you can use the “almighty” hand (as I call it) and simply move some of the things around the house. The newspapers go to trash and bills get paid while my Sims are still doing their own stuff. Some of the decoration objects can also be moved and rotated, which saves you some time to load the Build Mode. All in all, it’s a great addition I can’t imagine the game without.
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17 Comments so far
I know it new game and but I can’t give up my sims 2 game not yet. I got too many generations and lot of downloads that I like in my sims 2 game. Tell you truth I really don’t care about sims 3 or don’t want to play it amymore. sorry.
By nina on 08.17.09 00:03
I think that you are doing a wonderful thing writing this review, very honest. It isn’t the most in depth review but it highlights a few of the positive points of the game and a few of the negative points.
I also believe that too many people expected TS3 to be something that it wasn’t, perhaps more like TS2. I think that there are a lot of people out there that expected TS3 to be TS2′s ~magic sequel~.
One of the reasons why I wasn’t disappointed with the game is because I didn’t try to compare it to The Sims 2. It had features, and minuses, but all it was was a game with a similar objective and a similar name.
People can, of course, form their own opinions about the game, but I believe that we should all stop being so outwardly critical of TS3.
If we want to, we can play the game. If we don’t want to, then don’t play the game, and don’t make a fuss about it. Nobody’s judging you for which Sims game you like better :/
By Kate on 08.17.09 02:03
I totally agree with everything you’ve said. Even though there are weird things with TS3 I can’t go back to TS2. I just miss the movement and all the things you can DO in TS3. I remember when TS2 came out I was like: “I don’t think I can get used to this..” but then it became my favourite game. haha
By Amanda on 08.17.09 02:05
I really agree with everything that you said. Even though the TS3 is new and I can explore the neighborhood, I rather go back to my TS2 game. I hate the way the new sims look in TS3. To me I dont think they look real and no matter what you try to do their faces look fat to me atleast. I think people expectations were high for TS3 because it is a sequel , the point of making a sequel is to take the best parts of TS2 and better them in a new game .
By Madison on 08.17.09 03:34
Oooh, I’ve been waiting to read what you think about the game. I actually caved in and got it a couple days ago. Now that I’ve gotten used to the “pudding” faces, I agree that they’re kind of cute. I’m totally in love with the way noses look especially.
It has been taking some serious getting used to, but it is pretty fun. I don’t think I’ll totally stop playing TS2 though. Unlike TS1 compared to TS2, TS2 doesn’t feel totally primitive compared to TS3. Plus, I’ve got 10 generations of a Legacy and 6.5 GB of CC that I can’t leave behind. XD
By Fishie on 08.17.09 05:29
“no loading screens”!! This is the best thing about Sims3 !! I know it’s a little odd to love this most but that loading screens was making me crazy.Well, I got used to their weird faces but it’s impossibble to make celebs (or at least yourself!)
( And their legs! I even make my sims ultra slim but their legs are still fat. 
I really like the new way to play, but I still can’t see my sims at school. 
All in all I really love playing The Sims more than TS2 or TS3, I know it’s too simple but idk whatever. 
By dealer_day on 08.17.09 13:13
Sorry but I prefer sims2 in sims3 the characters are scary and ugly, fat face and weird eyes, especially when the character is outside of his house, it becomes red and swollen, outdoor lighting makes them ugly , that I do not work for a story sims I warn sims2, I regret my purchase of sims3 because of the appearance of the sims that I hate. I’m not a player but a storryteller, so the faces of the sims is important to me.
By claire on 08.17.09 13:44
i agree with fishie…i hate sims3′s “fat” ugly faces.
Also you forgot to mention that they took out the piano (boooooo!) and i still can’t get used to the new “active household” thing. It’s pretty annoying to players that like to play diff. families and can’t switch back and forth as conveniently as the previous versions.
By Jenniya on 08.17.09 17:07
I try to give Sims 3 a chance time and time again. Each time I hope my experience is greater than the last, but the outcome is always the same. Truth is, I don’t like the game, the sims, the neighborhood. The clay dough sims are awful to look at. Their heads are gigantic and their eyes are vacant. They look fat when they are skinny – it is not delightful. The tools in CAF are a waste of time because they don’t make much of a difference. The clothes and hairstyles are so inferior. And the NEIGHBORHOOD is so empty with nothing to do. All you can do is eat, eat, eat, and eating is the LAST thing those fat sims should be doing.
Honestly, I think they should have revamped The Sims 2 and called it a day because The Sims3 is like a step down from two.
By LV on 08.20.09 19:43
The Sims 3 is okay, but honestly, I’ve gotten super bored with it. I haven’t played it in months. I even tried downloading custom content, and that still didn’t help. I hope this new EP might make it fun, but I’m not going to get my hopes up too much.
Also regarding the faces, it’s still hard to get used to. I always wonder why their faces look good in CAS, but look crappy ingame. Sigh…
By Courtney on 08.21.09 19:21
I have played Sims 2 for years now and my obsession is creating residential lots from the ground up. I spend many hours designing, landscaping and styling my homes and then I move on. I don’t bother populating my houses with Sims and playing their lives because I find the game is too slow (I admit this is probably caused by my extensive custom content). Anyway, can you advise me if ‘building’ in Sims 3 is better or worse than Sims 2. I wouldn’t want to change to Sims 3 only to find that my houses look like ‘puddings’!
By Mandy on 08.22.09 22:02
I tried to like the sims 3 i really did but its just completly awfull graphics it seems all my sims do is eat and work. Once they eat there almost falling asleep and max motives is no longer included most of your time is spent eating and working and sleeping. Just when you think you have some time to improve your skills your sim is on call and has to rush out to work when he gets home from work. Building garages is pointless because you sim magicly pulls the car out of there ass and also magicly gets in and once he is at work even if he is the owner of a car the moron carpool driver honks his horn outside your house for 2 hours waiting for you to jump in. once you get to a destination usualy work the car is in there pocket all day thats if you sim is not exusted from being on call all night. No stages and ugly doors and windows and customising pre set (unchangable) patterns with crayon colors is what you have to look forward to. i am not to unhappy about paying for it cause i traded another aufull EA games pile of crap (Godfather 2) and only had to pay $6. I have gone back to sims 2 and have not looked back. Unless EA changes the game entirely then there headed straight for a brick wall with the new worlds Expansion. it is unfortunate that EA has destroyed a high selling francise by making this pile of crap. And yes sims 3 is there highest selling game ever but its the first of the sims 3 product line EA games failed to give there very best. Almost all of there customers did not test it. If the product is not liked at first it will be very hard for them to convince there customers to come back to it. A lot more thought should have gone into this project as to me it seems unfinished and rushed . Call me a winger if you must but just try and tell me you are completly enjoying your new purchase.
By Andrew on 08.24.09 14:45
Thank you for your review.
I agree with the comment that states that the game seem unfinshed & rushed. There are some things about Sims3 that I do like but I am still favoring Sims2. I like that you can customize but the default items & clothering are so unappealing it does not matter what color it is. The animation of the sims are horrible. It reminds me of the animation used in preschool games. It is too fast & choppy. The sims themselves are also not that great. I am adjusting to the pudding look but the separation line from neck to body, top sim half to bottom sim half & feet to leg when the sim gains work is just shotey work on ea’s part. Also the fact that all the sims look alike is a downer. My teenage sim looks just as old as the adults. No youthful hairstyles they are all pretty much the same. The sims themselves look the same, no matter the age, gender, skin color or hair color. The houses are dark inside no matter the number of lights added. In regards to the overall look of Sims3 the quality of Sims3 is not very good.
By Angel K on 08.25.09 00:37
The almighty hand. HOw is this? Maybe it is a glitch in my game, but I somehow cannot delete newspapers or dirty dishes even with the moveobject on cheat. Am I missing something? Thank you.
By JM on 08.29.09 17:15
JM: You should be able to delete stuff like newspapers–just hold the cursor above the newspapers and then click and drag the newspapers to trash can. But you have to click and hold them, maybe this is the thing you haven’t figured out. Good luck!
By HannahSpring on 08.30.09 09:34
My Sim is in the Business career, but is super-artsy. He wants to see a Symphony. It says I must check the theatre on weekends, but when I check the theatre or even the newspaper for weekly events, there is never any Symphony. Do I need to do anything special with my Sims
By Dan on 09.01.09 23:14
omgosh i cant wait for the sims 3. i ordered it so i know its coming but i keep looking up videos and pictures while i wait but it makes me feel obsessed and depessed that i dont have the game yet. what can i do to help me get through the nexted few days
By Kristlanne May on 10.05.09 02:15
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