We've Never Been Disappointed Before With The Sims?
User Rating: 3 | The Sims 4 (Limited Edition) PC
I have played The Sims since I was 10, not long after it first come out. I was in love with the game and played it for hours on end. Those who are a fan of the series will know how easy it is to boot up the game, play for what you think is a couple of hours and suddenly you've been at the computer for 8 hours straight. I spent hours playing, it's crazy to think how simple the first Sims was compared to what they now can offer their fans but to aged 10 me, it was simply amazing. When the Sims 2 finally finished installing and I got to play it, I was stunned by the game and how much more we could do. I loved that the families had been brought back in what seemed to be a futuristic neighbourhood. I had the same reaction when I first got to play the Sims 3 which to me, is still an absolutely fabulous game. Now the only problem I ever had with the Sims series was the console version games for PS3/Xbox that they would release which just never lived up to the PC game. These console games always just seemed to be badly made replicas of it's superior PC game. I consider the Sims 4 to be similar to these poor console games. Of course, I was ecstatic waiting for the Sims 4, when have I ever been let down for a PC version? After installation, I could see that a lot of things that we'd been given in the Sims 3 were now a distant memory. Personally, my favourite aspect of the Sims 3 was always the open world; this has been taken away in the Sims 4. You can visit lots and rabbit holes but it's one plot at a time. I found this so frustrating after having beautiful open worlds in the Sims 3 scrolling around wherever your sim needed to go. To be honest, I think this outright put a big downer on the game for me. No one can say that the graphics aren't amazing in the Sims 4, but let's be honest, do we really play the sims to make realistic looking people in realistic neighbourhoods? We've all had a go at making ourselves...well maybe a thinner version of ourselves, and maybe a better hair cut, and maybe my nose a bit smaller and no double chin - so it ends up looking nothing like us!! The lots are so much smaller than on the Sims 3 and with no open world, it all feels very restrictive. You can now add pre made rooms into the lot to make building very quick, but as the lots are so small, this can prove difficult. I am also gutted that swimming pools have been removed as I feel that these were always a part of the game since the beginning (and a part of many sim's deaths). In the Sims 3, we were introduced to a very powerful tool which I realise now I took for granted. Create a style. This was one of the greatest things we saw when the Sims 3 was first released, so why they have taken it away in the Sims 4 is beyond me. There are a few different colours you can choose from with items, but nothing like what we could do on the Sims 3. This wrecked the whole house building and furnishing task for me. We were also told that sims would now have emotions and this would affect the way they act making them unpredictable and no two the same. After about an hour of playing, you can see what causes emotions, how sims will act and you can just ignore them all together with it having little impact on your sims. Alas, the old families from the first Sims are back! Which makes me think...so much has been taken away from this game, it honestly feels like the Sims 4 has been stripped back to the simplicity of the first game. The Sims 4 feels like the first Sims if it wee made in 2014. For me, who has been playing for 14 years and watched the games develop, this isn't a positive for me. All in all, the Sims 4 has amazing graphics, but so much has been stolen from the game all so it is visually better. I would recommend those who want to buy it, do not get rid of your copy and expansion packs for the Sims 3 which I have reinstalled. I rate the Sims 4 as a step backwards for it's long time fans.
