Author's Note: Final score adjusted to reflect an unbiased standpoint.
Since the début of the franchise fourteen years ago, The Sims was essentially the leading representative of computer gaming. The original chapter in the series managed to sell 16 million copies and was awarded five world records, including "World's Biggest-Selling Simulation Series" and "Best Selling PC Game of All Time." It managed to garner an incredible fan base and was arguably the first game everyone thought of when thinking about computer games.
The Sims, like anything, has evolved over the course of a decade and a few years and managed to take what it had previously and build upon it. However, that soon changed when the original developers of Maxis were taken over by Electronic Arts' revitalization of the company, aptly renamed 'The Sims Studio' and The Sims became an over-milked cash cow and requests and feedback from fans took a backseat for a short while.
The Sims 3 was a cornerstone for the franchise, introducing some innovative and creative changes to the franchise, making it the most realistic and fun instalment to date, despite the vast number of bugs and glitches that made the game essentially unplayable to a significant percentage of its consumers. The Sims 3 introduced some really wonderful features like wishes, where your Sims would essentially tell you what they want in life. If you level up their cooking skill, they may wish to learn more recipes, which will in turn add to their lifetime points, which could be used to purchase perks and items for them. The Sims 3 also introduced the beloved Story Progression feature, which was an optional component that allowed all Sims in the neighbourhood to autonomously continue free will as if the player were controlling them, such as get married, get jobs and promotions, have children, move into their dream house or move out of the neighbourhood while the player isn't playing, etc.
Four years later, The Sims 4 was announced and we were all very excited to see what would come of the franchise. Earlier this year, we learned quite a lot about what The Sims 4 would offer and a lot of people were left with a foul taste in their mouths, and understandably so. The Sims 4 saw quite a lot of changes and removals since its predecessor, including the removal of Story Progression, which means that like in The Sims and The Sims 2, other Sims in the neighbourhood won't make any of their own decisions like getting a job, getting married, etc. without your intervention, which essentially forces you to bounce between households if you want to maintain a realistic and flowing atmosphere. In addition, The Sims 4 saw the controversial removal of swimming pools and the toddler life stage, the latter having been introduced in The Sims 2.
An incomplete and in-progress list of removed features in The Sims 4 can be found here: http://ts4news.com/post/945...
Since I learned of all this, I was incredibly hesitant on picking up the game at launch. I was afraid of one of my favourite franchises being an unsavoury disappointment as it was incredibly clear that The Sims 4 was a considerable step backward in comparison to its predecessor. It's speculated that a large percentage of the removals will come later as either free updates or $40 expansion packs as reputation suggests.
Despite the controversy, I picked up my Premium Edition copy and got right into playing and I must say, I am impressed. To start, the loading screens are incredibly short; I'll pick up my phone to tab out a quick text message and before I can even hit send, the loading screen is finished. They are indeed frequent though; simply starting up the game, moving from one lot to another, etc. all requires a loading screen, but having them as short as they are is completely forgiveable. In addition, you will not encounter a loading screen if you go for a jog or explore around the neighbourhood. It's only if and when you choose to visit a specific lot that a loading screen is presented.
I spent the first half an hour trying to figure out how to import my Sims from the Create a Sim Demo into the actual game. It was a task and a half and I soon learned that they do not carry over on their own. Instead, one must upload them to the Community Gallery (not just one's personal library) and download them into the main game from one's profile. It's a little tedious, but given the fact that the Create a Sim Demo and the actual Sims 4 game itself are two different applications, it's understandable and it's not that big of an issue, just a slight inconvenience.
Visually, The Sims 4 is as I expected; it's very animated-looking and also very Mickey Mouse/Fisher Price-esque in terms of texture and detail, but overall it's still quite beautiful. There's some intricate details on some of the little things, but in the grand scheme of things, you can tell that there's been an apparent reduction in texture and detail in say, wallpaper and grass textures. It's almost as if the developers hadn't heard of bump mapping before, but I won't get into that.
I spent quite a bit of time in the game's build mode too, but not too much time, since I wanted to get into playing and see how it compares to The Sims 3. Build Mode in The Sims 4 has been completely overhauled for the better; buy mode is now combined with build and creating rooms and houses have never been simpler or so detailed. You can add anything from as subtle as roof trims to as obvious as an air conditioning unit outside of the house. There's clearly been a lot of effort put into making homes look more realistic than ever, but with the graphics of the game being a rather noticeable step down from The Sims 3, it doesn't really take a step forward or even a step back, but idles, rather.
Gameplay is completely amazing and reminiscent to its predecessor, to the point where you don't exactly have to spend an hour reading through the tips and tutorials, as everything is mostly the same, but revitalised. Gameplay is smooth, enjoyable and varied, but it's also a little overwhelming at first because your Sims' moods change with every action they make and their desires fluctuate. Your Sim might want to have a conversation with their roommate, but after taking a shower, they're energised and suddenly want to drop to the floor and do some push ups. Like in The Sims 3, your Sims get points to their mood and such for completing their desired activities, but in The Sims 4, it's a little too overwhelming, considering that you'd want to accomplish their desire as fast as possible before their mood changes again. It's wonderful fun and it keeps the game from getting stale after a little while. It's almost as if the game evolves as you play, which keeps things fresh and fun.
Of course, with every lovely thing about a game, there is a balance of annoyances. Indeed, there is a laundry list of removed features, but half of them are hardly noticeable. I've been so into the game and building a home and getting to know my Sims that I actually forgot that swimming pools were removed. I had so much fun playing with one of my Sims that I didn't notice that when the other one went to work, he simply disappeared from the lot for a duration. Yes, it's similar to The Sims 2 where your Sims would just disappear when it was time to go to work, but like in The Sims 3, you can control their work effort from behind the scenes. For example, while one of my Sims, Oliver, was at work, I was playing with his brother, Tyler. I noticed that Oliver was getting stressed, so I clicked on the suitcase icon near his Sim icon and selected the 'Take It Easy' option, which gradually increased his mood. So while you can't exactly follow your Sim to work and stare at their work building, at least you can still control their behaviour and effort.
One thing I found incredibly useful was the new Gallery feature in the game, where in just a few clicks, you can add new homes and Sims to the neighbourhood in-game, without a loading screen. So, say I was building a house and lost all inspiration. I could simply pull up the Gallery, filter through the categories and select the proper lot size, find a home that fits my budget and literally drag and drop the home from the gallery to the lot. It's so useful and so wonderful, it makes populating the world that much simpler.
Speaking of worlds, unfortunately there are only two at the moment with three or so empty lots within each. However, you are able to demolish homes, so if you'd rather replace that tacky ranch in the corner for your own creation, you are more than welcome to do so. Your Sims can also travel between the worlds: say you have a Sim in Willow Creek but want to check out the nightlife and make some friends in Oasis Springs; simply hit the travel button and select where you'd like to go. You can even move from one world to another with the click of a button, so if you get tired of living in the desert, you can easily move (house and all if you'd like) to another world.
The Sims 4 is indeed a Sims game like no other. True, a lot was removed and a lot was added, but at the end of the day, it's still a great game chock full of pleasant fun and good times. With all of the new elements introduced and the overall tremendous fun factor, once you get immersed in the game, you'll find yourself forgetting about those missing features you were just complaining about yesterday. The Sims 4 is reminiscent enough of the previous games with enough changes, updates and innovation to make it a great standalone game, regardless of the controversy behind it. I can only imagine the expansion packs that will be released for it, but I'm still concerned that some of the removed features will be reintroduced once more as paid content. Only time will tell.
If one still finds themselves sceptical, you may purchase The Sims 4 through Origin and if you aren't impressed or happy with it, Origin is allowing you to return the game for a full refund within 24-hours or so, which is fantastic news for those who aren't too willing to risk a well-earned $60 on a game they are unsure of.
In the end, I give The Sims 4 a 9/10 overall and before you ask, no it doesn't even deserve the score. There's too much that's been changed, there's too much that's been removed and it's a very barebones experience, almost as if they took the original Sims and remade it...horribly. Yet, I still enjoy it and I still find it to be incredibly fun and incredibly addicting, but I'm probably the only person who feels that way.
Yes, I am quite upset with Maxis and EA and yes, I have no illusions that most of the removed features will be returned with paid content and expansion packs, the infamous business practice that is now commonplace and inevitable where The Sims are concerned.
As a biased, Sims fan, I still manage to somehow enjoy the game, which gives it a 9/10 overall, despite the fact that it doesn't deserve it. With that being said, I can't in good conscience let a biased opinion take precedence over standards and principles, which is why I've adjusted my initial score to a 6/10, which in a nutshell, is what The Sims 4 has rightfully earned.
The Sims 4 is a decent game for what it is, but even I have to admit that they really dropped the ball with this one. I'm having a lot of fun with it, but it does not meet basic expectations and it is definitely not worth the full retail price. To top it off, with this latest installment and the fact that The Sims 5 won't be made if The Sims 4 isn't a success, I think The Sims may have simply had its time.
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Lol how does it get a 9 from you even though it didnt score a 9 in any of the categories :/ . And it feels like a cash grab with releasing a half finished game with the other half will most likely be on sale and not for free . Maxis reputation is destroyed because of EA and i Bioware image was damaged because of EA and so was Visceral games because of EA .
It is interesting how you pretty much scored it, and I both agree and disagree about it unless one condition was met.
I agree since you have to show how much you were satisfied with the game as a whole, even with removed features and etc, but some readers would be kind of confused since there are some amount of step backs and removals in the game that they are asking why it doesn't have a lower score.
I would be one of them UNLESS you mentioned both the removed features and criticisms, and how much you enjoyed the game so in my personal opinion, that was a PERFECT review for the game.
Thanks Valenka for the review. Don't know if I am going to get it but until now, I will just have fun with creating Sims in the demo.