This is a longish review, but it's an honest one. :)
Here is my roller coaster ride leading up to this review. :)
Although my 7 year tenure is only half as long as many who have 14 - 15 years under their belt with the series we have come to love, I do consider myself a hardcore simmer. I'm nobody special in the sims world, but when I say I have played the sims for 7 years, I [i]really[/i] played the sims. Countless hours of building, creating worlds, modelling, building legacies and destroying them, and making more sims and sim families than I can possibly count in TS2 and TS3. Week-long marathons while I was home sick, spending snow days glued to my laptop...the list goes on. And so I, like many hardcore simmers, was angry, disappointed, and disgusted with the continuous stream of items that were going to be pulled from TS4. My plumbob was a deep, rich red. I couldn't believe that this game that I have spent so much time with was going to have such a hollow continuation. Emotions didn't matter to me because I have a very good imagination. My sims never seemed to be like zombies, never seemed to lack emotion and feelings. So, I saw no positives of this game.
Of course, my severe addiction to the sims (lol), had previously influenced me to buy not only every SP and EP, and countless store content for TS2 and TS3, but also allowed me to justify buying a brand new laptop for TS2 and another for TS3. This same addiction influenced me to give TS4 a chance. So I pre-ordered the game. Then I heard that the babies were technically objects...and without toddlers to compensate for that, I canceled my pre-order. Then I saw some live play videos from simmers like The English Simmer, who had gone to Creator's Camp and I enjoyed the video immensely. Finally, I realized, if I [i]really[/i] don't want this game, why have I spent all my free time on the forums, watching videos, and searching screenshots? So, I pre-ordered once again.
When it arrived on Sept 2nd, I waited....just to make sure it didn't blow up anyone's computer :) Finally, on 9/5, the first of a four day weekend for me, I installed it. I was lucky. I was able to launch the game, build a house, and share it to the gallery without any issues. Then came the really big test - the gameplay. I approached it ready to be disappointed but trying so hard to keep an open mind.
What I noticed first was the scenery, which, in my opinion looks so much nicer in game than any screenshots or videos I've seen thus far. I hit play, held my breath, and began.
[b]11 hours later[/b], I looked up and looked around. "What time is it? What [i]day[/i] is it?" My husband was sitting at his desk across from me. "When did [b]you[/b] get here?" I thought. I looked at the time. It was 2AM. I was exhausted and had just completed a 15 hour straight-run through the game. Were there issues in that time? Yes, minimal issues. A lag here or there...very occasional freezes lasting a second or two. Nothing that stopped me from playing, nothing that really interfered. My sims explored, made friends, and spent the 11 hours that I spent playing (the other 4 were spent building) showing me the cutest and funniest interactions and animations that I've ever seen in a sims game. I enjoyed this game SO much more than I thought I would. It's just a lot of fun...it really, really is.
However! We still have to look at this game objectively. As a big legacy/family player, the removal of toddlers really upset me. As an avid builder, the removal of CASt also really upset me. CASt is the only one I understand. Rendering countless textures absolutely can cause issues, but there really is no excuse not to have a color wheel. To me, build mode (which is really awesome) would be doubly great if it had a color wheel so we could match our furniture, curtains, etc. Toddlers, I don't understand. That one really still stings. Should we have this new, improved, rich gameplay along with toddlers and a color wheel? Yes....yes, we should. Would I trade this new gameplay for toddlers and a color wheel? No, no I wouldn't. And that is the honest truth. I do think we should have all of those things, but if I had to pick one, I would definitely go with this gameplay. It really is that fun and it really is that good. Toddlers are great, but they are only one part of gameplay. This new style of gameplay applies to everything your Sims does. It's new, it's exciting, and all in the best possible way.
The UI takes some getting used to, as does the new build mode, but I thought the same thing when TS3 came out (though maybe to a lesser extent).
I didn't want to go to sleep last night because I didn't want to stop playing. When I woke up this morning, I ran for my laptop. I haven't been THIS excited to play sims since I first started playing TS2, when the entire concept was new to me. What I realized is that in all the hours that I played yesterday, the TV was off, I didn't browse my phone, or do anything other than PLAY. I was so engrossed that my attention wasn't focused on anything but the game. Are there things missing in gameplay? Absolutely. What I miss most is the ability to DO things with other sims rather than just talk and watch TV. Like playing catch, and things like that. But, I must remind myself this is only the base.
I do hope that at some point they bring back toddlers, pools, and the color wheel. I do hope they can make a Mac version for anyone with a Mac computer, and I do hope they fix any issues that are occurring right now. That demon baby scares the crap out of me. I know there are so many disappointed fans out there, and I really understand why you're disappointed. I hope the game somehow redeems itself for you.
With all of this said, as pleasantly surprised as I am, and as much FUN as this game has been....the biggest reason for excitement for this game is its potential. I can really see this game going somewhere. We know there will be EPs because, well because it's the sims. What those EPs will be or what they will bring to the game, only time will tell, but this base is for sure, the richest most satisfying base I have ever played...in this lowly simmer's opinion.
Back to the game for me, and keeping my fingers and toes crossed that everything continues to run smoothly and that this review didn't just jinx all of that. ;)
Happy Simming, everyone! :)
Chelle xo
Oh, and P.S. - this review has not been sponsored in any way by EA...or Maxis....lol :)
Here is my roller coaster ride leading up to this review. :)
Although my 7 year tenure is only half as long as many who have 14 - 15 years under their belt with the series we have come to love, I do consider myself a hardcore simmer. I'm nobody special in the sims world, but when I say I have played the sims for 7 years, I [i]really[/i] played the sims. Countless hours of building, creating worlds, modelling, building legacies and destroying them, and making more sims and sim families than I can possibly count in TS2 and TS3. Week-long marathons while I was home sick, spending snow days glued to my laptop...the list goes on. And so I, like many hardcore simmers, was angry, disappointed, and disgusted with the continuous stream of items that were going to be pulled from TS4. My plumbob was a deep, rich red. I couldn't believe that this game that I have spent so much time with was going to have such a hollow continuation. Emotions didn't matter to me because I have a very good imagination. My sims never seemed to be like zombies, never seemed to lack emotion and feelings. So, I saw no positives of this game.
Of course, my severe addiction to the sims (lol), had previously influenced me to buy not only every SP and EP, and countless store content for TS2 and TS3, but also allowed me to justify buying a brand new laptop for TS2 and another for TS3. This same addiction influenced me to give TS4 a chance. So I pre-ordered the game. Then I heard that the babies were technically objects...and without toddlers to compensate for that, I canceled my pre-order. Then I saw some live play videos from simmers like The English Simmer, who had gone to Creator's Camp and I enjoyed the video immensely. Finally, I realized, if I [i]really[/i] don't want this game, why have I spent all my free time on the forums, watching videos, and searching screenshots? So, I pre-ordered once again.
When it arrived on Sept 2nd, I waited....just to make sure it didn't blow up anyone's computer :) Finally, on 9/5, the first of a four day weekend for me, I installed it. I was lucky. I was able to launch the game, build a house, and share it to the gallery without any issues. Then came the really big test - the gameplay. I approached it ready to be disappointed but trying so hard to keep an open mind.
What I noticed first was the scenery, which, in my opinion looks so much nicer in game than any screenshots or videos I've seen thus far. I hit play, held my breath, and began.
[b]11 hours later[/b], I looked up and looked around. "What time is it? What [i]day[/i] is it?" My husband was sitting at his desk across from me. "When did [b]you[/b] get here?" I thought. I looked at the time. It was 2AM. I was exhausted and had just completed a 15 hour straight-run through the game. Were there issues in that time? Yes, minimal issues. A lag here or there...very occasional freezes lasting a second or two. Nothing that stopped me from playing, nothing that really interfered. My sims explored, made friends, and spent the 11 hours that I spent playing (the other 4 were spent building) showing me the cutest and funniest interactions and animations that I've ever seen in a sims game. I enjoyed this game SO much more than I thought I would. It's just a lot of fun...it really, really is.
However! We still have to look at this game objectively. As a big legacy/family player, the removal of toddlers really upset me. As an avid builder, the removal of CASt also really upset me. CASt is the only one I understand. Rendering countless textures absolutely can cause issues, but there really is no excuse not to have a color wheel. To me, build mode (which is really awesome) would be doubly great if it had a color wheel so we could match our furniture, curtains, etc. Toddlers, I don't understand. That one really still stings. Should we have this new, improved, rich gameplay along with toddlers and a color wheel? Yes....yes, we should. Would I trade this new gameplay for toddlers and a color wheel? No, no I wouldn't. And that is the honest truth. I do think we should have all of those things, but if I had to pick one, I would definitely go with this gameplay. It really is that fun and it really is that good. Toddlers are great, but they are only one part of gameplay. This new style of gameplay applies to everything your Sims does. It's new, it's exciting, and all in the best possible way.
The UI takes some getting used to, as does the new build mode, but I thought the same thing when TS3 came out (though maybe to a lesser extent).
I didn't want to go to sleep last night because I didn't want to stop playing. When I woke up this morning, I ran for my laptop. I haven't been THIS excited to play sims since I first started playing TS2, when the entire concept was new to me. What I realized is that in all the hours that I played yesterday, the TV was off, I didn't browse my phone, or do anything other than PLAY. I was so engrossed that my attention wasn't focused on anything but the game. Are there things missing in gameplay? Absolutely. What I miss most is the ability to DO things with other sims rather than just talk and watch TV. Like playing catch, and things like that. But, I must remind myself this is only the base.
I do hope that at some point they bring back toddlers, pools, and the color wheel. I do hope they can make a Mac version for anyone with a Mac computer, and I do hope they fix any issues that are occurring right now. That demon baby scares the crap out of me. I know there are so many disappointed fans out there, and I really understand why you're disappointed. I hope the game somehow redeems itself for you.
With all of this said, as pleasantly surprised as I am, and as much FUN as this game has been....the biggest reason for excitement for this game is its potential. I can really see this game going somewhere. We know there will be EPs because, well because it's the sims. What those EPs will be or what they will bring to the game, only time will tell, but this base is for sure, the richest most satisfying base I have ever played...in this lowly simmer's opinion.
Back to the game for me, and keeping my fingers and toes crossed that everything continues to run smoothly and that this review didn't just jinx all of that. ;)
Happy Simming, everyone! :)
Chelle xo
Oh, and P.S. - this review has not been sponsored in any way by EA...or Maxis....lol :)
P.P.S. - the image I used for this review is my sim Kimberly who took her drink to the bathroom with her when she was at the bar...which I tho