The Sims 4 Review - More BooHoo Than WooHoo
A solid game at its core, but it feels like little more THAN a core.
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A solid game at its core, but it feels like little more THAN a core.
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The Sims 4 Review - More BooHoo Than WooHoo
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
It's pretty sad that The Sims 4 just sounds like a crappier version of The Sims 2, considering that game came out a decade ago. I love the series so it really sucks to see it falling behind the times.
Yeah, I think that was the attitude of a lot of people when they saw just how sanitized the game was gonna be. I know it was for me.Mahorfeus said:
i should be the perfect customer for this. after all ive owned all the games and the expansion packs for each, and ive loved each version and sims 3 was my favourite. but sims 4 every piece of news made it sound worse and this review confirms what i was expecting and i wont be touching something thats an actual step back
Well, I'm glad I waited for your review Jim. EA wants AUD$90 for this shell of a game. I was thinking that I'd spend the cash on the Sims 3 expansions - then I felt sick at the thought of giving them more money... I'm not on the "worst company in America" train but bloody hell EA, enough is enough. We can see through your bullshit.
Also, every time I hear, read or say 'emotion' I hear it in Jim's David Cage impression. Thanks a lot xD
Also, every time I hear, read or say 'emotion' I hear it in Jim's David Cage impression. Thanks a lot xD
Seems like EA didn't learn from the disaster that was SimCity.
Worst of all they knew that the Sims 4 is bad game so they didn't send any review copies to the press. Instead of taking more time to make a better game, they release a crappy and buggy game to make more money! And you know they are going to release tons of DLCs.
Incredibly small maps necessitating jumping from map to map. So yes faster load time per map but with the amount of times you move from map to map, the total load time is worse and it breaks the immersion of the game.
Making promises an never keeping them. Yes SimCity has smaller maps but we promise to give bigger maps soon! Let's hope they keep their promise for the Sims 4 and implement pools and toddlers in a FREE update and not a PAID DLC.
Can you tell that I'm still bitter about SimCity?
Worst of all they knew that the Sims 4 is bad game so they didn't send any review copies to the press. Instead of taking more time to make a better game, they release a crappy and buggy game to make more money! And you know they are going to release tons of DLCs.
Incredibly small maps necessitating jumping from map to map. So yes faster load time per map but with the amount of times you move from map to map, the total load time is worse and it breaks the immersion of the game.
Making promises an never keeping them. Yes SimCity has smaller maps but we promise to give bigger maps soon! Let's hope they keep their promise for the Sims 4 and implement pools and toddlers in a FREE update and not a PAID DLC.
Can you tell that I'm still bitter about SimCity?
"Recommendation: The Sims 3"
That was gold.
I'm not expecting a new Sims game to have everything the previous one and its expansions had. But when you start cutting stuff away from the core, that's where you can go fuck yourself. And it's a shame, because the new building tools look awesome, and that's my favorite thing in The Sims.
That was gold.
I'm not expecting a new Sims game to have everything the previous one and its expansions had. But when you start cutting stuff away from the core, that's where you can go fuck yourself. And it's a shame, because the new building tools look awesome, and that's my favorite thing in The Sims.
Agreed, in fact i would expect a sequel to maybe even include some features from the previous game's expansions, not all but some. However making the base game even smaller then the last base game is just taking the piss.DirgeNovak said:
I am playing the sims 3 right now. Another week or two of hard work and I will have enough to finish my basement.
Yay for good sim games! They are fun.
Too bad this is not one of them. It is just... Not good. At least when held up next to sims 3, 2, heck, even 1.
Yay for good sim games! They are fun.
Too bad this is not one of them. It is just... Not good. At least when held up next to sims 3, 2, heck, even 1.
With the caveat I do not own the Sims 4 (I stopped buying EA products around the time Origin came out, although Origin wasn't the main reason) ------- what I understand is the issue isn't that the Sims 4 feels empty compared to prior games with expansions....
It's that the Sims 4 feels empty compared to prior BASE games.
I started looking up game features of just the BASE games, and you can see an obvious improvement largely from game to game, from Sims 1-3. There's not clear cut improvement for 4. There are SOME improvements -- beyond the obvious graphics and UI improvements which every game has had incrementally -- seems like the AI is a little better, building seems easier, there's more skills. In other places it seems like where something was given, something else, often something significant, was taken away. For example -- their new Create A Sim is more intuitive and offers more specific tweaking than ever, and there's some more voices and things like walk styles, BUT they took away the massively cool and helpful customization tool that was Create-a-Style (and I have a feeling they took away Create-a-Style because when people feel like they can ubercustomize their clothes so easily, they might buy less DLC). Create-a-Style also applied to house/furniture design and its loss is huge. The Sims from I think the Sims 2 on offered pre-rendered color variations so the fact that the Sims 4 offers that (albeit in a prettier interface) is nothing new and is in fact an obvious step backwards. There seems to be smoother evolution and development and skills for child and older skills, but babies have turned back into an object rather than a character again (which has not been the case since the first Sims, a 14 year old game) and toddlers have been removed entirely (and with them a whole subset of objects, skills, and challenges available in the previous games). There are simultaneously more and fewer careers -- 8 career options, all of which split in two different paths down the line, so technically there's 16 career paths (more than in any Sim game) but they're really just more choices in only 8 fields (fewer than in any Sim game -- the Sims 1 came with 9 careers; the Sims 3 base game came with 11 careers, 3 of which had dual paths).
Emotions are only new-ish -- Sims have always had moods, and how they work has grown more complex in each game. In the Sims 3, I can look at my Sims aspiration bar and see where it is, hover over it and see the emotion my Sim is feeling (angry, uncomfortable, sad, excited, happy), and indeed those emotions influence what wants appear for me to choose from --- that's actually nothing new, the only new thing the way the Sims 4 does it is it's shifted the focus toward it even more, and made that interface easy to interpret. Those improvements are a good thing, but they're not actually NEW, nor as innovative or game changing as the marketing materials make them out to be.
In the Sims 3 BASE game I can do pretty much all I can in the Sims 4, save for some largely superficial changes to Sim design itself, and a few skills. There's still loads to do -- and the kicker is, there's a larger and more interactive neighborhood to do it in.
It's also not clear to me from what I've seen if Sims 4 has bug and rock collecting which was a Sims 3 base feature and was a cool way to get your Sim cash without getting them a job. Also, to Jim (if he reads these) or anyone else who's got the Sims 4-- did they keep skill challenges and opportunities? Those were both introduced in the Sims 3 and helped make even base gameplay interesting. I've seen that the Sims 4 has achievements, but those are for players, not the Sims themselves (in the Sims 3, earning skill challenges unlocked new abilities the Sims could have). I see the Sims 4 kept aspiration awards which is cool, but what about things that help you earn short term goals like opportunities? Or is the Sims 4 just like Sims 1 gameplay (work, eat, talk, pee, sleep) without challenges to push you forward?
It's that the Sims 4 feels empty compared to prior BASE games.
I started looking up game features of just the BASE games, and you can see an obvious improvement largely from game to game, from Sims 1-3. There's not clear cut improvement for 4. There are SOME improvements -- beyond the obvious graphics and UI improvements which every game has had incrementally -- seems like the AI is a little better, building seems easier, there's more skills. In other places it seems like where something was given, something else, often something significant, was taken away. For example -- their new Create A Sim is more intuitive and offers more specific tweaking than ever, and there's some more voices and things like walk styles, BUT they took away the massively cool and helpful customization tool that was Create-a-Style (and I have a feeling they took away Create-a-Style because when people feel like they can ubercustomize their clothes so easily, they might buy less DLC). Create-a-Style also applied to house/furniture design and its loss is huge. The Sims from I think the Sims 2 on offered pre-rendered color variations so the fact that the Sims 4 offers that (albeit in a prettier interface) is nothing new and is in fact an obvious step backwards. There seems to be smoother evolution and development and skills for child and older skills, but babies have turned back into an object rather than a character again (which has not been the case since the first Sims, a 14 year old game) and toddlers have been removed entirely (and with them a whole subset of objects, skills, and challenges available in the previous games). There are simultaneously more and fewer careers -- 8 career options, all of which split in two different paths down the line, so technically there's 16 career paths (more than in any Sim game) but they're really just more choices in only 8 fields (fewer than in any Sim game -- the Sims 1 came with 9 careers; the Sims 3 base game came with 11 careers, 3 of which had dual paths).
Emotions are only new-ish -- Sims have always had moods, and how they work has grown more complex in each game. In the Sims 3, I can look at my Sims aspiration bar and see where it is, hover over it and see the emotion my Sim is feeling (angry, uncomfortable, sad, excited, happy), and indeed those emotions influence what wants appear for me to choose from --- that's actually nothing new, the only new thing the way the Sims 4 does it is it's shifted the focus toward it even more, and made that interface easy to interpret. Those improvements are a good thing, but they're not actually NEW, nor as innovative or game changing as the marketing materials make them out to be.
In the Sims 3 BASE game I can do pretty much all I can in the Sims 4, save for some largely superficial changes to Sim design itself, and a few skills. There's still loads to do -- and the kicker is, there's a larger and more interactive neighborhood to do it in.
It's also not clear to me from what I've seen if Sims 4 has bug and rock collecting which was a Sims 3 base feature and was a cool way to get your Sim cash without getting them a job. Also, to Jim (if he reads these) or anyone else who's got the Sims 4-- did they keep skill challenges and opportunities? Those were both introduced in the Sims 3 and helped make even base gameplay interesting. I've seen that the Sims 4 has achievements, but those are for players, not the Sims themselves (in the Sims 3, earning skill challenges unlocked new abilities the Sims could have). I see the Sims 4 kept aspiration awards which is cool, but what about things that help you earn short term goals like opportunities? Or is the Sims 4 just like Sims 1 gameplay (work, eat, talk, pee, sleep) without challenges to push you forward?
I watched Robbaz's review of Sim's 4, and he pretty much voiced all the same issues and complaints Jim did with the game.
HOWEVER, he voiced one thing about loading times that I feel is criminal that Jim didn't bring up:
WHY THE FUCK DOES THE GAME NEED TO LOAD 3-10 SECONDS IN ORDER FOR YOU TO CROSS THE STREET TO YOUR NEIGHBORS' HOUSE!!?? WHAT IS THIS? SONIC '06!??!?!
My exuberant bluster aside, let's ignore the fact the game is bare bones for DLC purposes. Let's ignore the fact that it's arguably a weaker game than Sims 3 (and considering how much money people have sunk into Sims 3, there's no real incentive to get the new installment). Let's just look at the fact that this is a game that requires LOADING SCREENS TO CROSS THE STREET. What happens when they start adding DLC? What happens when they add pools ($5.99)? What happens when they add the future and the past ($24.75)? What happens when you build a castle with turrets, a knight barracks, and a full garrison of troops (priceless)? The game will start chugging like Youtube on dial-up. These loading screens and loading times need to be addressed, and addressed PRONTO.
HOWEVER, he voiced one thing about loading times that I feel is criminal that Jim didn't bring up:
WHY THE FUCK DOES THE GAME NEED TO LOAD 3-10 SECONDS IN ORDER FOR YOU TO CROSS THE STREET TO YOUR NEIGHBORS' HOUSE!!?? WHAT IS THIS? SONIC '06!??!?!
My exuberant bluster aside, let's ignore the fact the game is bare bones for DLC purposes. Let's ignore the fact that it's arguably a weaker game than Sims 3 (and considering how much money people have sunk into Sims 3, there's no real incentive to get the new installment). Let's just look at the fact that this is a game that requires LOADING SCREENS TO CROSS THE STREET. What happens when they start adding DLC? What happens when they add pools ($5.99)? What happens when they add the future and the past ($24.75)? What happens when you build a castle with turrets, a knight barracks, and a full garrison of troops (priceless)? The game will start chugging like Youtube on dial-up. These loading screens and loading times need to be addressed, and addressed PRONTO.
The Sims 3 was a better game in basically every respect. Pick it up on sale, or maybe wait for them to give it away when The Sims 5 comes out.Mahorfeus said:
It feels like a throwback to Sims 1, where you never left the house. There's really no reason to go outside. You use the library until you can afford a computer and the gym until you can afford a weight machine, and you never leave your neighborhood again. There are no cars so you just teleport everywhere, even if you're just going one lot over (which means another loading screen). My understanding is that the open world of Sims 3 was a cpu and gpu crusher the more custom content and DLC you added, so I understand the desire to scale that world back but I think they went too far. Or that world will slowly open up at $29.99 a pop. It looks fantastic and while there's some wonkiness with the camera controls in build mode (you can't edge scroll down with an item selected), the ability to build a fully furnished room with two clicks is nice and some of the emotional states are truly funny. My Sim was family oriented and his spouse's job started a day earlier than his, leaving him alone for a whole day. By 3 pm he was curled up under the blankets in bed, crying. So ronery. But Jim's right. There really isn't much game in this game.
Toddlers?
They removed toddlers?
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[facepalm]
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[facepalm]
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[facepalm]
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Wait a minute!
Why am I hitting myself?
I should try to beat stupid out of their heads.
But seriously, Sims4 doesn't have full reproduction cycle for sims themselves?
O_O
Can someone please post a pic, animated gif or video that could express my current feelings?
I simply am speechless.
They removed toddlers?
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[facepalm]
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[facepalm]
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[facepalm]
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Wait a minute!
Why am I hitting myself?
I should try to beat stupid out of their heads.
But seriously, Sims4 doesn't have full reproduction cycle for sims themselves?
O_O
Can someone please post a pic, animated gif or video that could express my current feelings?
I simply am speechless.
Here you are - this little quote has gotten me through some hard times, dude.blackrave said:
http://listenonrepeat.com/?v=XhI0OVs_zj0#God_DAMNIT
More tabs = More fun.
[small][sub]"You ever hear of a place called Vietnam, Larry?"[/sub][/small]
Weeelllll, this wasn't really much of a surprise. Glad there was an earlier leak of the cut content to warn people off it.
Loved the Sims 3. Hell, I still play it from time to time. I remember the first time I pulled the map back and saw that you really could just go anywhere you wanted? It was great. Felt like a genuine followup to what the 2nd game had done.
And now its sequel, like 5 years later, has less then the Sims 2, which is 10 years old. Shit's pathetic and, every other company, they ain't gone be no GOTY Edition. So if you want the "COMPLETE EDITION" somewhere down the line, get ready to fork over $100+.
I'll stick with 3.
And now its sequel, like 5 years later, has less then the Sims 2, which is 10 years old. Shit's pathetic and, every other company, they ain't gone be no GOTY Edition. So if you want the "COMPLETE EDITION" somewhere down the line, get ready to fork over $100+.
I'll stick with 3.