Have been playing Sims 2 for years and want to know if you should buy Sims 3, if so then you are in the right place. I have been playing The Sims for many years and I want to give you my honest opinion on whether or not you should buy Sims 3. Just a quick note before I begin, this is a review of the base game, not the expansion packs. Ok lets get started.
Create-A-Sim: 4 stars
Let me first start by saying the graphics are beautiful on this game, very clean and crisp. Also the customization choices that you have are amazing; you can customize the color of every part of your Sim's outfit with any color you can possible think up. There is also a pattern system that allows you to go into even more depth with your customizations.
Your Sims hair coloration is now broken down into for sections, each can be 100% customized. The only reason I gave the Sims 3 a 4 out of 5 stars is because of the facial customizations. It just isn't quite as in depth as 2, but there are some new, different things you can do.
House Customization: 5 stars
One of the biggest reasons you should buy Sims 3 is for the house building. In 3 they added the ability to place furniture at angles, so you don't need to worry about those awkward objects near angled walls anymore. One thing to keep in mind is that there are several expansions for this game that add more furniture. One of the downsides with Sims 3's house building is that you cannot just click the lot and begin building, you actually have to be playing your saved household then exit it and click "edit town", and then you can select a lot. Not to big of a deal just a minor detail I suppose.
Neighborhood Building: 1 star
The neighborhood building aspect of the Sims 3 was very disappointing for me, no longer can you build your own neighborhoods; you are simply stuck with customizing Sunset Valley, or downloading a neighborhood from their website.
There is no longer any pre made empty neighborhoods to customize. There is also no compatibility with SimCity 4, this is quite disappointing as well. So for now you are stuck with Sunset Valley Note: there is now a "create a World Tool" available for PCs. I have not played with this though so I am not reviewing it.
Story Mode: 5 stars
There is not a huge difference in the Movies or Stories from the Sims 2, but that being said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The photo capture is basically "print screen" but it works well. The picture will be the exact quality of what you see on screen, so the size of the picture is identical to your resolution setting for your game. The video capture options are the exact same as 2, and also like 2 the controls for video capture are very difficult to use.
Single Family: 4 stars
If you were a one household kind of guy/girl in your previous Sims game then you need to buy Sims 3, because it makes single family play very interesting. All the Sims around you age with you. So as you grow up, so do your neighborhood friends. This was a little thing I hated about 2, and really made me want to buy Sims 3. Also you can now explore the rest of the world with makes the possibilities for your Sims endless.
Multi Family: 2 stars
if you liked playing god in Sims 2, being able to move from house to house making crazy stories, then i am going to apologize for Sims 3 because you have been demoted from omnipotent to manager. There is no longer the ability to save single households. When you leave a house the Sims are taken over by the computer and continue playing like you were never there. Sims 3 is much more of a game then a story telling device, which is disappointing for some.
Console play: 5 stars
If you are going to buy Sims 3 for your console you will be extremely happy, because Sims 3 plays wonderfully on the console. It plays very similar to Sims 2 but more in depth. I highly recommend the console version.
If you are looking for a game with a plot and an ending then this game is not for you, but if you want control over every aspect of your game then you need to buy Sims 3.
