The Sims 4

The Sims have always been a videogame phenomenon. No one could have predicted that something as boring as mundane daily activities of an average person can be so captivating.

The series have been a hit-after-hit show ever since the release of the original The Sims. It had various add-ons and extensions, but only three major games around which the world is built have been released. And in 2014 we got the fourth one.

The first thing you notice is that the user interface is finally getting improved over the monstrous pile of small menus we had before. The graphics are also easy on the eyes, and the trend of making sims look slightly cartoony continues here. The only downside is that the game apparently can crash at times, but that depends on whether you are unlucky enough to get a glitchy copy.

New gameplay features are quite interesting, namely, the emotions system. If your sims were simple like savages before and could not do things when angry or sad, then now they become even more human-like by running their emotions and feelings parallel to what they actually do. Finally, the idea was implemented.

Unfortunately, we traded the new features in for a lack of old ones. Some standard elements of The Sims game life-management are missing from the initial release and are obviously intended for future DLCs. This policy is troubling, as once again it has led to a feeling that the game is empty. It just doesn't have enough content as it is.

All in all, the game feels uneven. Great new mechanics and polish clash with technical glitches and content hunger. But it is still The Sims through and through.