‘The Sims 4’ is a life simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts in 2014. It is the fourth installment of ‘The Sims’ series. It offers players an immersive experience that allows players to create and play with life. However, is the game worth your time?
Create-A-Sim
‘Create a Sim’ is the precursor to gameplay, in which you develop the characters you wish to play with. In this section of the game, you can choose your characters’ names, appearance, traits, and aspirations. Compared to the previous games in the series, create a sim is the most realistic it’s been throughout the series. Create a sim in ‘The Sims 4’ uses a drag and drop feature, in which you can move your characters’ features with your mouse rather than use sliders to control their features similar to the way they did in the previous games. This makes it very easy to create characters. The only issue within create a sim in ‘The Sims 4’ is the number of traits you can attribute to a sim. In ‘The Sims 3,’ the previous entry, you could attribute your sims 5 different traits. These traits would change the way your characters interact with other characters. In ‘The Sims 4,’ you can only attribute your characters 3 different traits. This greatly limits the vast possibilities for interaction within gameplay.
Build Mode
‘Build Mode’ is a feature that allows you to build characters’ homes, and the places they go to during gameplay. Similar to create a sim, build mode in ‘The Sims 4’ is very realistic and much easier to use than previous series entries. You can create walls, add wallpaper and flooring with the drag of a mouse, and add windows and doors accordingly. You can add several different kinds of roofs to the same building, which differs from previous series entries. The only issue with build mode are the clipping issues you may encounter while placing furniture. Furniture may conflict with other furniture, and the grid building system of ‘The Sims 4′ means that objects which are far away from each other may not be placed because of the number of grids it takes up.
Live Mode
‘Live Mode’ allows your characters to live realistically and interact with other characters. Unfortunately, live mode in ‘The Sims 4’ is not as immersive as previous entries in the series. Although it’s not bad by any means, it is missing many features included in the previous games. Two of the previous entries both included cars, which ‘The Sims 4’ is still missing. The previous entry also included an open world, which allowed characters to move from lot to lot without any loading screens. This feature is missing in ‘The Sims 4,’ which many players feel should have been included in the game. Other features, such as the inclusion of aliens or immersive parenting have been locked behind paywalls in the form of downloadable content. Furthermore, due to the high graphics and textures, ‘Sims 4’ players with older computers may find their PC heating up or having their battery drained. This causes many players to feel as though ‘The Sims 4’ is not up to par with the rest of the entries in the series.
Opinion From a ‘Sims 4’ Player
Mariella Spina, a 16-year-old junior at Colonia High School, was an avid ‘Sims 4’ player. When asked about the game, she reported, ‘I really enjoyed ‘The Sims 4.’ It was always a really fun game, I enjoyed being able to make my own characters and play with them.’ When asked about why she stopped playing the game, she stated, ‘It used to completely drain my battery when I played it and it would overheat my computer, which is why I stopped playing it. ‘
