Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Reviews

The Sims 4 review

Even when it incinerates your girlfriend, The Sims 4 brings you back for more

Adam Rosenberg
By
The Sims 4 screenshot 7
The Sims 4
Score Details
“The Sims 4 killed my girlfriend with fire. It's the same quirky, oddball good time it's always been.”
Pros
  • Tweaks to Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy mode are great
  • Minor improvements across the board result in an improved oddball life simulator
Cons
  • Expected content regression after the DLC-packed Sims 3
  • In-game economy feels out of balance with in-game pay scales

The Sims 4 killed my girlfriend with fire.

Let’s set the scene: Virginia and I are preparing to move in together in real life, so I thought it would be fun to replicate that experience in The Sims 4. I created our likenesses, bought us a house, and got us jobs—writer for me (of course), criminal for her. She’s a midwife in the real world, but there’s no medical profession in The Sims – babies just magically escape from their pregnant mothers some time after a special round of WooHoo (Simlish for SEX) – and a life of crime seemed like a good alternative.

I came home to find a fire-scarred kitchen, a dead girlfriend, and the Grim Reaper surveying the grisly scene. 

Related

Unfortunately, Virginia’s shady dealings put her and I on opposite schedules. She’d always be just coming back from a long night of hustling and scheming just as I was heading out to the office. It was fine at first. I’d cook us both breakfast and she’d eat without me. We pined to see more of each other, but we remained happy.

That is until I overslept one morning and skipped out on cooking. She came home, tired and hungry, and decided to make some mac and cheese. Unfortunately, she never really got the hang of the whole cooking thing since I handled that. The oven exploded in her face and no one was around to put out the flames. I came home that evening to find a fire-scarred kitchen, a dead girlfriend on the floor, and the Grim Reaper surveying the grisly scene. So my AI-managed Sim did what any reasonable person would do: Grabbed a drink from the fridge and went to bed.

This little anecdote says so much about the unexpected joys and code-limited shortcomings of The Sims 4‘s “real life simulation.” Sims are simple creatures, guided by a sliding set of meters that dictate their ever-changing needs. Bathroom meter falls into the red? Go use a toilet. Fun meter flagging? Play a game. Energy meter bottoming out? Sleep. With no outside interference from the player, Sims see to their own needs to the best of their abilities, but only you can push them to be more.

The Sims 4 screenshot 12
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The game reduces the human condition to its most basic, necessary components, but leaves the narrative for those experiences to be fabricated in the mind of the player. That was as true in The Sims as it is in The Sims 4, just much more finely tuned now. There’s multitasking, for one. Sims are now capable of socializing while they eat, dance, exercise, and more. It’s a welcome feature; simple though it might be, something like multitasking really helps to create a more true-to-life virtual existence.

Which isn’t to say that The Sims 4 is at its best when it’s replicating real life perfectly. The daily grind of waking up and going to work is an ever-present requirement as that’s the most reliable source of income for your Sims. The early game feels especially restrictive since starting jobs pay so little. Virginia and I both had jobs before she caught fire because we had to; there was no other way to pay for our simple existence.

There’s a progression, of course. Creating a new Sim – a very tactile process in which you click and drag to manipulate the shape of the body – also involves picking their Aspirations and Traits, which lays out a loose sort of life path for them. Complete one of your life goals and you earn special currency that can be spent on potions that ease your Sim’s needs, reverse aging, and cheat other aspects of the game in your favor.

If you want pets or pools or any number of other features, keep playing The Sims 3 while you wait for content to start rolling out.

It’s a rare concession to fantasy in a game that tries very hard to anchor itself in reality. Yes, it’s a twisted take on reality in which no one ever gets sick, jobs pay 1950s salaries against a 2014 consumer marketplace, and everyone refers to sex as “WooHoo.” The potions are just another part of that bizarre charm, much like the series-standard cheat codes. Don’t like the starting lot for your Sims? Cheat them up $100K and give their virtual lives an easier start.

The bigger improvements in The Sims 4 happen on the creative side, and they’re great. Create-a-Sim lacks the depth that it’s had in the past, but the more intuitive push-and-pull tactility of body modification is a huge step forward from the esoteric sliders of past games. More welcome is the combining of Build and Buy into a single mode; it’s now possible to erect a house and fill it with stuff (provided you have the money) in a single, seamless act.

User-friendliness was clearly a focus in the design here, starting with fully furnished room “types” that you can drag-and-drop into a space, then tweak as you like. A handy search feature also makes hunting down specific items a snap; just like the Mac OS Finder app, you just type the thing you want and the search dynamically fills out a list of hits as you go.

The Sims 4 screenshot 9
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The only significant problem is the expected regression that’s been the standard for each new numbered entry in this series. Sims games live and die on their post-release expansion packs, so The Sims 4 at launch is not the same game you’ll be playing in 2015. If you want pets or pools or any number of other features that are standard now in The Sims 3, keep playing that one while you wait for content to start rolling out.

The Sims 4 might have killed my girlfriend with fire, but it did so in such a whimsical and oddball way that I can’t be angry with it. There’s not a whole lot of mystery to this series. Like many annual release games like Call of Duty and Madden, there’s an established model that’s tweaked and fine-tuned, but never torn down and rebuilt from scratch.

That foundation remains in The Sims 4, and it’s as unusual a life simulator as any of its predecessors. It might be looking a little thin for now, but it’s sure to grow soon enough.

This game was reviewed on a first-gen Alienware X51 gaming PC using an Origin code provided by Electronic Arts.

Highs

  • Tweaks to Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy mode are great
  • Minor improvements across the board result in an improved oddball life simulator

Lows

  • Expected content regression after the DLC-packed Sims 3
  • In-game economy feels out of balance with in-game pay scales

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Best PlayStation Plus Deals: Save on Essential, Plus and Premium
Best PS Plus deals

If you don't have a PlayStation Plus (PS Plus) membership, you're only not getting the full benefits of your PlayStation 5 (or 4). PS Plus lets you play online multiplayer, as well as get free games and other bonuses. Sony recently revamped their PS Plus subscription method, so you now have the option of three different tiers: Essential, Extra and Premium. We'll go over all of these options below. When you've figured out which one you want, check out or list of the best PlayStation Plus deals at the bottom of this article. You can start your PS Plus membership for as low as $5.

 
What is PlayStation Plus?
Along with online multiplayer and other in-game network features, a PlayStation Plus Essential membership grants you access to exclusive discounts and other promotions. Perhaps the most notable benefit of PlayStation Plus is that every month, Sony gives subscribers one PlayStation 5 and two PlayStation 4 games that are free to download. You have one month to add these free PlayStation Plus games to your library.

Read more
Red Dead Redemption is coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4 this month
red dead redemption switch ps4 release date key art

The original Red Dead Redemption is coming to two new platforms, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, later this month. It'll retail for $50 on both platforms.
Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare Coming to Switch and PS4
Rockstar Games' open-world western game first launched in 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3. It was critically acclaimed and a smash sales hit, creating a new franchise for Rockstar that could stand alongside the likes of Grand Theft Auto. It received a sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, in 2019, but the original Red Dead Redemption remained stuck on older platforms outside of backward compatibility support on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
That's why fans got excited when a rating for the game from the Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea popped up. We've now learned that this rating is for new Nintendo Switch and PS4 ports of Red Dead Redemption by Double Eleven Studios. Red Dead Redemption will release across both of those platforms digitally on August 17, with a physical launch to follow on October 13.

It will cost $50 and includes the base campaign as well as the zombie-infested Undead Nightmare expansion; the Red Dead Online multiplayer is not included. This is the first time Red Dead Redemption will ever be on a Nintendo system, although it doesn't look like the port will have much in the way of Switch-exclusive features. That said, a press release does reveal that this will be the first version of the game to include Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese localizations.
Red Dead Redemption comes out on PS4 and Nintendo Switch on August 17. 

Read more
The best places to find Purple, Ice, Pink and Rock Pikmin in Pikmin 4
The player stands with Oatchi and some Red Pikmin in Pikmin 4.

While there were only the base Pikmin types of Red, Blue, and Yellow in the original game, there are now nine different types in Pikmin 4. All the originals return, as you would expect, but plenty of new and exciting ones are introduced. Each one still has a unique advantage that allows you to do new things and get to new areas of the massive zones, meaning you will need to utilize each and every one to complete all your tasks. That said, there are some types that are more difficult to find than others. Yes, you could make each type yourself by finding their corresponding onion, however, some onions aren't unlocked until very late into your playtime, or even after you've beaten the game. If you want to know the best places to track down the Purple, Pink, Ice, and Rock Pikmin in Pikmin 4, follow our lead.
Where to find Purple Pikmin

The Purple Pikmin are the first type that is somewhat tricky to find. This type is useful because each one has both the carrying capacity and weight of 10 Pikmin, creating shockwaves when you throw them, but is the slowest of all the types. The first level you can encounter them on is Seren Shores. On this map, head into the Engulfed Castle cave. This is a very dangerous cave, but if you're just looking to bolster your numbers, you can rush in, collect them, and run away.
Where to find Ice Pikmin

Read more