The Sims games are based on a simple concept: create virtual people then influence their lives. As they develop, so they express new needs, start relationships, develop skills and provide a unique experience, part dollhouse, part soap opera.
Now The Sims 3 takes all that and improves on it in every single way in a game that's the best of the series so far.
Previously Sims were restricted to living within the boundaries of a single lot and could only visit another location by taking a taxi ride (interrupted by a loading screen) at which point they were locked in another lot until they decided to return home. Not so now - your Sim is free to explore the entire city without restrictions. And what's more, life goes on throughout the city, with other households growing, evolving and changing. It's an amazingly deep, immersive world your Sims now inhabit.
Core gameplay remains relatively similar, but EA has streamlined a lot of the problems in the earlier games. Sims eat less, need fewer bathroom breaks, pathing is improved and the game focuses less on micromanagement and more on play.
One new feature is the "Moodlet." Your Sims' experiences may give them negative or positive "power-ups" that effect their mood. Eat a good meal or walk into a well-decorated room and your Sim gains positive moodlets. But in a room filled with dirty plates their mood sinks. It's a superb,quick way to gain an insight into your Sim's wellbeing.
Although it still revolves around watching the clock speed past, work has been overhauled, with new careers and paths and even a new "work attitude" option - push yourself for the raise or chill-out with co-workers being just two options open to your working Sims. Although still not perfect it's a more engaging experience than that found in The Sims 2.
Skills have been refined. Writer Sims can pen their own novels, choosing a variety of genres to work in (and even giving it a title). When your book is finished, you'll receive royalties and a complementary copy in the mail, which you can then place in your home. You can plant seeds and grow your vegetables, then use them in your recipes. The depth within the skill set is superb and rewards gamers willing to put the effort into exploring the new system.
Create A Style is a new tool that allows players to modify the colour/pattern of virtually any item in the game, from furniture to clothing and building surfaces. The power of this tool is incredible and offers a vast range of style options for the custom-content creators.
Visually the game is impressive. The Sims themselves - although stylised - are well-animated, with a "solid" feel to them and the environments really shine: trees shake in the wind, waves crash upon the beach, water droplets stick to your Sim's skin.
But perhaps what's most impressive is the sheer depth and immersive nature of The Sims 3. EA have cracked that "just one last thing" gameplay that keeps you hooked for hours on end.
Finally, it's impossible to discuss The Sims 3 without touching upon the negative reception the game has - unfairly - been given by a minority of very vocal players. There are complaints of crash-bugs, that EA didn't include all the content of The Sims 2's expansions and that EA are attempting to rob players with an unfinished/incomplete game.
All I can say is that having played on a Pentium 4 2.8/Nvidia 7600GT and a dual core 2.6/Nvidia 8800GT, the game never crashed, showed no graphical glitches and Time Advance works just fine (EDIT: a patch from EA has since improved Time Advance further, so now there's no excuse for not playing it!)
What I have experienced is people complaining about the "broken" state of The Sims 3 playing on machines that don't meet the minimum requirements. Perhaps they should also complain that their CD Walkman won't play Blu-Ray movies.
As for the "missing" content: even EA would struggle to release 18 DVD's worth of updates on time for under £300. Expansion packs - as they did for the previous games - will be appearing to introduce new content to The Sims 3, so why this is a problem for these people is baffling.
For those willing to accept this new evolution I'd strongly urge giving The Sims 3 a whirl, as it's without a doubt the best game in the series so far. For those unwilling to accept change, then I'm sure EA will continue to support The Sims 2 for another few years yet. However, during that time you'll be missing-out on some amazing experiences.
