Breaking down the complexities of life, EA “life simulator” 'The Sims' has been ported to the consoles in 'The Sims 3.'

'The Sims 3' is the true 3rd game in the series aside from the numerous add-on packs released by 'Electronic Arts.' 'The Sims 3' is a refined rendition of the original self-created genre that shockingly replicates our lives in game form. While 'The Sims' isn't for everyone, if you liked the previous games you will easily be sucked into 'The Sims 3.'

If you have never played a "Sims" game, 'The Sims 3' is a great place to start. Simply living life in a game might not sound too appealing, but surprisingly it is more stimulating than you would probably envision. You can tweak and alter almost every single factor of the game to make each experience vastly different and intimate to the player. 'The Sims 3' is severely detailed, I'm talking about controlling your Sims' every movement from when they use the washroom to whom they will meet and what the direction they will go in life. Across all areas, EA has tried their best to emulate the natural things we do every day and aside the entertainment of being a puppet master, it is also very interesting to explore the complexities of human behaviour.

The goal of the game is really up to the player, but the game does it's best to point you towards a goal, mainly a career path and then some sub-objectives all in varying degrees of difficulty. Improving your character and balancing their needs and wants is all part of the experience. At times all this micro-management can become overwhelming, but that is just a part of the game, and I guess life. While the Sims remains fascinating from day to day, it can also become unnecessarily tedious. Eating, sleeping, talking, yes, its all part of the rat race. More so, you can have children, develop relationships, and even die. Take it as you will, the sims is a true simulation with some “fun” or “game-y” elements added in.

Staying faithful to the core gameplay of the Sims, 'The Sims 3' isn't a fluffed up, slimmed down edition like you might surmise from a console port. This is a true porting of the PC edition. You start by creating a player, or players, depending on how you want to live your Sim-life. Of course the Sims 3 is highly customizable, although not everything is unlocked right off the start. New content is unlocked through normal gameplay or by downloading new content from the online store. The content might held back, but your options are fully open. 'The Sims 3' feels almost unlimited possibilities and it is... kind of. 'The Sims 3' is repetitive, but it's a good repetitive, one that mirrors the repetitiveness in real life. This is a simulation on life after all and if I was a sim I would be simply typing another review. Got to love the daily routine.

Besides the daily drawl of life, 'The Sims 3' encourages the player to follow a career path, fall in love and experience everything “life has to offer.” Your sim also has their own dreams and goals that help focus your game into a certain direction. These goals pop up as you play the game and cue up with easy access. Completing goals earns you Karma points that add to their “Karma Powers.” Karma Powers are like special powers that give the player the ability to something extremely good or bad. For example there is “Bless the Mess” instantly repair and clean anything broken clean or mess to “Giant Jackpot” let any Sim hit the jackpot earning between 1'000 and $15'000 instantly. On the flip side you can also use your powers for evil like “Fire Storm” rain fire and brimstone down on the world or “Poltergeists” haunt a house with angry ghosts. Either or, Karma helps liven up the game and make the Sims even more unpredictable.

Karma and the other gameplay sections are explained through various in-game tutorials and challenges that keep popping up helping you get a grasp on the system. There is a mild learning curve before you get fully into all the motions, but it's not too bad given the depth of the title. Expect a pile of information coming you way in a short while. If you never have played a 'Sims' game before, it's going to take a little longer to get your barring before someone who has played any of the games in the long running series.

For differences between the console and PC edition you would have to pinpoint the controls. The console controls are mapped to make navigation and jumping among menus effortlessly. The concept behind controlling your character is by interacting with a beam of light that can be moved to highlight anything in the world, and rotating the camera is done simply so you can see the entire world. Even though this system works, it's not as smooth as the PC mouse & keys experience, which is expected. All-in-all its nice NOT to fumble around with the controls making the Sims as enjoyable as possible.

I've heard several complaints about the load times, but I didn't find them too bad. The main load times come into play when you are moving to another location on the map. Totally understandable. Still if you find the 'Sims 3' to be running slow, installing it on your console will speed things up marginally, but you still have to wait 1-10 seconds while the game loads. Wow, us gamers have become an impatient bunch.

If you've never played a “Sims” game then you owe it to yourself to take a look at 'The Sims 3.' Flawlessly translated from the PC, the console version holds up in comparison and represents the simulation style of the original without subduing to the “console” gamer. While on the surface, 'The Sims 3' might seem as boring as routine living in real life, you can have a lot of fun when you get creative, and given the almost limitless options available in 'The Sims 3' this is easy to do. 'The Sims 3' isn't going to be for everyone. However, for those in the “know” 'The Sims 3' is one of those games you can play for years on end. A quality not often found in console games. Bottom line, 'The Sims 3' is solid and worth checking out.

Solid representation of the PC game Navigation is done surprisingly well Addictive, just “one more turn” gameplay Very interesting “playing god” game mechanics Production is solid – even if we're sick of “sim-lish” EA Server interaction is a nice touch A must see, if you've never played the Sims in the past Ultimately, the game is still better on the PC Still a “sims” game, not translated to entice the “typical” console gamer Can become highly repetitious Quote: "If you've never played a “Sims” game then you owe it to yourself to take a look at 'The Sims 3.' Flawlessly translated from the PC, the console version holds up in comparison and represents the simulation style of the original without subduing to the “console” gamer." Reviewed by DowntownJimmy | 11.29.10