- Publisher: EA Games
- Release Date: Dec 18, 2002
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Unlike the previous Sims games, all of these citizens are controlled by actual people. In other words, you might want to double-check the genders of those two cuties before you try to score the world’s first virtual hot-tub ménage à trois.
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Game InformerThe Sims Online has retained the je ne sais quoi that makes its brethren so fun to play. [Mar 2003, p.89]
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There’s just one problem with The Sims Online: It’s almost not a game. The slow-paced activities rely so heavily on social interaction that in some ways it feels like a glorified chat room.
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GMR MagazineA game that no review can adqeuately describe, since the possible experiences are virtually limitless. Is it a game or a playground? Play it and decide for yourself.[Feb 2003, p.66]
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Makes for surreal fun with a strangely addictive quality, and, if anything, it has seemingly endless potential. Like the stand-alone versions of the game, The Sims Online is what you make of it.
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Computer Games MagazineIt's a game about nothing... It's a world entirely in the hands of its players, so the possibilities for creativity and expansion are virtually endless. [Apr 2003, p.74]
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While there is room for improvement, the great feature about The Sims Online is the ability to update and add content at the game sign-on menu. (Maxis’ intends to add new material to The Sims Online for at least 2 or 3 years.)
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GameNowCooperation is key. It's easier and faster to do everything with the help of other Sims. [Mar 2003, p.55]
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If the idea of chat rooms appeals to you, if the idea of stepping outside yourself and trying on a different life and face (even a polar bear’s head) is something you would enjoy, this could well be the game for you.
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While there are similar problems with the original "The Sims," the element of time and quantified social interactions provided a real sense of challenge and conflict that's completely missing here.
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A major problem (though one that is sadly unavoidable) is the way in which activities can’t be fast-forwarded... The result is that a great deal of time is spent watching a Sim doing something utterly trivial and dull.
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The greatest chat room ever, or the most boring online game in quite a while?
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PC GamerExtremely social chatters will enjoy it, but everyone else will be thumb-twiddling. [Mar 2003, p.96]
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Can be as mundane as real life... You’ll have to invest virtual sweat and tears to make it a worthwhile experience.
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Though the game's developer plans to make many additions to the game, for now, The Sims Online lacks many of the options that made the original game so intriguing, and it doesn't really replace them.
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Will entertain for a while, but will become old fast. People interested in a chat room environment will find some fun here, but others, especially fans of the previous games, may feel cheated.
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Computer Gaming WorldYou'll be praying for at least a competent if not sparking conversationalist... For now, the game is pretty boring. [Apr 2003, p.104]
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It's fun as a chat room, but has a lot of growing to do as a game.
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Sartre once noted, "Hell is other people." The Sims Online is strictly for those who would disagree.
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Unlike the offline game, The Sims Online lacks the mad energy and pleasant frustration of managing a complex system of happiness, goals and limited time.
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Even when it works, The Sims Online has little to offer beyond serving as a graphical instant messenger with an economy.
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The chat interface is a poorly organized mess. Guiding your sim through necessary activities requires too much real time hand-holding and should have been better automated.
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The Sims Online is burdened by an intense emphasis on drudgery and an amazing lack of emphasis on fun - unless it's a quick pit stop at a pool table or in front of a TV to juice up your Sim's Fun meter to prepare for more work. That's just a little bit too much like real life for my tastes.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 18
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Mixed: 3 out of 18
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Negative: 3 out of 18
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KaseyG.Nov 23, 2005Love It
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AndreaMar 12, 2005
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BradD.Jul 14, 2003