The Sims Online

 PC
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 23
  3. Negative: 1 out of 23
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  1. Adrenaline Vault
    60
    Even when it works, The Sims Online has little to offer beyond serving as a graphical instant messenger with an economy.
  2. All Game Guide
    60
    Sartre once noted, "Hell is other people." The Sims Online is strictly for those who would disagree.
  3. Computer Gaming World
    60
    You'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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  5. FiringSquad
    59
    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.
  6. Gamers' Temple
    69
    The greatest chat room ever, or the most boring online game in quite a while?
  7. GameSpot
    67
    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.
  8. GameSpy
    60
    It's fun as a chat room, but has a lot of growing to do as a game.
  9. GameZone
    73
    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.
  10. Gaming Age
    67
    Can be as mundane as real life... You’ll have to invest virtual sweat and tears to make it a worthwhile experience.
  11. IGN
    72
    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.
  12. PC Gamer
    68
    Extremely social chatters will enjoy it, but everyone else will be thumb-twiddling. [Mar 2003, p.96]
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  13. PC Gameworld
    63
    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.
  14. TotalGames.net
    70
    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.
  15. Yahoo!
    60
    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.

Awards & Rankings

97
#97 Best PC Game of 2002
88
#88 Most Discussed PC Game of 2002

User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 3 out of 18
  1. KaseyG.
    Nov 23, 2005
    10
    Love It
  2. Andrea
    Mar 12, 2005
    9
    The sims online is pretty good i guess i've never really plaed it but i've played the other sims so the sims online must be great toThe sims online is pretty good i guess i've never really plaed it but i've played the other sims so the sims online must be great to because most of the other sims games rock.… Full Review »
  3. BradD.
    Jul 14, 2003
    5
    This game lied to me. It told me it was really fun and interactive. Like The Sims only online. But instead I got a big chat room where you This game lied to me. It told me it was really fun and interactive. Like The Sims only online. But instead I got a big chat room where you get to see yourself cybering w/ other people. This game is very fun....for the first 20 minutes. Then it gets stupid and repetitive. It promised a chance for people to escape their own lives and make a new one but instead it presented the world with a virtual reality where the world is controlled by the first 30 small businesses that popped up and not enough work in the engine to be anything like the real world. And if you guys think ten bucks is a lot then you obviously dont play MMORPGS becuase most of them cost more. … Full Review »
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