The Sims 4

It is said that only two things are certain in life - death and taxes. It is worth supplementing this list with at least one item - the premiere of new Sims . Now, after nearly 15 years from the release of the first part and countless additions, the next installment comes out with the number "4" in the title . Following the beaten track, the creators have not changed the approach to the game - in The Sims 4 they still focus on the pattern known from the previous parts , introducing in some aspects a slight breath of freshness, modifying others a bit more, and then removing others from the game. Some changes are a plus, but some of them are disappointing.

The first element that catches the eye after launching The Sims 4 (apart from the lack of a classic intro) is a completely changed character creation wizard, brilliant in its simplicity and functionality. The main change affected the way we sculpt the body of the selected Sim - the sliders known from previous views disappeared, and their place was taken by intuitive mouse strokes. Now everything is done quickly - just select the desired part of the body, and then with a few simple steps increase the width of the hips, the thickness of the forearms or the size of the foot. Thanks to this treatment, in just a few moments you can remodel the whole figure and get a really great effect, and the number of available "compositions" is almost unlimited. A finished Sim can also be easily thickened or slightly slimmed down, and its muscle mass can be increased or reduced accordingly - this happens with the help of two available sliders, all while maintaining the proportions between the individual elements of the figure.

Creating a face is also done with the help of the new system - you can easily change the position of the eyes, size of the mouth, ears or nose. For those eager for photographic accuracy of players, the detail editing mode will be useful, where you can increase the thickness of the lips, positioning of eyebrows, protruding the chin, and even the size of the iris! Next, we choose several sets of clothes for our Sim, change the voice timing and movement, and finally add some tasteful additions. In this respect, The Sims 4 also does not disappoint - there are enough options and sets so that everyone can find something for themselves from the wardrobe . In the editor you can spend a lot of time and it will not be wasted, but you do not have to do everything yourself - it's always worth using ready-made sets or generate a random Sim look. It is impossible to leave only the traits and aspirations of a created character to chance. Here, one should think about the choice, after all, it is known for a long time that personality in this series is the most important.

The most important changes that appeared in the new game are closely related to the Sims themselves. presented the system is partly based on previously known ideas, but it also brings a lot of fresh modifications to the emotions that Sims are affected by. The whole gameplay revolves around this important metamorphosis.

Sim's well-being, previously symbolized by the indicator, has been replaced by several emotional states in which he may be. The available moods are various, ranging from negative anger, through neutral cheerfulness, to positive happiness. Of course, as in real life, there is no place for black and white, and Sim can fall into many intermediate states. Being in a specific "mode" increases the number of available dialogue options and allows you to use special interactions. For example, an angry Sim can cool his enthusiasm a little by kicking in the trash or getting into a fight with an unloved friend. In turn, dealing with sadness you can cry in bed or read obituaries. Next: a confident person will enthusiastically admire himself in the mirror and flex the muscles in front of a nice neighbor, and inspired by Sim will create a better work - each of the emotions gives a certain bonus to the action. Using this regularity, we can direct the excited child to intensive jogging, which in a straight line will provide faster increase in physical fitness and improve his appearance. The same angry hero unloads his fury in the gym, and focused in a flash read the book and learn a new skill. As in the Sims series, there are also funny situations: the embarrassed character hides from others in bed, amused prepares pancakes with jelly beans, and after a hard day at work tense Sim de-stress, eating ice cream in the bathtub. Thanks to the large number of new interactions, the gameplay has become even more interesting, and the lives of virtual men, full of emotions and momentary whims, have come a bit closer to the real thing.

From now on, Sims have the opportunity to improve on many other levels, as the number of available abilities has increased. In addition to basic skills, such as charisma, cooking, and physical fitness, the characters we lead can train in playing video games, programming, and space sciences. This will allow you to take part in tournaments for players, write plugins, and even allow you to build your own space rocket. In addition, Sim, who masters comedic skills, will be able to tell jokes in front of the audience gathered in the bar, and the malicious person, along with developing this ability, will learn new tricks to make people's lives uncomfortable. Despite the lack of the famous "WooHoo" additional skills are a nice complement to those already well known.

After work comes time to relax. Unfortunately, the city in The Sims 4 is much less attractive than what was known from the previous part. This resulted in a lack of many buildings, such as a grocery store, SPA salon, theater or work places, where one could take skills-raising courses, among others. The number of available residential plots has also decreased. Currently, the only places of interest are the museum, night club, gym, library and park, which slightly differ in equipment depending on the selected agglomeration. The most interesting seems to be going to the gym, where you can take care of your physical condition and a club where we will meet many new Sims by the bar. Disappointing is also the disappearance of the independent life of the rest of the city - families not controlled by the player will not move out and their members will not make key decisions (career change, marriage, childbirth). All this makes the area is of little interest, and the prospect of constantly reloading the game while traveling is an additional discouragement before leaving home. Strange is the fact that after going to a selected public plot we will see the loading screen as soon as we want to move to the neighboring place! Well, it's better to stock up on the necessary equipment yourself and invite friends to us.

Not only the major changes The Sims 4 stands. The game does not lack seemingly small improvements that significantly affect the comfort of the game. One of them is multitasking - each Sim can now perform up to three activities at the same time. This makes it easier to control the characters, because they can at once eat, talk and watch TV, or use the tablet and ... the toilet at the same time. Although the activities last longer, but the opportunity to arrange several at once will prove to be tempting. Sims' intelligence has also slightly improved - they seem to be wiser in choosing paths and going through narrow passages. Rarely, but still, there are situations in which virtual people, before performing the task entrusted to them, unnecessarily go in a completely different direction, and only after a while get to work.

The visual setting of the game deserves praise - a bit exaggerated and candy. The screen even beats a comic style, and the characters are dripping with sweetness. Going towards vibrant and expressive colors was a hit. Some probably consider the graphics to be weaker than those known from The Sims 3 , however, personally, such a convention suits the whole atmosphere of the series perfectly. A big plus is the character animation. You can see that the developers have devoted a lot of time to this element of the game - Sims move in several different ways, and during gestures and conversations they gesticulate vividly. It's also nice to look at their facial expressions, which change depending on the mood. Observing virtual people is an engaging and often fun activity.