SIM-plified: A Look at What’s Good, Bad, and Missing in The Sims 4

Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor

Missing In Action

I could write an entire article about the missing features from previous iterations of the series, but others have beaten me to the punch. Needless to say, almost 100 key features were excluded from the game in order to improve performance, according to our friends at EA.

One of the most egregious, in my humble opinion, is the ridiculous design of the world itself. The persistent open town is long gone, and your Sims now live in segregated community lots of six houses or less. Want to go see your neighbor at the store? Load screen. Want to walk across the street to see a movie? Load screen. Want to go play in the park behind your house? Load screen. 

Your Sim neighbors also received a major cut. Unless you personally interact with them, their stories won’t be told. NPCs don’t fall in love, get married, have kids, or change jobs without your input.