The Sims 2 or 3?

AlysenMinase

Since Sims 3 is so different from 2, it seems there's a little war going on in the official forums about which is better. Obviously Sims 2 has more content since it has all the expansions already released, but which do you prefer? The more content/easier to mod 2 or seamless and more in game customization 3?

Chessack

Wow this is very difficult.  I have played both, and I like both.  I think eventually Sims 3 might be better, but Sims 2 whips it right now in terms of content, if you want to buy that content.

 

I also think the direction of the first expansion wasn't where I wanted to see Sims going, and so I did not buy that -- perhaps that would have swayed me one way or the other.

 

I'd actually recommend a newbie start with Sims 3, rather than Sims 2, because Sims 3 is easier.  You have, I think, 2 less "needs" bars... and you can immunize yourself against a couple of the needs (bladder and cleanliness), so you can make it so you only have 4 needs bars (effectively). It's also much easier to earn money from nothing by just planting a lot of garden plants... I had a legacy founder once who never got a job but because of the "farm" he had on his land he made almost $100k by the end of his life.  Also, Sims 3 is easier if you extend the life span of the Sim (assuming you are trying to get a lifetime want completed before the Sim dies).

 

To sum up, Sims 3 makes it easier to have your Sim earn money, achieve wants/desires, and especially avoid needs failure, making it a better game for new players (oddly enough). However it has less content (by a LOT) and less variety of things to do compared to Sims 2.  Conversely, Sims 2 has more content and variety (right now) but it is a harder game and a new Sims player might have a hard time with it starting from scratch (especially if you don't start out with at least a few of the helpful expansions like University and Night Life).

 

Personally I loved both games, though recently play mostly Sims 3 because I've kind of played 2 to death.  Also I hated how short my Sims' lives were in Sims 2 (its main drawback) and I like that you can extend that now by a huge amount if you so desire.

 

C

franceno

I prefer Sims 3 because I love to customize and I really like the graphics.

eripmav08

Originally posted by franceno

I prefer Sims 3 because I love to customize and I really like the graphics.

 

yah.. i agree with franceno the graphics of sim 3 is great than sim 2.

jheego

ok i go for sims 3 ...

lethys

I don't know about anyone else but I despise Sims 3, which I was excited about after the reviews.  Its like the kind of game that reviewers decided on the rating before they played the game.  Sims 2 was alright, not great, but infinitely better than Sims 3.  I would prefer a game that was like a ridiculous real life RPG in Sims fashion but you directly control one person instead of a household or whatever.  Plus why can't I control what they do at work?

eripmav08

Originally posted by lethys

I don't know about anyone else but I despise Sims 3, which I was excited about after the reviews.  Its like the kind of game that reviewers decided on the rating before they played the game.  Sims 2 was alright, not great, but infinitely better than Sims 3.  I would prefer a game that was like a ridiculous real life RPG in Sims fashion but you directly control one person instead of a household or whatever.  Plus why can't I control what they do at work?

 

i agree with u lethys...

Elikal

For me the answer is clear. I played Sims 2 for many years with great fun, and Sims 3 was just a HUGE letdown. I don't even know where to begin! There are so many reasons why Sims 3 is worse.

First, it was like I was suddenly reduced to 10% of the content. All the things I had loved were gone. No college, no shops and things to craft, no night life... so many items gone. My huge collection of furniture, haircuts, music instruments and whatnot... all gone and replaced by the BARE minimum.

Then I hate it that Sims 3 always connects to their website. After a long break I tried to play Sims 3 again, and every time I connected it showed me some strange techno-babble error, and I wasnt even able to play it ever again! I LOATHE single player games who always ask for internet connections!

Besides giving a bare minimum of everything, they sold tons of stuff for extra cash, and I loath that creedy ways, all that DCU is just another way to split what once was included and make you pay considerably more for the same content as before.

But WORST OF ALL: I tried to make several households and bring people together, playing them one by one. But the time just went on! All those other families I made where continued to play on by the computer itself! So when I went back after a few days to my other families, EVERYTHING was screwed! Singles suddenyl had kids, some had moved out and were gone! The game just keeps playing them without me!

Then I have only one city, I can't place houses, when I go to a restaurant or shop I just see the outside. Animation are often simplified. Like when I get into the car, the car now doesn't drive out, it teleports right into the street.

I could go on. There are so many OUTRAGEOUS letdowns, I really hated Sims 3 as a betrayal of EVERYTHING Sims stood for! What a deep fall Sims 3 was.

eburn

My Sims in Sims3 just lack the personality my Sims in 2 had. I like the game, it's really well made and all. Still it doesn't have the quirky attitude the previous Sims did. I don't think the people who worked on Sims 3 got what made the Sims special. It's a little bit more than lil' people pooping and earning cash.

As for content Sims 1 is still my favorite. Anyone could mod it and Sims 2 took awhile for people to get crafty with it. I'm sure 3 will get there eventually.