The Sims

The Good
It's SO addictive. You'll eat Sims, you'll sleep Sims. No matter where you go, you'll always be thinking of them. You guide your Sims through life. You plan your own soap operas. You screw up family lives. You can put people in a box house with no windows. You can not feed them and watch them sleep on the floor. You can plant toilets outside their house and laugh as their neighbor walks by in dismay. You get them family friends. You advance them in their jobs. You buy them stuff. There's new stuff to download. All that equals fun gameplay and addictiveness.

The Bad
You can't visit other people's houses. Where's the item editor they promised? Where's the career track editor they promised? Why can't you go anywhere other than your own damned house? Sure, you can help your Sims advance in their careers, but they need family friends. Where do you get family friends? You make them, of course! Which means you must take control of another family. This brings to light the main deficiency that the Sims has. Sims are not self-sufficient. It's not cool that you don't have the option to leave your family friends alone to fend for themselves if you want to. You have to do everything for them. Relationships are also too easy. I can get married after the first date. Where's the reality in that?

The Bottom Line
If you knew nothing about this game before it came out, buy it. You'll LOVE it. If you did, prepare to be thoroughly disappointed, but prepare to have lots of fun.