Editor’s note: EA invited Player.One to SimsCamp in Redwood City to play Sims 4 on PlayStation and Xbox but had no input regarding the content of this hands-on.
Every iteration of the Sims has been released in some form for consoles and handhelds --PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Wii, GameBoy Advance, GameCube, and even the N-Gage. It’s been two years since The Sims 4 released on PC. So when no console release date was announced for Sims 4, players demanded answers about why TS4 wasn’t being ported over to PS4 and Xbox. Some even took it as a sign EA may not be happy with the success of the Sims 4, which longtime Sims fans tend to consider the worst iteration to date. But it turns out that's not the case at all. In fact, it’s quite the contrary.
EA is clearly happy with The Sims 4, at least as far as making it a viable console port is concerned. They literally brought the entire game as is over to Xbox and PS4. It is not watered down. There’s no missing features, new features or additional loading screens. The gameplay is exactly the same. And the graphics looked just as good as the PC version, which is a step up from previous ports. The Sims 4 on consoles is … The Sims 4 on consoles. Even more, it’s clear EA plans to roll out console DLCs for Sims 4 in the same way they would in the PC game, along with regular updates. Everything we have via updates in The Sims 4 PC is already on consoles:gender fluidity in Create-A-Sim, toddlers, pools and more. But this lack of restriction, the ability to play just as you would on a PC, is what makes the console version of the Sims so hard to play.
There is, of course, a learning curve. But with that being said, it is extremely difficult to navigate and control. This has always been an issue for Sims games on Xbox and PlayStation. However, aesthetically speaking, the navigation on this version is better than the weird spacecraft-like green beam of light used in console versions of Sims 3.
The Sims 4 uses a combination of the point and click cursor method and traditional menu navigation. It’s like using a Wii controller with joysticks, but not, because the outside border of the screen acts as the primary menu. But when your cursor drifts into the menu you can’t interact with it. Instead, you have to press the touchpad (on PS4) to access main menus within each mode of the game --Create-A-Sim, build and live.
While at first this method seemed a bit counterintuitive, after about an hour of fiddling around it became clear there actually may not be a better way to do this (and maintain full creative control of build mode in particular.) Like players who are new to the franchise on PC would have to do to learn the controls, you just have to keep at it. Once you stop thinking about it, this two-part navigation feels more efficient than having the entire screen work like a cursor.
But for players who have only played on PC, or reluctantly played on console a few times, it will be frustrating. You’ll get through Create-A-Sim with a few huffs but ultimately no trouble. But your first go at building a house will not be pretty. Once you have a tool or object selected, the controls work seamlessly. Press and drag a wall with the same technique as PC. It’s switching between the two menus that’s the problem.
The game itself is intuitive, the controls are awkward. But it’s clear why this decision was made. Do you forgo a learning curve for the realistic and creative simulation the game relies on? In the past, the console release has chosen the former over the latter by building a Sims console game from the ground up instead of building a PC game and simply porting it over. Sims 3 mixed between the two, but the decision to do so fully with Sims 4 is quite admirable. That said, for some players, the prospect of building a house without feeling 100 percent in control of every detail will be daunting.
The main critique from Sims players when it comes to console ports are the restricted worlds and lack of freedom compared to the PC. EA addresses this problem head on this time, but asking players to learn to play all over again could lead to the game’s demise. However, the prospect of playing in live mode on a couch in front of a 60 inch HDTV could make it all worth it … Sims and chill, anyone?
