The Sims Online Critic Reviews

Unlike the previous Sims games, all of these citizens are controlled by actual people. In other words, you might want to double-check the genders of those two cuties before you try to score the world’s first virtual hot-tub ménage à trois.

The Sims Online has retained the je ne sais quoi that makes its brethren so fun to play.

There’s just one problem with The Sims Online: It’s almost not a game. The slow-paced activities rely so heavily on social interaction that in some ways it feels like a glorified chat room.

A game that no review can adqeuately describe, since the possible experiences are virtually limitless. Is it a game or a playground? Play it and decide for yourself.

Makes for surreal fun with a strangely addictive quality, and, if anything, it has seemingly endless potential. Like the stand-alone versions of the game, The Sims Online is what you make of it.

It's a game about nothing... It's a world entirely in the hands of its players, so the possibilities for creativity and expansion are virtually endless.

While there is room for improvement, the great feature about The Sims Online is the ability to update and add content at the game sign-on menu. (Maxis’ intends to add new material to The Sims Online for at least 2 or 3 years.)

Cooperation is key. It's easier and faster to do everything with the help of other Sims.

If the idea of chat rooms appeals to you, if the idea of stepping outside yourself and trying on a different life and face (even a polar bear’s head) is something you would enjoy, this could well be the game for you.

While there are similar problems with the original "The Sims," the element of time and quantified social interactions provided a real sense of challenge and conflict that's completely missing here.

A major problem (though one that is sadly unavoidable) is the way in which activities can’t be fast-forwarded... The result is that a great deal of time is spent watching a Sim doing something utterly trivial and dull.

The greatest chat room ever, or the most boring online game in quite a while?

Extremely social chatters will enjoy it, but everyone else will be thumb-twiddling.

Can be as mundane as real life... You’ll have to invest virtual sweat and tears to make it a worthwhile experience.

Though the game's developer plans to make many additions to the game, for now, The Sims Online lacks many of the options that made the original game so intriguing, and it doesn't really replace them.

Will entertain for a while, but will become old fast. People interested in a chat room environment will find some fun here, but others, especially fans of the previous games, may feel cheated.

It's fun as a chat room, but has a lot of growing to do as a game.

You'll be praying for at least a competent if not sparking conversationalist... For now, the game is pretty boring.

Sartre once noted, "Hell is other people." The Sims Online is strictly for those who would disagree.

Unlike the offline game, The Sims Online lacks the mad energy and pleasant frustration of managing a complex system of happiness, goals and limited time.