A great start for The Sims 3, solid gameplay and fresh mechanics make it an ambitious beginning for the new Sims!
Graphics: Wow! For such low-specs and the "play on any PC" (or even Macs!) attitude, this game boosts brilliant 3D rendered models, with great textures. It strikes a great balance between performance and quality with the medium settings for older computers and even on the low settings things still seem solid and fantastic. Anti-Aliasing is a must to show the true beauty of The Sims 3. Now, since you can visit anywhere in the "world" you're playing in, the load times are non-existent in the world and the rendering is fabulous to say the least! Beaches, manors, heck even the cemeteries look great!
Controls: To me, the controls are stream-lined. The GUI is nicely laid out, easy pop-up toolkit advice, smooth zooming, etc. Some of the Sims seem to have path-finding issues, but they-usually-find their way eventually, just need a little prodding.
Sound: I've always liked the ability to play custom music, but the default music is actually quite pleasing, near amusing. The background music is quaint and memorable, you might find yourself humming the theme from time-to-time. The music outside of your house is great too, especially the music for the beaches and fishing-what a memorable moment catching your first fish.
Gameplay: Ah, GameSpot hit the nail on the head with it's "Fresh and Familiar" status. Indeed you get all the Simmy goodness and addictive gameplay as before with even more jam-packed features, I really don't want to ruin all of the amazing things this game has to offer as far as gameplay, I always like to find them myself, but my absolute favorite feature is the worlds. Your Sims house is no longer in the middle of nowhere! You actually live somewhere tangible! Oh and you can have cars, what a bonus! ;)
Replay Value: I don't see myself making new Sims, since I like to turn off the aging feature and just make a totally awesome master-guru Sim, but I sure do come back to my computer often to play The Sims 3, with something new to do all the time be it fishing, bug collecting, hacking, writing a book, attending an event, or even bugging your neighbors, there's just a lot of replay value in the game itself-pure addicting.
Bottom-Line: The Sims 3 is a great start to the new line, I'm anxiously waiting for more expansion packs, especially a Pets expansion! It's well worth your money and even if you've never played The Sims before you will feel right at home with this easy-play delight! Thank you EA!
Rating: A+ 9.5