An amazing game! The best Sims there is - super graphics! More complicated but a lot better than the previous versions.
Graphics
The graphics are really good, but you have to have a good quality graphics card for the game to display the best it can be. The Sims are much smoother and more realistic than the previous versions. The quality is much crisper and better.
The Actual 'Sims'
The 'Sims' (human type figures) look very realistic and smooth, and you can customize them so they can be completely different and unique. You can find so many different traits, hairstyles, clothes and looks for each Sim.
Game play
When you play the Sims 3, you will first be asked to make a family. This can consist of 1-8 Sims (people), which you can make into different age groups. They have toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, adults and elders. Each family must have at least one young adult in. There are different sets of clothes and hairstyles that you can change. It's possible to customize an everyday outfit, sleepwear, formal, swimwear, athletic outfit
When you have finished your family and changed the relationships, you can have a look around your town for a place to move in. When you have found a nice house/bungalow (or created one - see 'Making a House') you can get on with playing the game.
Each Sim has a 'Needs' list, telling you what you need to do. In that it tells you their: Hunger, Social, Fun, Hygiene, Bladder and Energy. There are a lot of different actions and things you can do to keep those bars up, making a happy Sim. For example, for 'Energy', you'd have to put your Sim to bed or give him a boost with some coffee from a machine.
Teenagers can get part-time jobs, and young adults and adults can get full time jobs. You can retire when your Sim becomes old, or keep on working until they die. There are lots of different careers you can start, including sports, spa and many more. With further expansion packs you can get more careers and even help your Sim do their work!
Each age group has a certain amount of days until they age up. At the end of elderly, Sims will get an unpleasant visit from the Grim Reaper telling them their time is up. You will no longer have control of that Sim, and they will die, leaving their gravestone in their place.
When you try for a baby, you may be blessed with one, two or even three! They will normally grow from babies to elders, but sometimes may die earlier. They could have a drowning accident, be electrocuted, starve or die another way. Not taking good enough care will result in a visit from the social worker, who will take away all the children on you lot.
You can choose traits for your Sims such as Vegetarian, Artistic and Genius, making each one unique and giving them personalities.
You aim to keep your Sims alive, working hard at school, happy (there is a mood meter you can check: their moods can vary from the worst being furious or miserable and the best being elated. You can get lifetime wishes about so many things - some ask the Sims to get to the top of a particular skill or job, or raise so many children, see the ghost of a wealthy spouse, earn a certain amount of money etc. You can choose them and help them achieve. When fulfilled, they get loads of lifetime happiness points which can be used to buy special traits such as fertility treatment (makes twins and triplets much more likely when trying for a baby) and Steel Bladder (they don't need the toilet as often) and hardly hungry (hardly ever need food). You can start earning these points from baby age.
Skills
On the Sims 3, you can learn a huge variety of different skills. You'll need some for a particular type of job (e.g. in order to get promoted in the Sports career, you'll need a certain level of the Athletic skill). When completed, you'll get a certificate through the post and get skill challenges to complete (e.g. for the Athletic skill an example of a challenge would be marathon runner). Some lifetime wishes require you to get to the top of a few skill levels.
Opportunities
These are events that you can get randomly, through school or work or something to do with a friend or skill. When completed (you may have a time limit) you may get Simoleons, a promotion, better grades or an improved relationship with someone. Some opportunities however, do not have any benefits and are a waste of time.
Buy Mode
On the Sims 3, like the older versions you can easily switch to 'Buy Mode' which allows you to buy furniture for your house with your available Simoleons (the Sims currency). It is sorted into rooms, so you can buy things for a bedroom, study, kid's room, living room, kitchen, outdoor etc. There will be quite a lot of different designs you can choose from, and then you can even change the colour and pattern after that. To earn Simoleons, you need to get a job. Alternatively, there are some cheat codes you can use.
Build Mode
Like Buy Mode, you can purchase things here to build your house such as walls, pools, wall and floor coverings, fences and more. With this tool you can make new houses or modify your current one.
Making a House
You can build and bulldoze houses, and customize your town name and what's inside it. When you make a house it could just be a simple, small bungalow, or a huge, five floor mansion! There are lots of different wall and floor patterns and furniture you can put in your house. You can give the house a name and write about it on the Edit Town mode.
The Sims Online Exchange/Store
An extra new feature of the Sims 3 is that you can go on the Sims and upload a house, Sim, pattern or piece of furniture you've customized or made for others to download it onto their game. You can download other people's creations as well and meet Sims 3 lovers. It connects with the actual game so you can share your creations and download others and even buy things with real money for your game. It's an excellent feature to the Sims.
This is just a very, very brief guide on The Sims 3 for PC, and has a lot more to it than this. I strongly recommend trying it out on someone else's computer or just buying it. Everyone I know with the Sims 3 has never looked back and have become addicted and love the game.