Great variety, little storyline. What could have been...
As far as graphics go, the Sims have outdone themselves. All you need is a decent videocard with all the update patches/firmware downloads. All the scenes are smooth, without any twitchiness, so a very "lifelike" experience is enabled for the player.
Sound: 9.5/10
Although there are quite a few sound effects available in this game, I feel that more variety could have been put into it and also, some of the effects don't really fit into the scenario. For example, two sims talking on the phone, and one rejects the other, there SHOULD be an unhappy objection, but instead, there are usually cheerful responses! What's up with that?!
Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay is superb from the moment of starting a family... up till the moment that you've exhausted most of the capabilities of the Sims. Also, it can get quite tedious having to control EVERY aspect of the Sims' life, such as going to the bathroom, going to bed... In the long run, this means that there are usually 15 minutes of fun with neighbours and such, but then follows an hour of boring household chores.
Overall, this game's VERY addictive for the first 20 hours or so, but after you get used to buying all the varieties of appliances (and there are loads), and interactions with the people, the game gets quite repetitive, without a basic storyline or even a timeline for the year.