The Sims 4 Console (PS4): Exclusive Preview

Sims Camp 2017 trip has been sponsored by EA!

I was finally able to get my hands on The Sims 4 Console (Playstation 4) version during Sims Camp 2017 at EA Redwood Shores. It was a bumpy ride for the first few minutes or so considering I haven’t played games on console for years but I managed to get a hang of it.

Before we continue here’s what you need to know what’s out, what’s in and what’s changed in The Sims 4 Console:

NOT SUPPORTED:

• Gallery
• Live Events
• Mods
• In-game screen / video capture
• Screenshot viewer
  • Tagging Memories
  • Reminisce to gain a buff

ADDED & CHANGED:

• Achievements / Trophies (50 of them!)
• All Major PC Game Updates
• Command Line Cheats
• Integration with PS4 Share and XB1 DVR / Screenshots
• Trail & Pulse Navigation

Controls

If you played The Sims 4 on PC before and are just getting your hands on the console version you’ll need some time to adjust and learn all the controls. As a person who played The Sims 4 a lot on the PC I was so frustrated the first 30 minutes not knowing what I’m doing, but after eventually finding out what each button on my controller does I was able to almost smoothly play the game (I still needed some time to get used to it).

Here are all the controls that you can use for Create A Sim, Build Mode and Live Mode. You can access these control screens by pressing both analog sticks at the same time.

You now get a sense of what you can expect with The Sims 4 Console and how to control it. Now, let’s dive into the features:

Main Menu

Main Menu is pretty much the same. Before opening it you have to press X first and then wait for the loading screen.

You have an overview of the installed packs on the left, option to start a new game, load the old one and read online news on the bottom part of the menu just like on the PC. What was so interesting about the console version is that the Load Game option also had an Autosave feature.

Create A Sim

Create A Sim, just like other segments in the game take some time to get used to. However, after I got the hang of it I managed to Create A Sim just as fast as I would in The Sims 4 for PC. You can take a look down below:

The user interface is “seperated” into two fields that you can control (and this applies to Live Mode and Build Mode as well). By clicking your touchpad you can switch between these two fields. You can move your cursor inside the first field while you’ll be able to go through the UI interface in the second field.

A minor difference with Create A Sim is the fact that moving face parts in detailed edit mode is really sensitive with the analog stick. Adding finishing touches may take a little longer than what you’re used to.

The Library

You won’t be able to share your creations with the world using The Gallery feature that we have on the PC. However, the library feature is still available to save all your favorite Sims, Lots and Rooms.

Build Mode

The build mode really takes some time to get used to. The biggest problem for me was the fact that I still didn’t learn any controls that’ll help me do things much faster. Still, it feels like this aspect of the game could do more console integration. Using the push and pull feature can be a little exhausting when trying to aim your cursor at the manipulation arrows.

However, each build segment is carefully explained and you’ll slowly but surely get the hang of it once you build your second home.

You can check out some of our build mode footage in the video below. The build mode portion starts at 1:57!

It’s never been easy to build a lot on any console iteration in The Sims Franchise. Looking at this Sims 3 Console building video I noticed that it took this player so much time to build a rather simple house.

However, if you’re only looking for a Sims console game for building purposes The Sims 4 takes the crown because it’s the only console build mode which doesn’t limit your creativity with the object limiter. Plus there are plenty of features which are much easier to use than in previous console installments.

Live Mode

For a Sims console game The Sims 4’s live mode is really good. For starters you don’t have to scroll through interactions in order to find the one that you’re looking for. All interactions are presented to you just like on the PC version and you can select whichever interaction you’d like with the analog stick.

Switching between Sims and controlling time is easy once you learn all the controls. Just like in CAS and Build Mode you switch between the two portions of the user interface by clicking the touchpad.

Controlling the camera is easy as well. Analog sticks are really functional and easy to control with and you’ll learn all the camera tricks in no time.

You can see how I handled my first fire on the console version down below, as well as the new Camera Controls option which is basically “TAB” mode for PC players.

Cheats

The cheat console can be opened by pressing all 4 shoulder buttons at once (L1 + L2 + R1 + R2). It can be accessed at any time in any part of your game.

Every basic cheat that you’ve been using in the PC version is available on the Console version as well. Sadly I haven’t tried the advanced cheats such as stats.set_skill_level and careers.promote so I don’t know if they’re functional in the console version or not.

Options & Settings

You can access the options by pressing the “options” button on your controller.

Unlike with the PC version you won’t be able to change the settings of your graphics – as they’re all turned up to Ultra settings.

When it comes to other options you have all the basic audio options, music section where you can listen to all pre-installed Simlish music, camera where you can invert the camera movements and “other”, which is basically just allowing EA to collect your gameplay data for analytics and enabling / disabling / resetting the tutorial.

Final Thoughts

The Sims 4 for Consoles is still that same game you’ve experienced on your PC or seen in the trailers and other sources on the internet without that extra flavor of community generated content.

The Sims 4 Console will also have all the big DLC titles that you had on PC. We’re also going to talk about that in the near future.

There are still a few things that need to be polished regarding the performance but considering we managed to get our hands on a game that’s coming out in 2 months the game is pretty much smooth in my opinion.

If you prefer playing video games on your console and you don’t mind the lack of mods and community creations then The Sims 4 Console is the best installment in the franchise for you.

Sims Camp 2017 trip has been sponsored by EA!