GamesRadar recently took a trip out to Maxis and spent some hands on time with the game. Their impressions are positive so far. Here’s a small glimpse of their article:

Executive Producer Ben Bell sums up for me the difference between The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 with a very compact description: “It’s not about spinning plates.” The Sims 2 and its expansion packs put players in a series of environments and left it up to them to make sure that everything didn’t collapse into death, decay, or catfights. Not anymore. Now you’re given the cheerful, thriving miniverse of Pleasant Valley to raise a Sim family in, and you’re tasked with guiding the semi-autonomous Sim of your choice on the path of his or her greatest fulfillment. That path is determined by a set of five personality traits, ranging from Charismatic and Computer Whiz to Neurotic and even downright Evil, that inform each Sim’s aspirations.

*EDIT* I also completely skipped out on the fact that the article contained 2 new shots, thanks once again SimsDomination for catching that!

It appears GamesRadar had removed the article, my guess is that they published it before they were allowed too…