Well I am familiar with Sims and I did play one briefly as a kid, but not enough to have an impact. Maybe you're not old, I just might not be cultured.
The Saboteur is an excellent game. It's set in German occupied France during WW2, mainly Paris but also the surrounding countryside. You can also cross the border into Germany to Saarbrucken which is cool. It's open world and is like a combination of GTA and the older Assassins Creed games.
Populous The Beginning was amusing and way ahead of it's time. Used to play it in simpler times. I would build up the economy and my friend would do the warring
The Beginning got TONS of crap when it came out. DK2 as well, although a bit less so because it's less of a departure.
I've gone back to both since and I agree with you that Populous was way ahead of its time and holds up much better than other strategy games of the time.