I only played 1 and 2 with friends and family on the console before Sims 3. I missed TS2 so much I wanted to go back to it, so I did, on the PC, and the water looked like Tetris in Pleasantview, now it looks like water. Even my TS2 pets have fur.
TS3, I have Nvidia GT 520, so most of my default settings are medium to high. My Sims have reflections and my pets are pets.