Playboy: The Mansion

Written by Ryan Genno  on June 27, 2005

Review: I'll bet your mom doesn't want you playing this!!

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Since adult video games are popping up faster than all those crappy reality TV shows, there is now a game based on the glamorous world of Playboy! What horny guy hasn't dreamed of becoming Playboy owner Hugh Heffner? You know; he's the super rich millionaire with multiple young and beautiful girlfriends, even though he is currently in his 70's. In Playboy: The Mansion, you get to live the ultimate adult male fantasy: be surrounded by the hottest women in the world while you throw a bunch of parties and in maintain control of the big company itself. Is this Playboy game actually worth playing, or should you just stick with the magazines and their stunning articles?

Players familiar with other popular life creation titles like The Sims and Singles will instantly recognize the look and feel of this game (Damn copycats). Like The Sims, you get to manage and edit your own place while you interact with co-workers and friends. In the game you play the role of a young Hugh Heffner (a.k.a. Hef) who is trying to get Playboy magazine off the ground. You need to hire journalists, interviewers, photographersЕ.and who could forget about looking at potential ladies to be the centerfolds? Not to mention - if you're sick of talking about business all the time, you can even get it on with some of these hot women, provided you bombard them with enough smooth talking.

Although it's fun trying to pick up one of the lovely girls in the game, you still have to run a successful magazine here to make enough cash to stay in business. Like in other games of this type, the more cash you have, the more junk and better staff you can get for the mansion. You need to manage everything properly to keep Playboy up and running.

The game sounds complicated for a title based on a girlie mag, but fortunately it has an easy to use interface that can be picked up in a few minutes. The controls work well, but there are a few annoying glitches where people can get stuck in walls.

Now, for a game based on a superficial nude magazine, the graphics are not as hot as I thought. SureЕ.the girls are cute and very curvy, but just compare the almost toy-like figures to the more realistic ones in other Xbox games like Dead or Alive: Ultimate and The Guy Game, eh? Basically, the game looks like a straight port of the Playstation2 version and it doesn't feel like the full power of the system is being used for this edition.

The sound fares better then the graphics though. There is a great variety of easy listening music to help create that romantic feel, plus you can even listen to your own custom soundtracks as well. The game also uses that annoying incoherent gibberish that The Sims is known for during the game conversations, but there are a few moments where the game throws a sample of real voices here and there.

It's cool to see a game where you can take picture of semi-naked girls, unfortunately the game is a little too laid back for its own good. The game does throw a few objectives and demographics at you every so often to mix things up, but there isn't anything particularly challenging about the game play since there are no deadlines or time limits to meet. Also, for a Playboy game the mature content didn't really push the envelope like I thought it would. Sure, it was cool when the Playmates would expose their digital breasts, but the sex scenes are more comical than sexual, so I'll bet some of the more hardcore fans will be disappointed.