I bet your mom doesn't want you playing this, eh?

PLAYBOY MANSION
(January 25, 2005)

Since adult video games are popping up faster then all those crappy reality TV shows, there is now a game based the glamorous world of Playboy! What horny guy hasn't dreamed of becoming Playboy owner Hugh Huffner? 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 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 games like the Sims and Singles will instantly recognize the look and feel of this game (Dam 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 Huffner (a.k.a. Hef) who is trying to get Playboy magazine off the ground. You need to hire journalists, interviewers, photographers and who could forget about looking at potential ladies to be the centerfolds? If you are sick at talking about business all the time then you even get it on with some of these hot women with enough smooth talking.

Although its fun trying to pick up one of 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 keep Playboy up and running.

The game sounds complicated for a title based on a girlie mag but fortunately the game 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. Sure 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 fairs 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 conversions 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 see 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 dead lines 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, there was cool when the Playmates would expose their digital breasts but the Sex scenes are more comical then sexual so I bet some of the more hardcore fans will be disappointed.

Although I had some problems with the game's blatant ripping off of the Sims and the overall easy difficult, I still think Playboy the Mansion is fun enough to be an above average experience. Managing your own nudie magazine isn't for everyone (for God's sake you better keep this away from your girlfriend or wife....... unless they are very liberal, heh heh) but you may be surprised how playable and interesting it is to be just like Hef.

Playboy the Mansion overall rating: 63/100

visuals: 5/10
audio: 8/10
gameplay: 7/10
features: 7/10
replay: 6/10

For 1 player only
Rated (M) for Mature

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-StarSoldier1 (Ryan Genno)