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Published
by Ubisoft
Developed by Cyberlore
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £29.99
Playboy:
The Mansion, an introduction.
Fancy
emulating Hugh Hefner and having a mansion full of slender
and scantily clad ladies? Well if you do you might be interested
in Playboy: The Mansion as the game allows you to do just
that. Indeed if you could imagine what it would be like
to have your own Playboy mansion you might think up all
kinds of exotic (and erotic) things that could be possible.
However, Playboy: The Mansion will bring you down to earth
with a rather large bump as the game makes Hugh Hefner's
mansion seem a lot more laborious than it probably is.
What's
the game about?
Basically
the game allows you to run your very own Playboy mansion
and business. It's not all about sweet talking the ladies
and having physical relationships with your girls whenever
you feel like it though (don't worry they keep their virtual
pants on although you do get to see their rather suggestive
animations). You'll have to publish the Playboy magazine
and take the photographs of the girls as they pose for the
front covers. You'll also have to organise parties and impress
your famous guests in order to make them oblige when you
ask them for interviews for your magazine. You'll have to
look after your staff (girls, writers and photographers
etc.) although thankfully this doesn't involve a lot of
effort on your part. The game offers Mission Play which
consists of 12 missions in total and a Freeform Play mode
where you can do as you please.
What's
good about the game?
The
game imitates The Sims to a large extent and this allows
the game to be instantly accessible with almost a non-existent
learning curve. Character conversations are pretty much
the same as in The Sims (although it's a lot easier to get
somewhere with someone with only a small amount of conversation).
The game contains plenty of information but thankfully it's
all been laid out in a clean and uncluttered way so you'll
never struggle to find out what needs to be done. Each character
has their own needs and desires so you'll have to keep them
happy in order for them to perform as good as possible.
What's
not so good about the game?
Play
the game for a couple of hours and the game appears to show
promise but with a bit longer play you soon realise that
the experience is a shallow one and a rather repetitive
one too. Getting magazines published is your main focus
in this game and it begins to feel like a grind all too
quickly. You'll constantly have to organize parties, arrange
articles and interviews, set up the picture shoots etc.
and it all becomes a rather mundane experience rather too
quickly. Character models lack variation and the ladies
(aside from the different hairstyles) look mostly the same.
I didn't like the way you couldn’t freely scroll around
the mansion (the camera is always focused on Hef) and it
was disappointing to see load screens when you walk upstairs,
although to be fair the load times are really small. Above
we mentioned the character conversations and these can feel
unsatisfying as it's all too easy to win characters over.
You can go from being a total stranger to sharing bodily
fluids with a lady in just a few minutes. Yes I know it's
an 18 rated game but there should at least be some challenge
to such an activity.
How
does it look?
Whilst
the game is clearly based on The Sims it certainly looks
a lot better than the Maxis' game although Playboy: The
Mansion comes nowhere near to looking as good as The Sims
2. As we mentioned earlier the character models lack variety.
The character models themselves don't look too bad and you'll
notice that the boob bounce is present and correct (yes
the ladies do like to show themselves off). The textures
are a bit of a mixed bag with some looking great whilst
others look rather poor. On the whole the game looks OK
but next to older games such as The Sims 2 and Singles it
doesn't have the same visual appeal.
How
deaf gamer friendly is the game?
Playboy:
The Mansion is deaf gamer friendly with visual feedback
being delivered via subtitles and icons. Initially the game
isn't subtitled and you'll have to press the Esc key as
soon as you begin a mission in order to select the subtitles.
Strangely enough you can't access the options menu from
the main screen and it's only available from the pause menu.
With the subtitles enabled though you'll be able to follow
everything that goes on. The character conversations are
simply gibberish with icons displaying their general meaning.
The game manual gives a detailed description of what the
icons mean so you'll be able to follow what's going on.
Final
thoughts.
Playboy:
The Mansion seemed like it was going to be a sexually charged
version of The Sims. Whilst there is adult content in the
game, the main focus is the production of the Playboy magazines.
This wouldn't be such a bad thing if it wasn't so repetitive
and mundane. The game basically revolves around organising
parties, keeping guests and staff happy and getting the
material for magazines over and over again. Whilst there
is nothing here that's particularly poor about the game,
soon enough you'll realise there is nothing here to keep
you playing and that's a real shame.
Overall
Game Rating: 5.5/10
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
Boobs and suggestive poses by
the pixelated ladies can't hide the fact that the game is
a repetitive effort that sees you tirelessly in search of
material for the next magazine.
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