14 DAY TRIAL // 
What do you get if you cross the Sims with Playboy? Naked women and social skills. That would cover the whole premise for Playboy: The Mansion and since some will buy the game only to check out the chicks, you won't need more than these. There's not even as much serious adult content in this production and except for some pixeled breasts, it's all lingerie and skin. I would really like to know Hugh Hefner's opinion on this game as it's a real disappointment to see a good idea go to waste because of a bad game. To prolong the gaming (agony), we offer you a couple of cheats that let you toy with the characters and unlock some new stuff.
Story Follow Hugh Hefner's successful story from the first Playboy magazine to the present. Meet celebrities, take their photo, have sex with them and get to know the right people to make it to the top. Even if you start with 100 thousand dollars, you can create a sexy empire in just a few weeks and it will be worth millions. This is just a beautiful story that you'll imagine from the action you see in the game. There's no such thing as a plot in game pertaining to this genre and The Sims is the best proof for that.
Concept & Gameplay Yes, this game looks like The Sims and it relies on the same system and gameplay mechanics. It may be called a Hug Hefner simulator or a disguised The Sims add-on, that's not officially integrated in the series. In case you wanted to play some trivia, the game offers you facts related to the whole Playboy phenomenon while the game loads. Things like "Libra is the most common playmate sign" or "The Rabbit head first appeared in the Playboy Magazine in 1954" interest us a lot...not! If only those loading times weren't such pests.
I understand that the game's complex animations and great number of characters require more loading time, but why do I have to wait 20 seconds when Hef climbs the stairs? Also, the number of options you can toy with is endless and the whole system can get confusing at times, considering that there are many useless choices to make. The whole action happens inside and around the Playboy Mansion and it's not quite the "action" you were thinking about. Hugh Hefner is a busy man and he must attend his business while organizing hundreds of parties to blend in with the celebrities. You'll be able to hire journalists and photographers, choose playmates, flirt with girls or convince them to dance with you or kiss you.
When cash will start flowing in, you'll feel the need to make some adjustments to your crib and make the mansion something that every celebrity from MTV Cribs would envy. I have to say that the Playboy Mansion is nothing like we've seen so far on TV and it's not a paradise of luxury with chicks running around naked. Well...it might become a luxurious crib if you buy the right stuff, but the chicks will only walk around in their lingerie or half-naked. I think you can guess what half that is...
You'll have the option to throw parties when you feel like it or rather when you have enough cash to do it. The mansion will be filled with basketball players, journalists, singers, playmates, ambassadors and other celebrities. If you talk to them, some meters will appear on the right side of the screen, showing your popularity and trust. There's even a "love" meter that is useful when you want to make a certain bunny-girl fall in love with you. There's even a task called "find yourself a girlfriend" and it's one of the easiest tasks in the game. Forget about any AI, as there are predefined actions that will never change no matter what unusual action takes place. For example, if you have a girlfriend and make out with another girl in front of her, she'll only love you less and there will be no dramatic breakup, slaps or car scratching.
You can play a mission mode or a freeform mode, but they are one and the same. However, while playing the missions, you'll have to start from the bottom and reach the godly status that Hef has today, compared to us, mortals. The D-pad brings up the primary options on-screen, the publication managing options and those that allow you to hire new staff members. Each magazine will require a new playmate, a new set of articles and interviews with celebrities. By performing certain actions like gaining new friends, you get points which you can use to unlock various fun cheats from the main menu. They are basic stuff like increasing breast size for all (female) characters, getting people drunk during a party, or making the folks act amorously.
There are up to 300 items you can purchase to decorate the mansion, its surroundings or the famous grotto. Rugs, paintings, pinball games, pool tables and other such "mansion-hold" items will show that's Hef's living large while doing the thing that most men envy him for: convincing girls to strip in order to appear on the cover of his magazine. With his trademark pipe and that robe that doesn't ever come off, you'll be a true Playboy magnate and develop your relationship with the characters that you'll encounter while playing this sexy game. You can create business relationships, flirt, make out and there are even some...sex scenes in some points of the game. There's nothing that's even worth half of an "M" rating, because the intercourse happens with the clothes on. At least that's how it looks like...
How can you make cash in Playboy: The Mansion? Basically, by selling the magazine and making deals with celebrities. The girls will have their photo taken from any angle and they'll play nice and wear anything that you want. Your photographic skills don't quite matter and the public won't tell the difference between an anonymous girl and Marilyn Monroe nude. As long as it's a magazine for the guys and they buy it for the Playboy brand you'll make cash instantly. It's a fairly easy game and there will be no headaches provided that you won't get angry with all the bugs and graphical issues.
Video I can bet that Hugh has seen hundreds of naked girls, but that won't be the case for us, as a couple of naked breasts is the max adult content you'll get while playing this title. What's worse, all the girls look alike, having similar animations and even their hairstyles are one and the same. Practically, there's a single female character with many wigs. You can unlock some Playboy-related content, like interviews or pictures, but that will be the only thing to remind you of the sexy phenomenon you're dealing with.
One thing is for sure: this game has more bugs than Starship Troopers! Characters get stuck while walking through the furniture, or they blend into one mass of pixels. You'll see people walking through walls or the girls continuing their intercourse...with the couch, after you'll have left. The backgrounds are disappointing, the character details are low and the menus are nothing but a sour display of options. Even the cutscene from the beginning brings nothing but a redundant series of Playboy Magazine covers and some girls showing their...assets.
Sound Probably the only good thing about Playboy: The Mansion is the soundtrack. Featuring lots of music genres and some songs that have The Playboy Mansion as the main theme, this game's OST will make you dance. That happens literally when you turn on Hef's cool audio system that makes all the playmates boogie. Even good old Hugh will start break-dancing every once in a while and he's quite a dancer considering that he works out and eats healthy food (at least in the game). Characters speak the same language as The Sims did, some sort of Spanglish that makes no sense, but the tips you'll receive from your lovely assistants are in English. Dialogs are not that important as you'll see a hint of the topic that is being discussed above the players' heads. It might be baseball, movies, the magazine, plants, cooking or ... just sex.
Multiplayer This is strictly a one player game, because there's nothing to share with other people, except for a couple of pictures and videos that have some sort of a connection with Playboy Magazine. Imagine a multiplayer game where one gamer girl out there wants to be treated the way that Hef does in this game. Found none? It's because of the misogynistic approach of the game and the fact that the Playboy owner can have any woman that he wants just by saying a couple of lines.
Conclusion If you want X-rated content, go buy Lula 3D or other such games, if you want The Sims 2, buy that game too. A combination between those two is a pretty nasty crossover that leaves a sour taste in your mouth. If this would have been an add-on for The Sims 2, things would be alright, but as a standalone game, Playboy: The Mansion sucks.
