Playboy: The Mansion - Australian Review (Reviews)

David Kvasnicka, GamePro Australia

09/06/2005 12:35:07

Before we start, we might as well get the important questions out of the way. Yes, there are boobies. Lots of them. And yes, you can have sex with women. Sadly for some, the panties stay firmly on, so maybe it's more accurate to say you can "dry-hump" the women. And in anticipation of your next question - yes, a cheat to reveal that little bit more will probably be out shortly.

You start out as a young Hugh Heffner, prancing around your mansion and producing Playboy magazine issues. You have to hire journalists, photographers and other professionals besides the essential playmates and bunnies. The style is similar to The Sims, but only to the degree that you must build up relationships and keep other people content. If you forget to greet someone, or fail to invite someone to a party, they may decide they don't like you anymore.

Personal relationships are what will make or break you on your path towards a fortune and - let's face it, the real goal - dozens of chicks to roll around in the hay with. The Mansion's parties are not just a diversion, but the most crucial aspect of the game, which will determine who you make friends with, who you can convince to give you an interview, and who will let you take a few snapshots of them in the nuddie.

It's not terribly complicated - in fact, you may as well use the manual as improvised toilet paper immediately after opening the box. Conversation options are not presented in actual dialogue, but in very general categories like 'Small Talk', 'Tell Joke', and 'Share Secret', and the outcome of what you choose is indicated by icons above their heads.

If you're trying to get some action with a playmate, you might want to follow the 'Greeting Hug', 'Give Compliment', 'Flirt', 'Make Out', 'Follow Me Upstairs', 'Give Gift' and 'Have Sex on Bed' series of options. Making friends with high profile people will facilitate interesting magazine items and hence more money in the short term, and greater fame in the long term. Fame allows you to network with even more high profile people and (direct quote) "begin the world's sexual revolution".

That's Naughty!... err, Isn't It?
The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) has banned several games in the past year due to the lack of a R18+ rating for games in Australia. In the absence of the R18+ rating, any game which is considered have content reserved for that rating is not quite "banned" outright, but is instead "refused classification". Any movie, book, or video game that is refused classification cannot be legally sold in Australia - so effectively, it's banned, but we get a nice little euphemism to make us forget that someone is telling us what we can and can't do in our so-called "free country". One of the games to be refused classification in 2004 was the relatively tame Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, because it contained "obscured or implied sexual activity and obscured and partial nudity involving stylised animated characters". Now, not that we're complaining at all - but how in hell does Playboy: The Mansion get an MA15+ rating with all its in-your-face boobies and not-simply-implied sexual activity, while Leisure Suit Larry gets canned?! With Philip Ruddock nowhere in sight to complain this time around, and the Federal election well behind us, we certainly wouldn't want to imply that this is all political. Never. Just thought we'd point out this little anomaly, that's all.

If you think this is already starting to sound a tad pretentious, no-one could blame you. The Mansion smacks of overt self-indulgence on Hugh Heffner's part in many ways, but to be fair, maybe we can't lay too much blame when it's coming from someone who is living in what is many mens' dream. Then again, maybe we can. The game feels like one long advertisement for Playboy magazine. Loading screens carry messages about the magazine's contributions to charity, and completing goals in the game unlocks Playboy related material. However, this could be just what fans of the Playboy franchise want, and with the game revealing a good deal of facts about the Playboy world, there's some hope that they'd be satiated by this.

Otherwise, the production values for The Mansion are surprisingly poor, considering the large budget the developers should have been able to secure. You can't play for too long without seeing a glitch, and occasionally, coming across one requires loading up a prior save point to get around the problem (assuming the glitch didn't crash the game entirely). Perhaps more concerning is whether anyone will find The Mansion entertaining after a week of owning it, but this has a lot to do with the type of gamer you are.

The Mansion is clearly aimed at the casual gamer, and the rest of the gaming public might want to avoid this entirely. The good news is that it certainly isn't pitching itself solely on the very shallow "yay, titties" factor, but it does seem like The Mansion relies a little too much on this allure considering the absence of any real gameplay depth.

There are some really good ideas (even if many of them were ripped off of The Sims), but nothing is followed through with anywhere near the required amount of focus and intensity. Interestingly, the game hasn't been designed at all for beer-and-pizza social situations - what would seem the most logical demographic - but for someone playing alone in their bedroom. Unfortunately, Playboy The Mansion probably couldn't hold its intended audience for longer than, well, for longer than it takes for someone to be playing alone in their bedroom.

Verdict
Sorry, Heff. The lack of gameplay depth means that this should be avoided by all but the most casual of gamers. Playboy subscribers may have fun.
Pros: Novel idea.
Cons: Chronic glitches. Some poorly thought-out game design.

Score = 6.5/10



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Graphics: 3.5 Sound: 4.0 Control: 2.5 Fun Factor: Fun Factor
Scoring scale: 1-5
Publisher: Ubisoft / Developer: Arush / Retail Price: $69.95 (PC) /, $79.95 (PlayStation 2) /, $79.95 (Xbox) / Release date: 15/03/2005 / Genre: Simulation/strategy / OFLC Rating: MA (15+)