Unfortunately, that damned Erich Becker was just as excited. But the Partners’ love must be mine alone! At first, I considered having him locked away in a Mexican prison, to be replaced with a mysterious twin who would do my bidding. Lucky for him, Erich has found himself, ah, busy with a pile of games.

Anyhoo…

My first thought on reading the manual – hey, I was killing time during the install – was, “Wow, this looks a lot like The Sims.” And The Partners is, from its bottom-of-the-screen control screen to the character models to the babbling non-language they use. Anyone who’s played a Sims game will be immediately comfortable with the control scheme.

And yet, this is racier than The Sims, even considering Hot Date. See, The Partners (which is set in a law firm) requires naughty shenanigans – hence the pun in the title. Each Partner to remain happy requires a certain amount of career work and relaxation time, among others, but there are also meters for love, domination (that is, how much of a control freak the Partner is) and lust. Happiness is key, too, because it’s a large factor when arguing lawsuits which bring cash and prestige to the firm: The higher a Partner’s Happiness, the better chance of winning the case.

Just like with that other game, the player can buy more space in the firm’s building and objects with which to fill that space. Almost every object affects some aspect of Happiness from the expected (more expensive desks greatly increase the amount of casework that can be done) to the unusual (blow-up dolls can, errr, satisfy a Partner’s lust). Most items have multiple uses; just left-click a Partner, right-click an object and choose your own adventure. I’m sure it won’t be long until Partners fan sites offer custom-made objects for download.

“What about AI?” you ask. It’s actually quite good. Each Partner will satisfy his or her immediate need. That can be fun to watch, unless a suit is pending. If that’s the case, it’s best to either have a workaholic on staff (whose immediate need will be to work, work, work) or continually force the assigned Partner to work until a verdict is reached. Partners do get frustrated if their needs aren’t met, but rather than dying they fight with co-workers and lose cases.

The game can be played through three mini-campaigns (each at a different firm) or via Freeplay, a sandbox mode. Each mini-campaign has a number of objectives to be met along the way, which keeps each story moving nicely. (And yes, the plots are very much modeled after prime-time soap operas.)

Graphics are good. They’re crisp and colorful, though not as reliable on primary colors as The Sims. There are some clipping issues, and I had to reload at one point when a Partner got caught on a washbasin and refused to budge even after the object was moved. Animation is nice and smooth.

Sound is a bit of a quandary. In-game sounds are nice and crisp, but the theme music is barely audible, even with the speakers turned up. I couldn’t find any in-game volume control to remedy that.

I can see one major hurdle for The Partners: Overcoming its absolute devotion to The Sims. The similarities might make some folks think they’ll get the same experience from Hot Date or the other expansions. Those folks are wrong. The Partners goes in grown-up directions that The Sims hasn’t yet dared, which is a good thing.

One warning: The Partners is much more concerned with mature content than The Sims. It’s fun for us adults, but not so appropriate for younger folks who enjoy The Sims.