The Godfather

The Godfather is seen by many as one of the greatest films of all time, with Electronic Arts announcement of acquiring the rights to this film, many did not know what to expect. As more and more of the original stars signed up to reprise their roles, one thing was for sure, it was going to be big and big this game is.

The game is set across New York City circa 1945, which has been split into 5 separate territories, Little Italy, Brooklyn, Hell’s Kitchen, New Jersey and Midtown. Each part has been populated with mobsters, general public, cops, shops and warehouses, each playing a role in your game at some point.

Your character, who you can design yourself using the easy to use MobFace system, had his father gunned down by a rival gang when you were young. Roll forward a few years and you are a petty criminal living off the streets. That is until a member of the Corleone Family takes you from the streets and helps you on your way to the big time and hopefully, revenge on your father’s death. Its up to you to make a name for yourself in New York City, bomb drug rings, bribe police, take over businesses. You are able to negotiate with people in a nice friendly face-to-face manner, or just smash their face in. It sounds harsh, but remember this game is rated 18.

The main story of the game plays alongside the film, connecting famous scenes like the horse’s head and interacting with the big names from the film that will ask you to carry out jobs in the name of the Family. There is also plenty of side missions, like prize fighting, extortion, bank jobs and mob hits. Completion of these tasks builds your respect, and building this will lead you to your ultimate goal, becoming the Don of NYC.

The more respect you earn, the different people act towards you. When you are trying to take over a business the owner will sometimes buckle straight away and hand over protection money, however, if they are already under the protection of another Mob or just stubborn, you will need to use other skills, like smashing up their store, strangling them, or using their head to open the till. Hidden behind some of these shops are other illegal businesses or safe houses (save points), which you can purchase.

When trying to take over some of the larger warehouses you will find yourself in a fierce gun battle, with rival gangsters protecting their racket. To help you are able to hire a mobster to cover your back. Jump in a car and they will cover you from the windows as you retreat.

This leads nicely to the controls of this game, which are by far the best I have used on a game of this type. The weapon aiming is spot on, allowing you to target with ease and then alter the shot for head, body, knees or weapons with the right stick. You are also able to free aim if you prefer. The melee attacks are perfect, with the right stick used to move your character, right trigger to lock on and the left stick to use as your fists. Using different combos of the left stick allow for hooks and power attacks, and when grabbing you are able to head butt and also execute people in numerous grisly but humane ways.

It is very difficult not to compare this game to GTA as they both have the same premise, unnamed gangster making their way through the ranks to the big time in a large living city. But where GTA was the first, The Godfather improves on many of GTA’s falling points.

There is no loading from the outside world to a building and as mentioned above the targeting and control is a massive improvement. Though there are cars to use and steal in this game, it is set in 1945 so they are not high-speed sports cars. The car models are well designed, you can hear the creaky suspension as you hit a corner hard and they handle well enough. Smash one into a wall and it will take damage, eventually exploding.

There are some bad points to this game though, this is in reality a port, yes it has had more levels added on from the XBOX version and the graphics have been given an overhaul, but it is still not a Next Gen game. There are also a few instances of glitches that I had experienced, which is shame as it really jolts you out of a great game experience. Another mobster was guiding me into a building, only for them to lift into the air and then walk through the walls. At first I thought I had been playing for too long, so I turned off and started again, but it was still there. This is the only major one I have witnessed and though it did spoil the feel of the game for a while, you soon move on and forget about it. There is also a feeling of being trapped into a world, you are only really able to go where the roads lead you to, with no real feeling of freedom; like going on the roofs of buildings or walk around the waterfront.

If you can look past the graphics of the game you will find a great film tie in (a rarity) that has plenty to do and will keep you playing for hours, but because of the fact that this is an updated port it will lose some points. Sorry EA, it shows you worked hard on this title but did not give it the final polish to make this game a real gem.