The Godfather

Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather is seen as one of the greatest movies ever made and one of the best books ever written by most people. Before Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas was released in 1990, The Godfather was seen as the definitive portrayal of life in the Mafia. In 2006, a game adaptation was released. Its about the same things the film is (money, power, love, revenge and betrayal).

You play as a character (who's default name is Aldo Trapani, so we'll call him that) who's wiseguy father was killed by Don Emilio Barzini of the Barzini family (one of the strongest families in New York City) in 1936, fast forward nine years to 1945, he is a young hoodlum (probably in his 20s) who ends up working his way up from being a simple enforcer for the family to being the Don of the whole city.

This game has a very close relationship to the movie and doesn't deviate from the plot very much. In it you get to meet major characters like Don Vito Corleone, Michael Corleone, Sonny and Tom Hagen. You get to be involved with the killings of Virgil Sollozo and you also help kill the rival family Dons. But your character's main goal is to take over the city for the family and get his revenge on Don Barzini.

I give this game a solid 10/10 for its amazing graphics, controls, storyline and gameplay.

When I saw this game advertised I had to have it. I am a huge fan of all three films, the music and the novels. The way the game is presented, the packaging, the marketing and the hype point to this being the game we Godfather fans have been waiting for, but for me at least this was not the case.

From the outset the game reminds the player of Grand Theft Auto III and later GTA titles. This would not be a bad thing, as they are some of the best selling games of all time, what is a bad thing is that the graphics and the movement (on the PS2 at least) feel more like GTA III than the year old San Andreas.

The story that runs through the game starts well with reenactments of the movie and big star voices matched to well rendered characters. The player missions do not fail to entertain, but if you fail them a few times the game fails to entice you to try again and again in the way that GTA does. The most boring part of the game is the neighbourhood consolidation missions. These are highly repetitive and time consuming.

The controls of the game are also a let down to any fan of the GTA franchise. It would seem that in a move to distance this game from GTA the new 'blackhand' control setup has been created. Trying to learn this new setup after years of GTA play left me frustrated playing the early stages of the game. Worse than this, however, is the driving model. The cars are mindlessly unrealistic in their reaction to the controls and driving in a straight line is as much a challenge as knocking over a tailors. (More likely to accidentally knock it over in a car) Fans of the Coppola and Rota expecting great use of 'that' music will also be disappointed. Yes the themes are used but only when driving, and mixed with what sounds like dodgy 80s synth.

All in all I'd recommend fans of the Godfather to play The Godfather soundtrack whilst playing Mafia to avoid disappointment.

The thing that i like most about the game is that it follows the main plot of the movie while also creating a story of its own. In the game you will be able to play the missions from the movie and also do a few that were mentioned but you never saw them. For example you get to be the living crap out of the two guys that beat Bonasera's daughter and you get to sneak into Jack Woltz' mansion and do a little stealth stuff with a garrot wire until you finally reach his bedroom.

The game is kind of like gta with a free roaming mode but i wouldn't say they copied them, gta just created a new saught of thing for gangster games. You can do the usual stuff like on any other mafia game such as killing randoms, stealing cars, robbing banks and bombing places. You can get a good range of weapons and it is pretty cool being able to use 1930's tommy guns, pistols, shotguns and molotovs. The cars are a bit over the top but the handling of them is simple enough. A thing that will get to anyone though is how accurate New York is. You will find that you keep having to look at the huge map in the start menu to make sure that you don't get lost. It will take you about half an hour to get used to controls but once you learn them you are covered.

In the game you will encounter all the same guys you saw in the movie such as Clemenza, Rocco, Al Neri, Tom Hagen etc. The only issue i have with one of the characters is that he is not the same and i am talking about Michael. The guy does not have the same personality and is not the cool smooth Michael that we experienced in the film. James Cann and Robert Duvall reprise their roles and do an excellent job with the voices and so do a few other guys.

I would recommend this game to anyone who is a godfather freak unless you have something wrong with people making it into a game and even if you haven't seen the movie or don't like it, it is a great gangster game.

The Godfather is one of the great classics in movies and so is the game. The game actually followed the same story as the first Godfather movie. With a good cherry on top, it even has the actual voice of Marlon Brando who voiced and played Vito Corleone. The combat in the game is absolutely brutal in melee and even when using executions with guns. I can even kill my enemies by throwing out the windows and, in the street, to make me feel unstoppable. The game is an exciting way to take over New York by offering protection in shops, taking over warehouses and exploding an enemy's compound, and then owning it like a safe house. Every high-level gun I find in secret black markets they were absolutely expensive. They are maybe the same but very unique. It even feels like it was a Snyder cut or the director's cut version in the game giving more extra scenes that are not part of the movie. The best thing I like about it has character creation. It gives the complete freedom to create my character also known as creating my version of Aldo Trapani. However, it didn't have enough character-creation items or accessories. If you wanted another GTA-like game, then this game is for you. However, it is honestly a little difficult when you don't upgrade your character properly but it is fun!

Grand theft auto spawned a whole new generation of free form, sandbox game. From Streets of LA to Mafia. This is EA's take on the subject using The Godfather for limited inspiration.

The game itself is very lacklustre and anyone who has played similar games will immediately see that this is a very poor example of both how to make a game and how to use what is solid gold subject matter. Considering the quality of the original film it seems surprising that this game made it out the door.

The graphics are no better - and in fact worse than Mafia even though this game was released some 3 years ago. In a similar vein the city is a dog to drive around and to make matters worse the cars are some of the worst ever done in a game of this type.

The actual game itself is over far far far too quickly. Whereas similar titles have some 50 to a 100 levels the Godfather gives a meagre 25 and most of these are either small or taken up at the start as tutorial missions. The remainder are usually just generic missions with only a few relating to the film.

Action in the game is equally bothersome. At times it seems as though enemies are either made of wet tissue paper or are full on bullet proof. You will very often find yourself cursing at the screen because a mobster takes 5 magnum hits to the chest and takes you down with one seemingly devastating long range shotgun blast. The only saving grace is the style that you get to execute some finishing moves; with names such as hats off execution or Face-off execution.

All in all this is not worth the time or money. Its just a lazy way for EA to cash in on a game area that they have no expertise in. Rent the game, borrow it or play it at a friends. mafia handles the same subject of 1940's gangsters better and Grand theft auto gives you far more too do and gives you a hell of a lot more fun while you do it.

5/10