The Godfather

"Women, Arms and Money: The Quest to Conquer New York City"

Welcome to the 30's NYC. Where pulling the trigger is easier than taking sip of wine. The city is controlled by 5 families, corrupt police officers, and opportunist detectives that come in between. New York City is shattered between the Corleones, the Tattaglias, the Cuenos, the Barzinis and the Straccis.

Originally a famous bestseller, later a Hollywood motion picture and now, Electronic Arts has brought us this masterpiece to the Playstation 2.

The game starts in 1936, New York City. Don Vito Corleone is the god father of the Corleone family, a mafia family from Cicely based in the Little Italy district. The underboss of the Corleone family is assassinated in front of his son and his wife by an opposing family, and Don Vito was in the scene. He calms the kid, and tells him that he has to be strong in order to take revenge when he grows up, and so will it be.

9 years later, the kid that was young grows, and now you get to choose how he looks. The character customization is very creative and diverse, you can change your character looks in every possible way. You can also choose your characters clothes; his vest, his shirt, his pants and his shoes, and even his eyeglasses and his hat. You can also name your character. After you've done all this, you are set to start rocking. Notice that every time you load the game, you will have the option of changing your character's looks and clothes.

Graphics:

This game's graphics is nothing but amazing. The character facial expressions look intensely realistic and the general environment of the city is very real, and gives you the feeling of being there.

The game developers have made an amazing job in creating the 30's era New York City. In the horizon you can see the Manhattan skyline, including the Empire State building which was built in the early 30's, you can take the Brooklyn Bridge going to Brooklyn and you can even reach New Jersey.

The cut-scenes are perfectly crafted; with smooth textures and realistic facial features, the cut scenes are guaranteed to give you a good gaming experience.

Game play:

Now here comes the most amazing aspect of this game: the game play. Once you start controlling your character, you get introduced to the unique fist fighting system, which involves a lot of karate and judo moves, as well as gang fight moves and executions. The weapon and firing system is also easy controlled and creative. You can easily aim freely using the L2 button, or make use of the automated aiming system by tapping L1 to alternate between targets.

Other aspect of the game play is driving the cars. Like GTA, stealing a car is your choice. And though all the cars are from the 30's-40's era, they are still wonderful and as hot as any wheels can be. One let down though, this game does not feature a bumper camera when driving the car, which was a disappointment for me, because bumper cameras are my favorite when in involves driving a car. Anyway, getting used to the normal view won't take a lot of time, and you will still enjoy driving around.

There are several things you can do in this game, other than following the normal story. To guarantee your family's influence and domination over the city, you will have to excoriate different businesses around the town. This means, you have two options; either use negotiation, or blast full power to scare the shop owners and force them to pay you tribute every month, in return to your family's protection. This concept is also similar to the concept of interrogation this game offers; ask the suspect, beat him sometime then ask him again to get the info pouring down like rain.

The main story line is very intriguing, and for those who read the book and watched the movie, it will be even better. Personally, I neither read the book nor watched the movie, but I still enjoyed every moment of this game, and specially its story line.

The main objective includes all types of gang warfare, spawning from normal robberies and shootouts, to planting explosives and executing assassination operations against your foes. There is a special system of execution, by which you get bonuses for different types of executions, this includes but not confined to: Head shots, kneecap execution, burning execution and throwing-off-the-roof execution.

Bribes and corruption also play its role in the family's version of NYC. Bribe police officers to put some heat off your ass, bribe FBI agents to control the Federal Bureau and use it to follow your rivals while keeping a blind eye on your family.

Sounds:

The soundtracks this game offers are pretty limited, mainly; you will be hearing the main theme of the game when driving around in a car, but when involved in a chase or a shootout with an enemy, the theme changes to something more fast-paced. Generally, I think more soundtracks needed to be in the game, although you might argue that any GTA-style soundtracks might put off the general atmosphere of the game.

The voice acting is pretty good. Apart from a few glitches here and there, the voice acting is good and very compelling. The characters voices are very sharp and appropriate with how they look and feel. It also takes a lot from the movie style.

Side-missions:

As I said before, this game offers a vast selection of off-the-game side missions. You can rob banks, raid shops, and force people under your submission and last but not least, you can always ask one of the Corleone guys for a contact hit list. You will be asked to perform assassinations against certain personnel's, with a money reward, and respect bonus of course. The side missions in this game may be even more than the main missions. Remember, to be the Don of the Corleone family and later the Don of New York City, side missions are your path, your path to glory.

Longevity & Replay Value:

This game's story missions are not much; 19 missions in all. Though wonderful and full of hype and action, still not much, and could be beaten easily in no time. But this game, as I said before, has more to offer. The side quests are even as compelling and intriguing as the main story missions. Playing the side quests would take more time, and becoming the Don of New York City is not an easy task.

First off, your way to glory and domination should be taking out your rivals. Use every mean possible, starting from direct assassinations and bombings, up till using corrupt officers and agents for your benefit.

The more you finish the side quests, the more you accomplish game completion percentage, which unlocks bonus video snaps directly from the movie. Always fun to watch Don Vito Corleone taking care of things in his own special way.

All in all, The Godfather is a game to remember. A very wonderful game, full of action and hype. Fasted with moments for memory and appreciation. A game that, in my opinion, can beat any of its rivals and comes superior to them. The short story line was a let down indeed, but it was the price we have to pay for such an amazing game. After all, the developers were limited by the movie. Let us all hope this game is not just finished about that. Let us hope for a non-movie based sequel, where you conquer New York City once more.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/06