The video game adaption of The Godfather has been lurking on the periphery of my consciousness for awhile. It registered due to my love for The Godfather and The Godfather 2, though I knew enough to not expect much from a video game adaptation of what I consider a flawless masterpiece. I wasn't incorrect, let's say.
It's got its moments. It follows the pacing of the movie pretty well, takes some rather strong liberties in order to jam your character into the plot, and is generally a good homage to the feel. It's also quite satisfying to be able to blast the Tattaglia thugs through the head and watch them topple to the ground, blow up oildrum fires (which are apparently in abundance on even the busiest streets and seem to be filled with high explosives) to torch surrounding enemies and/or civilians, and throw shopkeepers through windows. As you progress, you seize and extort businesses, thus guaranteeing a steady flow of income and allowing you to watch your influence spread inexorably across New York. Once you've played through the game, and all of the plot points, you're reasonably satisfied with your Mafia activities. Plus, most of the cast of the movie lent their voice talents to the dialogue. Sonny Corleone is as bitter and filled with rage as ever, Tessio is eerily calm, and Tom Hagen is as frustrated by everything going on around him as he was in the movie. It was a very good touch.
Unfortunately, it's got more than its share of flaws. For starters, when you begin racing cars around, you notice that the crash physics are nonexistent. Your momentum doesn't stop you from coming to a grinding halt if you hit something bigger than a produce cart, even if you're driving a pickup truck at 70mph and you slam into a tiny coupe. You also can't flip over, no matter what you do. The graphics initially seemed good, with facial renders looking spot-on and realistic, but then I got out into the gameplay world. The buildings and streets are all uninspiring, the citizens are boring, and eventually you'll notice that the detail that was put into the facial renders of the main characters make them all look like they've got smallpox. The AI doesn't exist. You can predict what the enemy will do in 90% of all situations and off them quickly after you get used to the scenarios.
Speaking of scenarios, all of the levels repeat. Apparently, New York City ordinances state that all buildings serving a like purpose (bakeries, smoke shops, nightclubs, warehouses, etc.) will all be built with the exact same floor plan. To whit, you see one bakery, smoke shop, or what have you, you've seen them all. This also applies to the rival family compounds, which are all reproductions of the Corleone compound. So if you've ever sleepwalked in your own home, you know how to blow up the center of your rivals' power. It makes for a tedious, repetitive time. Plus, the auto-aim is completely counter-intuitive.
Storywise, the game does some very odd things. Aside from wedging the player into events of the movie, everything from slaughtering the guy who garrotes Luca Brasi to killing the heads of the Four Families in ways that go completely against the movie's beautiful montage of their deaths, there's also some very conspicuously ignored factors. The most glaring is the Don's death. What should have been an extremely pivotal event in the game, as it was in the movie, is not even mentioned until far after the fact. Additionally, you don't hear about Moe Green until the very end of the game, where it is mentioned that he is dead. Anyone who isn't familiar with the movie would have no idea who the hell he is, where the hell Fredo Corleone went, what's in Las Vegas, why anyone's in Las Vegas, and why this Moe guy had to die. In its context, it's a non sequiteur.
In the end, the game doesn't even come close to living up to the legacy of its source material. If you're dead set on not being insulted by its frequent liberties, it's enjoyable. Frankly, though, it's only comparable as a slightly less interesting version of a strikingly similar game: Let's face it, Mafia came out three years ago.
It's got its moments. It follows the pacing of the movie pretty well, takes some rather strong liberties in order to jam your character into the plot, and is generally a good homage to the feel. It's also quite satisfying to be able to blast the Tattaglia thugs through the head and watch them topple to the ground, blow up oildrum fires (which are apparently in abundance on even the busiest streets and seem to be filled with high explosives) to torch surrounding enemies and/or civilians, and throw shopkeepers through windows. As you progress, you seize and extort businesses, thus guaranteeing a steady flow of income and allowing you to watch your influence spread inexorably across New York. Once you've played through the game, and all of the plot points, you're reasonably satisfied with your Mafia activities. Plus, most of the cast of the movie lent their voice talents to the dialogue. Sonny Corleone is as bitter and filled with rage as ever, Tessio is eerily calm, and Tom Hagen is as frustrated by everything going on around him as he was in the movie. It was a very good touch.
Unfortunately, it's got more than its share of flaws. For starters, when you begin racing cars around, you notice that the crash physics are nonexistent. Your momentum doesn't stop you from coming to a grinding halt if you hit something bigger than a produce cart, even if you're driving a pickup truck at 70mph and you slam into a tiny coupe. You also can't flip over, no matter what you do. The graphics initially seemed good, with facial renders looking spot-on and realistic, but then I got out into the gameplay world. The buildings and streets are all uninspiring, the citizens are boring, and eventually you'll notice that the detail that was put into the facial renders of the main characters make them all look like they've got smallpox. The AI doesn't exist. You can predict what the enemy will do in 90% of all situations and off them quickly after you get used to the scenarios.
Speaking of scenarios, all of the levels repeat. Apparently, New York City ordinances state that all buildings serving a like purpose (bakeries, smoke shops, nightclubs, warehouses, etc.) will all be built with the exact same floor plan. To whit, you see one bakery, smoke shop, or what have you, you've seen them all. This also applies to the rival family compounds, which are all reproductions of the Corleone compound. So if you've ever sleepwalked in your own home, you know how to blow up the center of your rivals' power. It makes for a tedious, repetitive time. Plus, the auto-aim is completely counter-intuitive.
Storywise, the game does some very odd things. Aside from wedging the player into events of the movie, everything from slaughtering the guy who garrotes Luca Brasi to killing the heads of the Four Families in ways that go completely against the movie's beautiful montage of their deaths, there's also some very conspicuously ignored factors. The most glaring is the Don's death. What should have been an extremely pivotal event in the game, as it was in the movie, is not even mentioned until far after the fact. Additionally, you don't hear about Moe Green until the very end of the game, where it is mentioned that he is dead. Anyone who isn't familiar with the movie would have no idea who the hell he is, where the hell Fredo Corleone went, what's in Las Vegas, why anyone's in Las Vegas, and why this Moe guy had to die. In its context, it's a non sequiteur.
In the end, the game doesn't even come close to living up to the legacy of its source material. If you're dead set on not being insulted by its frequent liberties, it's enjoyable. Frankly, though, it's only comparable as a slightly less interesting version of a strikingly similar game: Let's face it, Mafia came out three years ago.