The Godfather
Genre: Third-Person Action Adventure
Platform: XBOX
Rating: M (Mature 17+)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Release Date: 3/21/06

Video games based on motion pictures have a very spotty history. For every Goldeneye, there’s a dozen more bad games like any of the Evil Dead games or E.T. Now, EA has decided to throw their hat into the ring, but they may have bitten off more than they can chew by adapting one of the most iconic films in history, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. Were they able to make a game that’s both entertaining and respectful of the subject matter, or is this one more game for the scrap heap?

1. Story

You play the son of one of Vito Corleone’s captains, who you see at the game’s beginning getting murdered by some thugs from the rival Barzini family. At Connie’s wedding, your mother approaches Don Vito, telling him how you’ve fallen in with a bunch of punks from around the neighborhood and are getting into a lot of trouble. She asks Don Vito to take care of you, and since no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter’s wedding day, Don Vito sends his right hand man Luca Brasi to take you under his wing.

You soon find yourself moving up the ranks of the Corleone family, and will become an integral part of the events that surround the Corleones from the movie. From Luca’s assassination to the attempt on Don Vito’s life, from Michael’s revenge on Solozzo and McCluskey to whacking Paulie for betraying the family, from Sonny’s murder to Michael’s final strike against the heads of the Five Families, your character will be in the middle of all the action from the movie. Some people may feel like some things are getting a short shrift, but this tactic works out well in the end. It’s an engrossing story and you are made to feel like you’re truly a part of the action.

In addition to the main story, there are also story lines not from the movie pertaining directly to your character. Once again, it’s an excellent way of fully immersing you into the Godfather universe. You’re never made to feel like you’re a tacked on character. Instead, by the time the game is over you’ll feel like you really were a character from the movie.

Score: 9/10

2. Graphics

The graphics in this game are excellent. Character models are detailed and convincing. You will be able to customize your character’s look through a feature called “MobFace”, where you can change everything from the shape of his eyes to the types and lengths of scars he has. It gives your character a unique feel, thus immersing you even further into the game. Plus, the models for the characters from the film are amazingly detailed and accurate, the only exception being that for Michael, whose look has changed since they couldn’t secure Al Pacino’s involvement. Still, when you see Tessio you’re seeing Abe Vigoda; when you see Tom Hagen you’re seeing Robert Duvall. It’s extremely well-done.

The city and background models are also well-done and accurate. From the cobblestone streets of Little Italy to the old-school look of Times Square, you feel like you’re in New York City circa 1945. Now, some reviews have complained that the interiors of the buildings and businesses are repetitive, and they are. But at the same time, the repetition of environments means zero load time, so the tradeoff actually is a good one. There’s very little to complain about with this title graphically.

Score: 8/10

3. Sound

The game’s sound is excellent as well. The voice acting is top-notch, as EA has enlisted most of the original cast to lend their voices to the game. James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Abe Vigoda all reprise their original roles, lending the game an air of authenticity. Marlon Brando also lent his voice to the game, although at the time he was sick and would die soon after. Much of what he recorded was unusable, although there are still a couple of points where his voice is used. When the original cast member was unavailable, either because they were dead or declined to participate, they found someone else that was able to give a credible imitation, so that you’re unable to tell the difference. The only exception to this is Al Pacino, who declined to participate due to his involvement with the Scarface video game soon to be released. In that case, as mentioned above, they went in a different direction, not only using someone with a completely different voice, but changing Michael’s look so that he doesn’t resemble Pacino at all. This may be a bit disconcerting for some people, but the rest of the voice acting is so dead on that it’s a minor distraction at best.

The musical score from the movie is also heavily used in the game, adding another dimension to immerse the player. And the environmental sounds are also excellent, as you’ll hear people chattering on the street and cars and trucks rumbling in the background. It’s just another little thing that makes you feel as though you’re in 1940’s New York. As with the video, there is little to complain about with the game’s sound.

Score: 8/10

4. Control/Gameplay

The control scheme is fairly intuitive, and anyone who’s played GTA or Fight Night will be able to pick it up quickly. The left analog stick moves your character, and the right analog stick controls your camera. The D-pad arms your character when you push up and conceals his weapon when you push down, while pushing left and right cycles through his weapons. The left trigger locks onto a target while the right trigger fires your weapon. Holding the A button makes your character sprint, while the B button makes him go into a crouch. X will allow you to hug a wall for protection, while the Y button is the multi-task button, allowing you to talk to other characters as well as do certain actions, like vault a wall or get in and out of cars. Driving is similar to other games, with the right trigger used for acceleration, the left trigger used for braking, and the X button your handbrake.

A nifty addition to this game is hand-to-hand combat. Anyone who’s ever played Fight Night will be familiar with the controls. You lock onto a target with the left trigger and use the right analog stick to throw punches. The more you torque on the right stick, the harder the punches will be. So flicking the joystick will just throw simple jabs, while pulling back and pushing up will throw haymakers. It sounds strange, but it’s really very intuitive and you’ll get used to it quickly.

The meat and potatoes of the game are the missions and storyline. You’ll start out as an Outsider, and can move up the ranks to Associate, Soldier, Capo, Underboss, and finally Don. You’ll progress by generating money for the Corleone family, doing things such as shaking down local businesses. Each business pays protection money to a certain family. Your job will be to go to businesses controlled by other families and take them over for the Corleones. Each business owner has an intimidation meter. When you make your proposal you’ll usually be shot down initially. You can coerce the business owner into accepting your offer by destroying some of his property and/or threatening them with physical harm, done by target locking onto them. But getting them to agree can sometimes be tricky, as each owner has a threshold for intimidation that, if exceeded, will turn them violent. Later, as the game progresses and you gain more Respect, businesses will be easier to take over.

You gain respect in numerous ways, from the way you dress to the number of family enemies you kill. The more respect you gain, the more deferential people around you will be. It will make things like negotiating with shop owners much easier, and will eventually get you a higher stream of revenue. The more businesses you take over, the more money that flows into the family coffers, of which you get a cut. The higher your standing in the family, the bigger the cut. There are also rackets, or illegitimate businesses, that can be taken over. To find the locations for the rackets, you either have to take over a racket, or hijack one of the other families’ trucks.

Some types of businesses cannot be taken over without resorting to violence, and those are the warehouses and hubs. These are the biggest sources of revenue for the Five Families, and they’re heavily guarded, with the roads blocked off in either direction. Taking over these businesses will require a lot of ammo and explosives, but once you do take them over it means a lot of money in your pocket.

There are multiple goals to the game. The primary goal is completing the storyline-driven tasks. You’ll start out running errands for Luca Brasi, and soon you’ll attract the attention of the family higher-ups like Sonny and Tom. Most of the storyline missions will place you square in the center of some of the most memorable scenes from the film. You’ll drive Luca Brasi to his ill-fated meeting with Solozzo and Barzini. You’ll drive the shot-up Don to the hospital and stand guard over him. You’ll plant the gun in the restaurant that Michael uses to kill Solozzo and McCluskey and then get him safely onto a boat leaving for Sicily. And you’ll help to execute the heads of the Five Families from the film’s most memorable scene. The storyline missions will take anywhere from 12-15 hours to complete if you rush through, and they’re all well-designed to make you feel like an integral part of the main story.

You’ll also help to extend the Corleone Family’s influence through New York by taking over businesses from other families and carrying out hits for the Corleones. The hits you’re asked to carry out will usually be on a high-ranking member of a rival family, and you’ll have to carry them out in a specific fashion to earn maximum respect. You’ll be asked to do things like kill someone by shoving them into a mortuary’s crematorium, pushing them into oncoming traffic, or shooting them in specific body parts in a certain order.

You’ll ultimately have to take down a family for good by storming their compound, easily the most challenging task of the game. Each compound is so heavily guarded that it’ll make the warehouses and hubs look like pushovers. You’ll have to fight your way through a swarm of guards and infiltrate each of the compound’s two buildings. There, you’ll have to make your way down to the basements and plant a bomb and make your way out before the bomb goes off. Once you’ve blown up both buildings, you’ve taken over that family’s compound for yourself. Once the compound has been seized and all their businesses taken over, you’ll have eliminated that family.

Fighting with the other families will also raise your Vendetta levels with them. Once a Vendetta level for another family reaches a certain point, that family’s soldiers will attack you on the street if you come into their sights. If a Vendetta level gets high enough, you will be at war with that family, and have 48 hours to end it. To win the war, you either have to bomb one of their businesses or find a crooked FBI agent and bribe them. If you lose the war, either by dying or not ending the war by one of the two methods mentioned above in the 48 hour time frame, some of the Corleone businesses will get bombed in retaliation, cutting off the stream of revenue from those businesses.

It’s a very engrossing sandbox game, and the net result is that you’ll definitely feel like you’re a part of the Godfather universe. The only real complaint is that some of the gameplay can become repetitive. Once can’t help but compare this game to GTA, specifically San Andreas and its gang warfare model. In San Andreas, you’re constantly forced to hold your territory as rival gangs will invade and try to take that turf over. In The Godfather, once you take over a business that’s it. There’s never any attempt by other families to take back their businesses or even take over one of yours. so in that respect, it’s a bit lacking. Still, there’s more than enough here to keep you occupied for anywhere from 25-30 hours.

Score: 7/10

5. Replayability

The game has a fairly decent replay value to it. While the actual missions that are derived from the film may only take up 12-15 hours of your time, there’s so much more to do that you won’t feel disappointed. What separates this game from, say, Grand Theft Auto, is that even when the story is technically over your game isn’t, as you work towards becoming the Don of the Corleone family, and eventually the Don of NYC. There’s also a lot of unlockable content, including movie clips and There’s a lot of replayability to be had here.

Score: 7/10

6. Balance

The game is very well-balanced. You’re never called upon to undertake anything beyond your character’s ability. You’re able to pick and choose how to proceed with tasks due to the game’s open-ended structure, so if a task looms that’s beyond your abilities you can bypass it until you’re better equipped to undertake it. And even the most difficult of challenges, such as taking over another Family’s warehouse or compound, can be done with a bit of planning and caution. There are aspects of the game that are challenging but not too difficult; conversely, there’s nothing here that’s incredibly easy, either. It’s a nice balance.

Score: 7/10

7. Originality

It’s a sandbox game based on one of the most famous films in history. Not a combination that adds up to much originality.

Score: 2/10

8. Addictiveness

You’ll find yourself playing into the wee hours, taking over businesses and carrying out contract hits. There’s so much to do here that you’ll be driven to keep playing until you’re finally the Don of NYC. This is a highly addictive game.

Score: 9/10

9. Appeal Factor

It’s a sandbox game based on arguably the most famous movie of all time, put out by arguably the biggest game company out there. This was one of the most anticipated releases of this year. The appeal factor is very high.

Score: 9/10

10. Miscellaneous

EA’s ability to get the original actors (sans Pacino) to reprise their characters for this game goes a long way towards making the game as authentic as possible. You’ll become so immersed in the Godfather universe that when you watch the original film you’ll almost be shocked your character isn’t anywhere to be found. It was a tricky undertaking to make a satisfying game based on such an iconic film, but kudos to EA for pulling off what many people would have thought impossible. Count The Godfather alongside Goldeneye and The Chronicles of Riddick as one of the most successful and entertaining video game adaptations of a movie ever made.

Score: 8/10

Story: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Control/Gameplay: 7/10
Replayability: 7/10
Balance: 7/10
Originality: 2/10
Addictiveness: 9/10
Appeal Factor: 9/10
Miscellaneous: 8/10
Total Score: 74/100

Final Score: 7.5/10 (GOOD!)