The Godfather is probably one of the most popular movies ever made. It is currently #1 on IMDB’s Top 250 movies list, based on almost two hundred thousand votes. EA knew that it was going to be a very difficult job for them to make a (quality) game based on the Godfather franchise. How did they fare?
You join the Corleone family after your family is killed by an enemy gang. You start out as a nobody and can eventually earn (by earn I mean steal, murder, destroy) your way up to the Don of New York City. All of this, of course, takes quite some time, and if you want to do all the missions, then the game will take you a few dozen hours.
The game’s setup is like your normal GTA clone. You are some Joe Shmoe who will eventually end up in a very high position somewhere (in this case, the mafia). You take on missions from various characters from the movie to do hits on the enemies of the family, drive around, and take over illegal gambling places and businesses. Taking over businesses is quite fun. If the store owner is reluctant to pay protection money to the Corleone family, you can destroy their shops to make it obvious that when you want to take over a business, you mean it. The Godfather game is equally violent as the movie, so fans won’t be disappointed.
Classic tunes and voices return in the game version of The Godfather. The unforgettable theme song plays quite a lot, and most of the actors (even Marlon Brando before his death) provided their voices for this adaptation.
The graphics in The Godfather are a mixed bunch. The characters’ faces and animations are simply fantastic, and quite realistic. Most of the actors from the films lent not only their voices, but their looks to the game, making it a very authentic experience. However, it seems the good graphics stop there. Other animations, such as buildings, cars, or pedestrians look bland and the same. Kind of disappointing, but I guess it would have been silly to make the buildings neon pink and orange just because technology allows it nowadays. After all, it was the early 20th century, not the early 21st century, so in a way, it adds to the authenticity of the game.
The controls break the game for me, and this is why I will rate the PC version of this otherwise fun game so low. The controls are just plain weird on the PC. You need to go through which weapon you want to use on the numbers on your keyboard, and then press a button to draw it. If you want to focus on someone to help you aim, you need to press a different button. If you want to holster your weapon, you need to press another button. Hiding, covering, and crouching all require different buttons. It wouldn’t be so bad, but since some of the buttons are used in strange ways (A
