Hinted at earlier in the year, EA today officially confirmed that the Coreleone family will be returning to the consoles and Pc next year with the release of The Godfather II.

Inspired by Mario Puzo's novel and the critically acclaimed film, The Godfather II promises to go beyond the film's story by setting the action in 1960's Florida, Cuba, and New York.

Having been promoted to Don of New York by Michael Carleone, the players challenge is to expand new cities, building up the Family through extorting businesses, monopolising illegal crime rings and defeating rival families.

The Godfather II takes the open-world gameplay of the original and introduces a strategic twist in the shape of 'The Don's View', which allows players to monitor the entire world as they grow the family business. Using the view, players can build, defend, and expand their own crime rings, while also keeping a close eye on rivals.

The option to build a family of Made Men will also be present in the game, hiring crew, handing out orders and promoting the best men up the ranks. Each member specialises in a specific field, such as demolitions, arson, engineering, first-aid and many more.

The original game's signature BackHand control system will make a return with the promise of even more moves, a new combo system, pressure tactics and executions.

"In the 1960's, a mafia Don was only as strong as his family," said Hunter Smith, Executive Producer of The Godfather II. "We found the hierarchical culture of organized crime intriguing. Running an organized crime family in a world defined by family loyalty is something that we felt could introduce a new strategic element to the genre. That is what the Don's View is all about -- laying out a strategy to pick off the competition one by one. The Don's View is so unique, it could fundamentally change the rules of open-world games by blending action and strategy to create something entirely new."

"The Godfather has become an exceptional gaming franchise for the Studio," states Sandi Isaacs, Senior Vice President of Interactive & Mobile for Paramount Digital Entertainment. "The videogame takes the story and gameplay to the next level with an innovative open-world action strategy that is both compelling and intriguing for gamers."

TVG took a First Look at The Godfather II recently and will be bringing you everything you need to know about the game next week, so keep your eyes peeled.