The Godfather II Review

Forget the fact that the original was nothing more than a poor man's GTA; ignore The Godfather tag and the fact it's loosely based around one of the most iconic films in movie history; look beyond the woeful presentation, shoddy driving and gunplay.  Provided you can manage this, then you may just find that The Godfather II offers a surprisingly enjoyable insight into the tactical demands of being a Don and mafia life.

The ties to Francis Ford Coppola's essential sequel are tenuous at best.  Following an arrival in Cuba between the various families, the fictional protagonist from the first game, Aldo Trapani, is killed and it's up to you to take control of the Corleone's operations and expand them across New York, Miami, and Havana.

From the first mission any optimism for a semi-decent open world action title is quickly thrown out of the window.  Despite the fact that The Godfather II has been developed specifically for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, the game looks as though it's still based on the original game engine which was compromised by last-gen formats.  As a result, The Godfather II looks terrible and is far from the usual gloss we've come to expect from an EA title.

The experience isn't helped by the thoroughly unremarkable shooting action and unrefined driving gameplay, which is bland beyond belief and shows very little signs of advancing the format from the open world genre's early days.  The Blackhand combat system makes a return allowing you to punch, headbutt, and stick a few well placed knees to the nether regions to force people to submit with flicks of the right thumbstick and pulls on the shoulder triggers.  Although we're loathe to praise the game's presentation or direction, the ability to throw punches and force a surrender while cutting to cinematic camera views is a neat touch.  We're also quite fond of the cop system, which places the emphasis on the location in which the incident took place and eye-witnesses instead of instantly narrowing in on you .

Fortunately, EA's decision to ditch many of the original's blueprints and concentrate on a concept that stands on its own merit is commendable.  This is all tied to the implementation of the 'Don's View', which although not exactly profound, does at least steer The Godfather II away from being just another GTA wannabe.  The concept takes the idea of taking over businesses, crime rings, and rackets of the original, but does it in a much more effective manner.  Simply hitting the start button swoops the camera to a birds-eye perspective of the various cities featured in the game, providing the perfect vantage for carrying out a mobster's dirty work.

Amassing your family of made men and gradually taking over crime rings and rackets is the formula for success.  Made men specialise in a variety of different skills, such as safe cracking or demolitions, which in turn provide the means to taking over rival businesses.  Gaining control of each of the businesses in a certain crime ring not only provides a daily income but also endows you with various bonuses, such as bulletproof vests and brass knuckles.  By taking over all of a rival family's businesses you can begin to track down the members of the family, marking them for assassination before ultimately taking down their compound and wiping them off the map for good.

Once control over a business has been established you'll need to shore up its defences, either by keeping a made man present or allocating a number of guards - although obviously this incurs a cost against your daily income.  This constant flow of attack and defence is at the heart of The Godfather II, and the very reason why it's vastly superior to its predecessor and worthy of standing on its own in the open world action genre.  There's an element of the best gangster films in its portrayal, with strategies such as sending a group of made men to bomb an opponents business to serve as a decoy to a genuine takeover attempt of another premise.

Of course, anybody who's watched a mafia film or seen an episode of The Sopranos will know the importance of favours.  Carrying out tasks for various individuals, from random people on the streets to the upper echelons of the CIA, will in turn provide numerous benefits, from locations and details on rival family's made men to other benefits such as calling off the cops, putting a rival made man behind bars, or rebuilding a bombed business.  The way in which the various rewards are tied to progress in the game serves as a satisfying gameplay dynamic.

Despite its qualities, there are problems.  Certainly when trying to take over the larger premises, hunting down the owner is exacerbated by the main character's inability to interact with the environment.  It can all bit a bit long-winded and you're constantly bemoaning aspects such as why the character can vault over certain obstacles, but is unable to save himself five minutes and nip over a ledge.  This stilted main gameplay does a lot to detract from the qualities EA has managed to introduce.  If EA could have offered a higher level of primary gameplay with the visual quality of Dead Space, then The Godfather II could have been an unstoppable proposition.

We'd also suggest that the game's pace tends to lag towards the middle sections as you become embroiled in the game of cat and mouse.  The lack of any standout scripted gameplay events hinders the overall flow, and we feel that the odd occasional sequence could have dramatised the standard gameplay a little.