Great idea, poor execution
From the off you can see this is a great tribute to an amazing film. Once you have created your hard faced hit man, soon to become Don, you are ready to join the family. The game plays immense detail to the film and should appeal to the fans of the film; however if you just a regular gamer then look else where for your gangster kicks in the GTA series.
Ok, TGF does work on a gritty level with some real mean moves, such as the ability to choke a man to death. Rough him up a bit first and throw him about the room; the best move involves a roof top. On the topic of these moves I must start my rant --- the gameplay is poor. Like many other games (Manhunt) you can lock onto the enemy then choose to fire / hit. The close combat seems quite good at first, but you soon realise the movement is very limited and your player can freeze and refuse to respond to your input and thus stop fighting; a quick release of the buttons and you can start fighting again, but by this time you're almost dead, as the bad guys hit hard.
Although you can upgrade your skills including health, I still think your man is useless in combat; the above glitch even happens with innocent bystanders who should be pathetic, yet can get the upper hand if your man freezes (no, it is not my new sony controller). The shotgun is very slow to reload and yet packs a massive punch, simply a couple hits can take you out and visa versa. And why do the other guys put thier guns away when you offer to fist fight them, surely they'd take you out.
For starters the fighting is too easy then after a point it becomes ultra hard; its not a smooth progression like GTA. Having died and lost out to the racket, you'll find the hitmen all come back alive at the joint, and you have to do it all over again. Should you wish to re-load, this takes ages - Loading times are apauling. Then if you think Saving will save you some annoyance, think again; save times are super slow too.
Graphics are terrible for today. Only the premade cut scenes are decent. Forget about sound effects, you'd do better on a PS1 game. However the voice acting is great !!
There is far too much repetition in animations, buildings, scenes etc. There are only a few select cars; this is too bad and the handling is just plain funny; very american.
This game could have been so much more, but failed. Rent it first.