An offer you won't want to refuse...for the most part...
In the game you play a character that wasn’t featured in the film, but this doesn’t change up the original story, it just adds a bit of depth. You create the look of your character with a feature similar to the “Game Face” feature of the Tiger Woods franchise. I'll quickly explain "Game Face" for those who are unaware of how it works. You are given a face, your palette to do whatever you desire, you can change the size, width, height and placement of eyes, ears, the mouth and nose etc. You can also change the skin color and basic body shape of your character. After that is done you get to pick out the clothes for your character, though there isn't great of a selection. All these features give you the opportunity to give your character a distinct look. After you're done creating your character the story begins. The game starts out with a and then a cinematic of the death of your father. Then it transitions to the Don’s daughter’s wedding and your mother asks for the Don to take you into the family before you end up getting yourself killed. From there, you basically follow the storyline of the movie. Once you complete the story missions, you then begin to take out each rival family until you become "Don of New York". There are a lot of cool moments to be had with the story though, which have you playing through some of the most memorable scenes from the movie. One such mission you actually get to plant the gun for Michael, which just rocked if I don’t say so myself. The only disappointing part would be the fact that Al Pacino didn’t want anything to do with this game so the in-game Michael Corleone doesn’t look or sound anything like, well, Michael Corleone.
Graphically this game is good, but not great. The cut scenes and faces are all extremely well done and quite accurate. The city looks like I would expect it to look during that era, though New York seems to be small in scale. The city has a nice feel to it with people everywhere and paper ruffling around the streets. It’s not colorful and may seem dull to some people, but the Godfather isn’t meant to be colorful. This game looks just the way it should to keep the feel of the movie alive. There are a lot of interiors to visit, but since they are all recycled and reused once you’ve seen one barbershop you’ve seen them all. And in very rare cases the frame rate can drop, but this only happens when driving at high speeds while having a lot of activity on screen. Overall the graphics are good, but a few minor touches and they could have been great. This could have easily been fixed with more variety in all aspects, such as the recycled interiors and pedestrians.
The gameplay has some nice touches, personally of which I really love the hand-to-hand combat. You lock onto a character and use the right analog stick to teach those guys a lesson. You can punch, kick, head-butt and even use your environment to your advantage. You are able to slam enemies against walls, snap their neck with a quick execution, or even throw them out a window and watch them fall to their death. The gun-play involves your regular lock-on system, though you can manually aim in order to disable you enemy (shooting their kneecap or their shoulder). There aren't many weapons to choose from, a few melee weapons and a small array of guns. Though you only have 5 different guns to choose from, each can level up twice. This is done simply from purchasing an upgrade, though they happen to be quite expensive. The driving is done well and the physics are nice, but honestly, the driving isn’t fun at all. Driving is probably the worst part of the game because it is just too boring, not to mention that there really aren’t that many cars to choose from. I’m not sure, but I don’t even think there are over 10 different cars in the game. Overall; I have to say that the controls are pretty good and responsive. The hand-to-hand combat sticks out as the best feature, while the other controls are just your average shooting and driving. The enemy AI is actually pretty good as well. The enemy will find cover, or work together.Though, sometimes the enemy is just plain stupid (ie. running into walls), but for the most part you always have a challenge ahead of you. The game is a challenging game as well. You may often find yourself having to replay missions more than you might like. This is partially because of the unbalance of the weapons. The shotgun is extremely powerful and can take you down in no time if you're not paying attention. There is a challenge to be had with this game and though it may be frustrating at times, it is definitely worth the time and trouble.
The sound is excellent with the voice acting being top notch and it’s great to have the majority of the original cast. Having the original cast gives the game an authenticity that would have been hard to achieve if their voices were absent. Even though their really isn’t music in the sense of GTA or other games in the genre, the music works well to give the feeling that is ultimately desired. You may get sick of hearing the Godfather theme song every time you go to the compound, but I can say it never really bothered me. I actually enjoyed getting to hear the theme, it again helps with the authenticity of the game. The sound effects are all good and well done and help in an already great sounding game. The only problem I have with the sound is with that of the people on the street. What they have to say gets recycled often and the voice acting is emotionless. They all feel the same, without a shred of uniqueness or identity.
If you’re a fan of the movie then this is a definite pick up. I mean who doesn’t want to help plant the gun, or help with the delivery of a lovely wake up gift (I wouldn't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen the movie). There are plenty of things to do besides the story missions as well. You can do side missions and assassination jobs, or search for every single film reel hidden in the game. The replay value of the game is high, but it still isn't anywhere near that of GTA: SA. You do have side missions and items to collect, but compared to GTA, it just doesn't feel as open. The Godfather was a risky game to make, but for the most part it hasn’t disappointed me. Anyone looking for a GTA-style fix will be happy with this game. All those fans of the movie and book will love it even more. I highly recommend this game, especially to those who are familiar with the movie and fans of it.