The Godfather, a great "run-and-gun" game with a bit more class that we, of course, expect from the Godfather series.
User Rating: 9 | The Godfather PS2
The Godfather is an immersive and action-packed spin-off of the classic Godfather series, which truly lives up to its roots, resembled through the eyes of your very own Gangster. You'll first start out as a boy, who witnesses his father's grisly death, gunned down by a bunch of gangsters who mean one thing and one thing only: business. Many years later your character follows in his father's footsteps to become a gangster and member of the Corleone family. From this point it is easy to so how much this game truly lives up to the godfather series, even by just hearing the characters' voices and seeing the character models; each and every character is beautifully done. From this point in the story you will be able to fully customize your gangster from the mole on his left cheek to his suit and tie he wears to look powerful and of coarse, to reel in the ladies. You then are brought into a tutorial narrated by yours truly, Peter Clemenza. After this you are given the freedom to do just about anything you want and come to expect from a Godfather universe. You can stick to the story, which closely follows the first movie, rob banks, extort businesses and warehouses, take down rival families, bribe cops, etc. Having the Godfather name imprinted on the cover means respect is, of course, a major priority in the game and you will need to do all these things in order to upgrade your character. All these jobs earn you money too, which is always good. The upgrade system is separated into two systems each primarily built upon respect. One is your personal skill points which upgrade everything a gangster needs like knowing how to fight, shoot, handle the streets, intimidate people, etc. which you earn progressingly throughout the entire game. The other is respect to the family, which determines what role you play in the family for example, you'll start out as an outsider, then move on to underboss, then capo etc. which only change by reaching a certain point in the game. One thing you will have to know about the story missions is that in them you will constantly be fighting rival families apart from following every action scene within the Godfather, but it's your responsibility to prevent mob wars from occurring and still take over businesses and warehouses apart from the story itself. Another upgrade you will need in the game for sure is your artillery which you usually have to earn by simply buying upgrades, yet these upgrades are always pricey so I would suggest to simply save up for the third (last) level for each gun instead of the second. The aiming is very simple yet effective --- it provides for easy lock-on and enables you to take headshots for instant kills (get used to doing this because many enemies wear armor), arm shots for disarming an enemy, and who could forget kneecap shots to bring your enemy to the ground. You also have many explosives such as dynamite, Molotov cocktails, and even bombs, all of which look beautifully animated when set off. Besides all this fire power you will constantly have to use your fists of fury even near the end of the game which isn't actually a bad thing. The fighting system is beautifully done, set up in an analog control style and everything Sunny does to his brother in law in the film you can pretty much do. The carnage in this game is great, lots of blood, lots of gore, massive explosions, everything we've come to love from the Godfather series. However I do have one beef with the language, not because it's offensive but it doesn't stick to the godfather roots. The Godfather gangsters killed people but they did it with class abstaining from throwing F-bombs here and there. I swear, what's this world coming to anymore when a guy can't murder another guy with class?! Apart from this rant, there are also a few flaws you'll notice, especially in the way Michael looks and sounds. The game also tends to end too abruptly and you don't get that "end" kind of feeling you get in most great video games. All of these mistakes, although minuscule do take affect in the game itself, however in all, anyone and everyone should at least try this game on for size but especially fans of the Godfather series. 
