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Great Game EA..

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

theres not too much bad i can say about this game at all. the graphics on the box are excellent, the controls are flawless and New York in the timeframe of the 50's is captured Beautifully. the Gun Fights are particularly realistic due to the fact that you cant take 10 shots and still live...1 shot from a shotgon and 90% of your life is gone...so youv really got to be smart when going into a gunfight with multiple enemies...because if not, you WILL be killed every single time. the 5 areas that they give you to explore are satisfying, and extorting the shops in all 5 areas will keep you Busy for a VERRYYY long time. that in and of itself could have been the games main focus. overall, if you were interested in Godfather or just like a decent exploration game with shooting action...or if you collect xbox games like me..you NEED to pick this up...you wont be dissapointed. this is right up there with any GTA title you can name, in alot of ways, even better...excellent job E.A...

iLL .

A Microcosm of EA

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Two thing stand out about this game:

1) The remarkable degree to which it was lifted from the GTA franchise
2) How inferior it is to said franchise

Really, it comes down to the difference between EA and Rockstar Games. Rockstar very rarely puts anything less than A effort into their games. Consequently, A ideas become A games and even F ideas become C games. EA puts C effort into most of their games, so even a great idea like this one becomes a B or C game. Not BAD certainly, but far from great.

Some of the flaws of the game are forgivable because they are flawws of the genre: narrative in video games is still in its infancy (in my mind, television is just now coming into its own as a narrative medium and it has been at it a lot longer than video games and is closer to more developed mediums like movies and books). A lot of the flaws, though, are simply problems of too little effort having been put into the game.

I don't BLAME EA for this per se. It is established that people will buy their games even if they put C effort into them. I don't see what motivation they have to put A effort in any more than they do. HAving said that, I didn't notice until I got the game home that it was from EA. Had a noticed that, I wouldn't have bought the games. I'll be more careful in the future.

Amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is pretty much GTA but with a much larger story line and one that actually makes sense. The only downside is the small choice of weapons. It is one of the most open ended games i have ever played. You can either play the story, or you can just run around and rob banks or scare businesses owners into sharing their profits with the family. One of the best features is the ability to hire assistants to help you out. It is very enjoyable to attack your rival families compounds and warehouses with your own private army. This is a must own for the 360.

There's so much to do that when you beat it, there's still stuff to do...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game took me all summer to beat. I'm a teacher and I sepnt my entire summer playing this game, I finally beat it at the end of July and when I became Don of NYC there was still stuff to do. This game was weill worth the money because there's always stuff to do!

welcome to the family

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am amazed with the graphics and game play, the fact that the game plays off of the movie is my faovirte part to me. the gameplay is similar to grand theft auto but on a much higher and better scale. taking over warehouses and stores to build your status up is so much fun. I would recommend this game to anyone above 16, you can start the gameplay and not have to worry about the missions if you dont want to. there is so much to keep you occupied through out the borrows of ny and jersey you end up finding new and exciting missions everytime you play.

Fun diversion but not the game I'd hoped for

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After playing "Mafia" I couldn't wait for The Godfather game to come out. The screen shots and videos looked a lot like Mafia but with all of my favorite Godfather characters. I basically loved the missions and interacting with the original characters and story line but I have to admit there were some huge dissapointments. My first dissapointment was how the developers used (and over-used) the same exterior and interior spaces, I would see the same buildings and sets so many times that I would get confused as far as what part of the city I was in. The draw distance is also very low; buildings, cars and people appear out of no where as you are walking and driving, this lack of continuity really takes away from getting into the game. Driving is a huge hassle because many of the streets are so narrow that you either get stuck behind slow drivers or crash into them to push them out of the way. I also had problem with game play; the game advertised that you can be as mean or nice as you want but there is really no way to play this game without putting a lot of hurt on shop owners. I mean it's a given that you'll kill or hurt other gangsters but there are way too many beatings of civilians in the game. One thing I like about Mafia was that all throughout the game the character was getting drawn deeper and deeper into the gang but there was always a sense of "is this right?". Even the ending of Mafia showed that the gang life doesn't always end happily. In this sense the Godfather movies are much more like the game Mafia then like the game The Godfather. As far as the character models go they were pretty good, even better than Mafia, I just wish Pacino had given permission for his likeness because the Michael Corleone model doesn't look or sound anything like him, and that really sucks because he was really the main character of all 3 movies.

If you're a big Godfather fan and want to interact with some of the movies characters then go ahead and buy this game. But if you're really looking for a gangster style shooter with a great story and better city graphics then buy Mafia.

"Respect the Game"

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Movie tie-ins are usually a rather tiresome affair. They sell bundles of units and are more often than not a large pile of mediocrity. The Godfather game is different. Obviously it's been made on the back of the unparalleled success of Francis Ford Coppolla's gangster masterpiece. And it will sell for this reason as well. However, The Godfather game has it's own place in the epic narrative.

It would have been easy for EA to put the player in the shoes of Michael Corleone - the main protagonist in the movies. Indeed, it may have been due to the failure in securing a license to use Al Pacino's voice and likeness that forced EA's hand in creating a fresh perspective on the famous storyline. What we're left with is a new take featuring your good self; a narrative that sees you seamlessly weave in and out of events loyal to the film. For example, when Luca Brasi is stabbed through the hand and garrotted - at the start of the first movie - you look in on the event through a window, you're spotted and the scene turns into a revenge mission. It's expertly executed as you feel a part of a story that is genuine and loyal to film.

The violence has been superbly recreated also. The realistic nature of the firearms in The Godfather makes for interesting gameplay. As you might be used to the rather `cartoonish' gunplay of Saint's Row and GTA, The Godfather might at first seem unforgiving. And it is. But it's realistic - take one bullet from close range and you're sleeping with the fishes... it's as simple as that. Conversely your own guns carry the same clout, so shootouts often become intense and challenging affairs, if a little frustrating. Where as in GTA's gun fighting success is dependent on how quickly you can change targets and get your shots off, The Godfather sees you picking your shots and timing runs between cover. It's obvious that EA's development focussed heavily on the walking and shooting parts of the game, as this is where most of the appeal lies.

Driving however is a different affair altogether. Given the nature of The Godfather EA were limited on what is and isn't possible for the driving sections. The physics of the cars mean they are frustrating to play with. Most of the vehicles are slow and the faster cars seem unnaturally quick. The handbrake turns that work so well in GTA are irritatingly difficult to pull off, especially when being chased by the coppers. Cars bounce off kerbs but smash right through lampposts practically unaffected. Other vehicles, however, are seemingly made of concrete.

Also, getting from one way point to another can be at times be tedious - GTA gets round this by the superbly scripted radio stations, but The Godfather doesn't have such ingenuity - you're instead treated to a violin-based soundtrack that is depressing once the novelty has done a runner. The valid excuse is that most of this isn't EA's fault - this is more or less what it was like to drive a car in 'them days'. There was no radio; the cars were lame, classic, but moved like pair of concrete boots. Where the violence is so real, so must the rest of the game be if only for consistency.

As you would expect much of what you do is directed by the storyline. However there have been provisions for those who are more impulsive. Outside of the missions there are businesses to extort and rackets to take over. Doing as such will build your weekly wage, which you can then in turn spend on clobber and sorting your hair out. You have a respect bar that increases with each completed mission, but coolly this isn't the only way to gain kudos amongst fellow gangsters. Buying a nice wise guy suit brings in the plaudits and boosts the respect meter as much as whacking a guy. Each time your character levels up you get a point to allocate to his attributes. It's a bit of a weak RPG element, but worth thinking about when acquiring garments.

Extorting businesses is tricky, but worth the effort. You'll usually have to take out two or three 'bad guys' before being able to get to the owner. When you do the situation requires thought. Essentially you need to scare the businessman into paying, and you do so by finding his or her 'limit'. So while some owners will agree to 'protection' as soon as you ask, others will have to be battered to the brink of death. Pretty sick, but then the life of a gangster isn't for fairies. Be warned though, going over the top or killing the proprietor will render the business inactive for a while and you'll get nothing but a bruised set of knuckles. It's a fantastic sidetrack to the main game that has to be taken seriously if you want to hire muscle and buy more powerful weapons for later missions.

And so you've got two sections of the same game that sit paradoxically to each other. The superbly well balanced combat game play that forces you to be thoughtful and timely. And the very dodgy vehicle part that frustrates and bores more than anything else. It's difficult to review a sandbox game without making a comparison to GTA, although it's slightly unfair to do so with The Godfather given the rules imposed by the subject matter. At it's very best it delivers a gritty realism, but by the same realistic token, it can be at times terribly dull.

It is difficult to dislike The Godfather as EA have been so faithful to everything we loved about the films - but this is the undoing of the game also. It would have been forgivable to exaggerate the gameplay in places in order to make it more entertaining. But The Godfather is a game for the purists and in order to please it has to feel genuine, The Godfather certainly is.

great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: August 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

it is a very good game and it was very worthwhile when the mafia game is bad

Typical EA game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I say typical EA game because it starts out looking good, plays well initially and then the lazy programming starts to rear its head. With more time this could have been a great game but instead it's merely OK (much like Tiger Woods Golf and their NASCAR game.) How many times do you need to hear the same sound bite of "you bastard!" as you drive down a sidewalk? No depth at all.

The overall story is short. There isn't near the depth as there is with GTA. The city itself isn't all that interesting. You won't find yourself cruising around just for fun like in GTA. It is fun to interact with the characters from the movie and participate in the periphery of famous scenes, there is just not enough.

Extorting businesses is fun but once you end the story mode there isn't any reason to keep going forward with those missions.

The targeting and fighting is actually easier than GTA and the ability to hide around corners similar to Rainbow Six is a great touch.

Typical of modern mature games there is plenty of violence but no sexual content beyond suggestion. What is it going to take for some real sex in a video game made for adults? Oh sure, you can murder thirty people taking over a warehouse but no breasts to speak of.

Overall I'd say this game is a rental. You can finish the good parts in less than a week and then happily take it back to the store.

A Game You Can't Refuse

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: May 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game. Violent as all get out but hey, that's life in the family. Definitely NOT for kids though.

The graphics of the game are very good. The characters look fairly close to the actual actors (with the very notable exception of Michael Corleone) and even the stock characters, while not much in the line of variation, look decent as well. Voice work is excellent and original actors in most cases again with the exception of Michael. Controls are extremely easy to master and the story line draws you in immediately.

You don't have to be a fan of the movie or to have even seen it to follow the game but it certainly helps because you will gain further appreciation for the devotion of the developers. It's obvious that they were huge fans of the film and many of the best remembered scenes show up in the game (the infamous horse head scene, the hospital scene, Sonny getting gunned down at the toll booth, etc.)which really makes the game feel more genuine.

The game is non-linear and you have a huge area to wander around in, taking over businesses and just causing trouble in general. There are specific tasks assigned and hits to carry out but you can really approach the game in any way you choose...be a top negotiator or just gun everyone down within a 2 mile radius. There are film reels scattered about which unlock film clips but they aren't really part of the game, just extras to pick up if you want. The film clips are either actual clips from the movie or from the game itself, some of which contain hints for objectives. You can interact with everyone in the game but only those with the Godfather Puppeteer above their head are the ones with the real value. This makes a big difference in the gameplay as well so you don't waste time searching for the character you need.

I have determined however, that I am one wicked driver. I've plowed down more pedestrians and signposts than I care to admit not to mention the countless cars I've crashed. Hey, I'm the Don so get out of my way.

The only negatives I can think of for the game are as follows:
1) Graphics can be a bit glitchy at times and while the game loads very quickly sometimes it takes the background graphics a while to catch up. Not a huge issue though.
2) Virtually no variation in the rival family compounds. I can live with the bad guys and general public all looking the same but I think they could have at least made some of the compounds look a little different. Some are even identical to the Corleone compound. The stores are all about the same as well. Again, not a huge issue.
3) The font used in the game is so tiny that unless you are literally right on top of the screen you can barely read it. Using a scrolling feature and larger type would have made it more user-friendly. Of course, maybe I'm just going blind or something.
4) A lot of driving around. Drive here, now drive over there. Oops you got gunned down, drive over there again. Maybe if I didn't smash into everything in my path at top speed, it wouldn't be such a pain. Maybe I AM going blind. The Don of NY has apparently turned into Miss Daisy and is in need of a chauffeur.

Well, that about wraps it up. Great game. Definitely a must-have for any fans of the film but non-fans will enjoy it as well. Very violent and even some f-bombs being dropped here and there so certainly not for kids. Rent to try it out because it is a bit pricey but you'll get hooked so you'll end up buying.

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