The Rest -
The playable version of the Godfather shown at the Electronic Arts booth at E3 this year showed a demonstration of the open-ended game play and an amazing focus on the graphical presentations of the facial models. Fredo looks like Fredo, Sonny looks just like Sonny and Vito looks just like Vito. Even more surprising is that the characters will not only look like themselves but sound like themselves too with many of the original actors, such as James Caan and Robert Duvall, lined up to voice their characters in the game. This will help most in the recreation of scenes from the movie and rocket the cinematic production value through the roof. Not only will the game be truthful to the movie’s storyline but there will be new content and back story added onto the movie’s plot with the help of "The Godfather Returns" author Mark Winegardner.

With all of this production aligned with the film, The Godfather will put you in the shoes of a brand new character instead of giving the player the restrictions of a character from the film. The streets and alleyways of 1945 New York City will be your oyster as you perform a variety of tasks that will intertwine with the movie’s plotline. Much of the game play will be similar to that of the GTA series as is expected but there are many distinctions promised. For instance, in the demo the “black hand” combat system was shown where, using the right analog stick, you can choose how to attack an opponent, or whether to simply taunt or threaten him into acquiescence. The targeting system is also pretty interesting since it will combine locking-on and aiming so you can either shoot to kill or incapacitate and interrogate your victim.

More interestingly, players will have to think about their image as a mob operative when they assault or murder characters in the game. Unlike the GTA series, you can’t just unload your weapon into a crowd and expect to be treated the same by people you meet in the game. Just like in real life, unrestrained violence will result in fear and hatred from the populace and more attention from New York’s finest. This sort of consideration sounds like it will add a dimension of consciousness and premeditation to the game that is missing in others. Still we have to remember that such levels of AI have been promised in other titles and never delivered. The Godfather promises that different decisions in missions will bring different endings and NPC’s will remember your actions and respond to you accordingly, but this has rarely been implemented successfully in a game.

Since the film has been out for a few decades already there’s no need for the game to be rushed like many movie to video game conversions, so The Godfather won’t necessarily fall into the rut of many such releases. From the screens and demos, I can say the game looks pretty damn promising. Whatever the case may be, it’s certain that we can expect a solid effort from EA like nearly every other title they have been associated with. But the developers certainly have some stiff competition with Rockstar undoubtedly working on a new GTA and a wealth of neophytes like Saint’s Row and Scarface hitting the shelves as well as sequels from True Crime and Mafia. Let’s just hope the game is good and doesn’t ruin the chance for such a great license to make it’s mark on the game industry.

Posted: June 11, 2005