Don Corleone, please you must help us. We've got the license for ‘The Godfather,' but since we're EA and it is well known we can't make games, we're certain we'll mess it up. After I saw what we did to Harry Potter, I knew for game-making justice, we must go to Don Corleone.\
The Don considers the proposal. ""What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your previous games would be suffering to this very day. I will make certain your game is somewhat decent, but someday—and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a favor for me.""
With this climactic meeting of game-making representatives and mob bosses, EA began work on ""The Godfather: The Video Game"" much to the chagrin of fans of the film. However, EA's underworld connections must have paid off, because the game actually turns out decently.
The game follows the plot line of the first ""Godfather""—the story of Michael Corleone's corruption and descent into the depths of his soul as he rises to the top of the Corleone crime family. However, the main character of the game is not Michael, nor is it even a Corleone: it is a nameless thug.
Many probably wanted to play as Michael and rule with an iron fist in a simulation-esque fashion. By having a nameless protagonist, however, it allows for a more action intense experience. The main character gets to go out and do the family's dirty work, from placing a prized horse's head in Woltz's bed to assassinating Dons of other families. The player gets to control everything.
As is the popular trend, EA decided to go with a modified ""Grand Theft Auto"" free-roaming play scheme. This seems like an excellent choice, since GTA always screamed ""Inspired by Godfather!""
The implementation of the GTA-esque control scheme initially felt odd, because EA created a new aiming system. The system was hard to get a hang of, and many early missions were lost trying to overcome the control scheme's learning curve. Once an hour or two is invested with the game, the scheme almost becomes second nature, but flaws still exist that make some shooting elements hard.
It is possible that a bizarre aiming motif was used in order to instill a sense of difficulty in the game. Once the controls are learned, it is a virtual cakewalk. Some missions may seem difficult, but if the player dies, they can easily restart at check points that pop up throughout the mission.
In GTA if a player died, they lost a significant amount of money and weaponry, and they had to start the mission over again. This minor difference allowed GTA to have some truly hard missions whereas ""Godfather's"" missions are all beatable on the first or second try. As a result, the game tops out at 15 hours of gameplay—easily beatable with one rental.
""Godfather"" is a highly addictive game. The use of the license is very strong and the game oozes style. Small things like having Robert Duvall and James Caan digitized makes for a fun time and the game truly feels like an interactive movie.
Yet, ""The Godfather: The Video Game"" is actually an offer that's somewhat easy to refuse. There is no doubt that it is a poor man's ""Grand Theft Auto,"" but as an interactive movie, ""Godfather"" works quite well. Yes, it is short, but watching the translation from book to movie to game is a wholly unique experience.
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