The Godfather II (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 05.21.2009

Is this the definitive Godfather experience, or does this go the route of the third film, straight to disappointment-ville?



Title: The Godfather II
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Type: Action-Strategy
Players: 1 (singleplayer), 16 (multiplayer)
Rated: M for Mature

Back in early 2005, I was finishing up my final project as a development tester for EA – ironically on The Godfather for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Long story short, we enjoyed the game but there was still some things that I felt were either missing or could use some polish. We made some final suggestions and what not before we parted ways and four years later (damn has it been that long??), we have the sequel: The Godfather II. I suppose you can say I had some high expectations while I specifically looked for things I thought needed work and after running the streets with my own mob family, I’m happy to say that most of what I wanted made it to the sequel.

For starters, you’ll begin the game as Dominic who interestingly enough is actually working for you – the other you from the first game (this sounds so Back to the Future doesn’t it?). Early on, you’re doing some escorting while you’re down in Cuba when a major mob meeting goes awry. The Don (your character in the first game) eats lead like there’s no tomorrow, leaving the current you, Dominic without your boss. With things getting hot, Michael Corleone entrusts you, because apparently he likes you or the smell of your cologne, to head back to New York to take over the family. Now in the first game, you tagged along while secretly trying to get yourself to the top. In part two, you now get to actually be the Don which is what gamers really wanted to do the first time around. As the Don, you’ll look to reclaim what’s rightfully yours, although the other Don’s will have something to say about that.

Gameplay

As you’re ready to embark on your journey of murder, extortion and theft like a good little Don, you’ll be in need of some good men. You went solo in the first game and the ‘next-gen’ versions finally allowed you to bring someone along but now you can set up a full fledged family. Each guy you hire will have a particular skill: arson, medic, demolitions, safe cracker, engineer or bruiser. You’ll want to choose wisely as each one of these will come in handy at some point during the game. You can only start off with one but as you progress, you’ll be able to hire more while promoting your best guys until you have a full family of 7 members. Not liking one of your guys anymore? Well rather than just letting him go you can do the Don-ly thing and have him offed – that’s what I’m talking about!

What sets this game apart from the first one is that you’re essentially building up your family before setting out to take over the streets rather than doing it solo. Each member will have their own expertise which you can use to your advantage while taking over crime rings now has some added perks. Though the game still retains some of that open world, sandbox style gameplay, the developers now include a more strategic form of doing things that just feels right. The best addition in my opinion is the new Don’s View which allows you to get a 3D overview of the city. You’ll be able to hire guard to watch over your businesses in case things get hot while also getting an idea of how many men are guarding a rival family’s buildings. Even after you’ve taken over a business, you’ll want to keep an eye out for it as a rival family can try to reclaim it. You can also send your own family members over to take care of things. Ideally you’ll want to look over the map pretty often to keep track of things. I also have to say that I was impressed by the overhaul of the menu. It’s been redesigned in such a way that it feels more organized and easier on the eye which is something I’ve noticed as of late from newer EA titles. For instance if you’ve found someone on the streets that’s looking for a favor, you can easily keep track of them while the map gives you a clear idea as to where to go next.

Now let’s talk about those rival families. Before, you’d take over their businesses then go blow up their compound. Now things are a little more carefully thought out. Yes, you still want to take over their business but perhaps blowing one up can be a strategic advantage. See with crime rings, there’s an in-game bonus such as giving a family more ammo for instance, so if you’re having trouble taking one over, it may be beneficial to simply take out the building so that you break up their crime ring, as they need to control all of them of a particular type to get the bonus (kind of like in Monopoly). Just watch out for retribution because they’ll want revenge. I liked the fact that you will now need to take out their made men as well. So after taking over their business, you’ll need to search them out which you can do by doing favors for people that will then reveal their locations and ways to kill them.

In terms of your stats, you’ll be able to upgrade yourself and your men using the income that you’ve accrued. You can upgrade all sorts of stuff from blackhand tactics to weapons and defense. If you’re short on cash, you can also put one of your men into the online portion. You’ll be able to get into some multiplayer action that allows you to take your earned money and bring it back to the single player game. It’s a unique idea that works though there’s a bit of a disconnect form the single player aspect and the multiplayer aspect but perhaps I’m just asking for too much. The multiplayer games themselves are relatively fun and are a nice distraction when playing modes like Team Deathmatch and Firestarter where you’ll want to look for certain areas on the map to set on fire, gaining you points and cash in the process. If you connect online, you can also download for free the new Don’s Control where you’ll be betting on the outcome of the game while also calling the shots with your team to try and attain victory. Another benefit of playing online regularly is that you can earn Honors which in turn unlock new weapons licenses for your men. With newer weapons licenses, you can upgrade their actual weapons so that they don’t bring a knife to a gun fight as they say (not literally).

My biggest gripe? Driving. It feels like you’re driving around in a tank as turning is painfully hard to do. I can only imagine would it would be like trying to do a U-turn with these vehicles in real life – I’d probably just ride a bike.

Graphics

On the graphical side of things, there wasn’t much of a bump in my view from what we saw on the original version for the Xbox 360. Character models look pretty decent though not super detailed but you’ll come across repetitive NPCs which hinder some of the believability. It’s like “didn’t I do three favors for the same guy already?”. Vehicles look ok; while business themselves look about the same. When I previewed the game months ago, we saw topless chicks walking around. Did we see some nips in the final version? You bet!

Sound

I noticed this during our preview and I appreciated it with the final version – voiceovers. The talent did a great job of selling the game in terms of the dialogue which was less repetitive, even more vulgar and had more emotion behind it. Robert Duvall once again returns to lend his voice though sadly, Al Pacino is missing. C’mon, Al just read a few lines already! If you’re playing with a surround sound system, the world seems more alive as you’ll hear chatter in the background, cars driving by, people playing craps and other subtle noise that keeps you engaged in your environment. Gun fights sound pretty good as do explosions while the game’s soundtrack is right on point.

Fun Factor

You know, for a mob game it’s still pretty enjoyable but what really does it for me is the strategic aspect of the game. Now I truly feel like I’m running the show and the game has plenty of options and depth that make it an enjoyable experience. As I mentioned, multiplayer is pretty fun too. It probably couldn’t stand on its own as a separate game, but it never tries to be and I found myself going online more often than not, even when I wasn’t in need of more cash which says a lot. I could only imagine how much it would rock if you could have co-op for 2 to 4 players where they can take instructions from you as the Don and do your bidding. If that could be implemented somehow in a future third game, I’d be one happy camper but I won’t hold my breath.

Lasting Appeal

You won’t blast through the game like you could in the first part though it’s still not particularly a hard game. Still, you can extend the experience by doing other favors and such in the single player game while the online multiplayer will definitely help to keep this game near your console if you’re itching to wack some people.

The 411

The Godfather II brings to the table plenty of goods that were missing from part one. Essentially this is the definitive version for someone who hasn’t tried out either game. EA built a strong foundation for this one and with the possibility of a third game, given that a third film was made, I think it sets a new standard for what a mob game should be like. It’s not without its faults of course but in the end, the good easily outweighs the bad.

Graphics	7.0	Pretty basic for an Xbox 360 title but not much of an improvement over the original.
Gameplay	8.0	Better interface, easier to plot your strategies and increased depth.
Sound	8.5	Solid voiceover work that doesn't get old.
Lasting Appeal	8.0	Good sized single player and online multiplayer adds plenty to it.
Fun Factor	9.0	It's good to be the Don.
Overall	8.1   [ Very Good ]