The Godfather (Xbox 360) Review [2]
Posted by Chris McCarver on 10.19.2006
Just when I thought I got out, next-gen PULLS ME BACK IN!!
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available for Playstation 2, Xbox, and PC)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
ESRB Rating: M (blood, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language)
Release Date (Xbox 360 version): September 19, 2006
One would think a 360 port of a six-month-old previous-gen title, and a movie tie-in at that, would be a recipe for disaster. But thankfully, EA Redwood must have had some gentlemen in well-tailored suits hovering over them, because their interactive rendition of the hit 1972 Francis Coppola mob epic, The Godfather, wants to buck the trend. Though Coppola has denounced EA's console-izing of his cinema masterpiece, the chance to do wrong things alongside Don Vito and the Corleone boys is a desire not to be denied for those for whom the movie (and not its lackluster sequels) are second religion. Let us pull back the velvet curtain and see what next-gen upgrades Electronic Arts has treated us to...
Graphics
The character models are probably the most notable feature of The Godfather's graphics package. The likenesses of the game's signature characters are uncannily realistic and keenly expressive. The title characters look very much like the James Caan, Robert Duvall, and especially the late Marlon Brando while not sacrificing likeness for range of facial expression. (Sadly, the same cannot be said for the character of Michael Corleone, who neither looks nor sounds like Al Pacino due to Vivendi Universal gaining the rights to his voice and likeness for Scarface: The World is Yours. Oh well, can't have everything.) The other less-important NPCs look serviceable as well, but for the most part they're designed rather generically with a sparse amount of character archetypes used over and over again. While the texturing of the character's faces and clothing is par excellence, their polygonal outlines lack much smoothing, but they look so well-made and move so fluidly that only graphics sticklers will notice much. One thing the graphics sticklers might also notice is a marked lack of shadows cast by the characters during cutscenes, which on occasion fails to convey that the characters are standing on solid ground.
Speaking of the game's characters, the character through which you play the game is fully customizable due to a modded redux of the character-creation engine seen in EA's more recent Tiger Woods PGA Tour games. Right out of the gate, the game allows you to tweak every bodily detail of your character, down to facial pockmarking and knife scars. Sorry, ladies, but the game only allows you to create Italian-American males, but that does play into the game's metaplot, which I'll cover shortly. Also notable in terms of the player character model is that it tracks facial damage, so if you get beat up, your wannabe mafioso's gonna display a few bruises and shiners, though largely it just looks like facial grime than actual injury.
The game's depiction of 1940's New York City is fairly accurate and evokes the mood of the film, though that mood can be seen as a bit drab. The buildings are largely colored in bland earthtones inside and out, apart from a few luxury locations such as the Corleone compound and a couple swank nightclubs. Of course, taking into consideration that the Big Apple in 1945 wasn't the neon Technicolor acid-trip it is now, sacrificing pleasing-looking surroundings for realism isn't that bad a trade-off. The game's particle effects, which have been heavily upgraded for the Xbox 360 release, are pretty impressive though, especially when something gets blown up in a spectacular camera-shaking fireball. Also of note is the game's sheer sense of scope, which allows the player to enter any building or section of the city with nearly no loadtime whatsoever.
Gameplay
Not simply an interactive adaptation of the film, The Godfather places the player in the shoes of a young street tough whose father was murdered in a gangland shootout six years prior to the film's events. At the request of your character's mother, Don Vito Corleone, the "Godfather" himself, has decided to take you under his wing, since, well, quite frankly, your character's getting his head handed to him working as a lone criminal. Don Vito sends his head enforcer, Luca Brasi, to help you out, which leads into combat tutorials and the game's mission-based play structure.
For those who never played the PS2, Xbox, or PC versions of this title, the game's combat system works by using the left trigger to lock on to an opponent and the right analog stick for delivering unarmed attacks, not unlike Fight Night's control scheme, or the right trigger for firing weapons. The analog combat system works extremely intuitively and is easy to learn, and EA has added a few new combat moves for the 360 version. Handling your character's weapons inventory is done via the D-pad, and the face buttons are mainly used for crouching and enacting conversations with NPCs. When handling a ranged weapon, not only are you able to inflict target-specific damage, but the game rewards you with experience points for pulling off surgically precise shots, which can be used as disabling preamble to up-close-and-personal neck-snapping executions. The game's analog combat controls also come into play during extortion missions, wherein you have to carefully apply pressure, either through talk or brute force, to get your victim to do what you want. Controlling vehicles is fairly simple and pretty much uses the "GTA standard" control set up, though the game gives you the choice of accelerating and braking with either face buttons or the triggers without setting an option in the menu.
The game's play structure mainly involves your character in sort of a side-plot to the movie that plugs your character into various pivotal moments in the film. Your character will be on hand for the triple-cross of Luca Brasi, the hit attempt on the Don himself (you remember, the bit where Brando gets shot buying oranges), and the rescue of Corleone consigliere Tom Hagen. Many a time you act as a pivotal part of these scenes, and the wow-factor one gets from getting marching orders and thanks for a job well done from the likes of Sonny Corleone and Tom Hagen is nigh-unparalleled.
Unfortunately, the game doesn't deviate much from its being a GTA knock-off, even if it is a nicely-designed and very playable knockoff. The game leads you from mission to mission, each based on a major scene of the film, while allowing you to play various side missions involving extorting businesses or buying out rival rackets. And of course you're going to have the other four of the infamous Five Families to contend with, and while I suppose it would make them easier to identify on-screen, the fact that members of the same family all wear the same colors seems a bit unrealistic in a game that otherwise prides itself on his visual authenticity. The game does gently forces you to explore the gamescape and do some of the side missions, as the main story missions are only available to enter into when the game tells you in the form of your safehouse's phone ringing with new orders on the other end. The game won't penalize you for not taking advantage of what the city has to offer in terms of side gameplay, but doing so is loads of fun and much better than sitting around waiting for new objectives. Completing the game's various quests also allows you to upgrade your character's attributes RPG-style, which increases both your character's abilities and standing in the Corleone family, the latter of which is shown in how the NPCs treat you, friend or foe.
Among the enhancements EA added for the Xbox 360 version of the game is the ability, a la Saints Row or GTA: San Andreas, to recruit other members of the Corleone faithful and even corrupt police to assist in your missions. Considering the lead can fly like F-15s off a supercarrier, this new feature helps out quite a bit. Despite the fact that you can bring in running buddies, this game can get pretty deadly and it is very easy to find yourself face down in a pool of digital cherry syrup, which unfortunately means a lot of trial and error in order to proceed through the game's primary missions.
Sound
The game's soundtrack is lifted primarily from orchestrations of the movie score, but also contains a number of original music tracks that fade up during missions or when driving a car. The new tracks correctly complement and pay homage to the original Nino Rota score and are carefully cued according to the mood the game tries to convey.
As previously stated, many of the movie's principal castmembers (with the notable exception of Al Pacino) have reprised their roles through voiceovers of their specific characters. The dialogue and acting naturally shines through, though the actual audio mix sometimes results in ambient background audio drowning out character dialogue. Still, obtaining the likes of James Caan and Robert Duvall is no easy feat, and the caliber of acting talent assembled for this title shows in the vocal delivery. On a somewhat tragic note, much of the late Mr. Brando's dialogue was unusable due to his failing health, so much of Don Vito's dialogue is delivered by a capable sound-alike.
Lasting Appeal
The game's open-ended and freeform play structure allows the player to basically turn New York City into his own personal criminal playpen. Playing through the various sidequests becomes the equivalent of building a virtual empire of corruption, especially since many of the businesses you can extort for protection fees act as fronts for much seedier operations, such as gambling and prostitution. Finding and wresting control of each of the city's legal and illegal enterprises can be a rewarding experience in and of itself, and one could easily center solely on that aspect of play in lieu of the game's main story missions. The game also has a hundred collectible film-reel icons hidden around the city that open film clips viewable in the options menu.
As far as online capabilities go, the game features no form of Xbox Live gameplay. The game's XBL capabilities are solely devoted towards downloadable content such as XBL themepacks and gamerpics. It's something of a downer, given the breadth of online gameplay in games such as Saints Row, but the sheer magnitude of online play more than makes up for it.
Fun Factor
The Godfather is perfect for fans of the game, though some aficionados of the movie may find the removal of some of the pivotal elements of the plot a bit jarring, though it could be argued Michael's trip to Sicily would have either flown past the game's technical constraints or that it simply doesn't fall within the game's theme. The game also provides a nice variation on the sandbox genre by placing it in a time period not often explored in these sorts of games. The game's difficulty in certain levels can be something of a chore to surmount, but the ability to rub shoulders with classic movie characters and act alongside them is something of a thrill.
The 411
The Godfather takes two often maligned subgenres, the Grand Theft Auto clone and the movie tie-in, and mashes them together into one tasty serving of gaming lasagna (Okay, guess I couldn't get through this review without a pasta joke, sorry). The Xbox 360 version provides a fair amount of enhancements and new features that will appeal to those who've played the previous renditions of the game. While the game's technical foibles and sometimes frustrating difficulty are something of a detriment, this game is still quite a bit of fun and definitely worth a spin in your console. Someday, EA, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept these scores... as a gift.
Graphics
7.5
Amazing character likenesses and facial details, well-done particle effects, minor lack of shadows
Gameplay
7.5
Excellent combat controls, derivative control scheme otherwise, varied mission structures and styles of play
Sound
8.0
Top-notch vocal delivery by the cast of the film, soundtrack matches the mood of the movie, minor overlap with ambient audio and voices
Lasting Appeal
8.0
Side missions numerous and varied, RPG-style character development, XBL functions only for downloadable non-gameplay content
Fun Factor
7.5
Great for fans of the movie, not a time period done to death in sandbox titles, engaging story, some missions lean towards the heavily difficult
