Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

The Godfather: The Don's Edition

1. Official Site
2. Platform: ps3
3. Publisher: Electronic Arts
4. Developer: EA Games
5. Release Date: 03/20/07
6. Genre: Action/Adventure

by Keith Schleicher

Ever since the success of Grand Theft Auto III, developers have attempted to find a way mimic the GTA formula.  Some have succeeded, but most have failed.  Now developers are combining the classic with the modern, with both Scarface and The Godfather: The Game jumping from the big screen to the console screen.  After making an appearance on several other consoles, The Godfather: The Don’s Edition has made its way onto the PS3.

The Godfather is set during the same time and place as the movie: New York City, 1945.  You play as a small-time crook accepted into the Corleone family.  Now you must represent the Corleone family properly and work your way through the ranks of the underworld.  You’ll learn the ways of "protection," bribery, bank heists, and mob wars.  Earn your way up high enough and you can become Don of New York City.  Now, is that an offer you can refuse?

Graphically The Godfather is a mix between brilliant and bland.  The detail for the main characters is absolutely astounding.  From the business suits to the tranchcoats, the textures of the clothing look like they were tailored with a fine thread.  The faces of the main characters look incredibly lifelike.  From the wrinkles to the age spots on the Don, there are times when the graphics are incredible.

Because of the excellent graphics of the main characters, the generic characters are a disappointment.  The thugs from the other mob families all look the same.  Shop owners only have a couple of different models whereas the streetwalkers have a couple of models that look almost too similar.  The contrast between the main characters and the generic characters is striking.

The vehicles in The Godfather are probably the biggest disappointment.  The car models all fit the time, from the sleek cars to the trucks with wood boards along the bed.  If you run into an obstacle, the windows shatter and the metal dents.  Yet, the cars all look too sleek and too smooth.  While there are a nice variety of vehicles to drive, all of them look rather bland.  While the graphics look good for a game ported from the Xbox or PS2, the graphics are disappointing for the PlayStation 3.

While the graphics are disappointing for a PlayStation 3 game, EA nailed the sound in The Godfather.  Once the disc loads, you hear the trumpet whine with the theme of The Godfather.  The violins and harp accompany the trumpet and it sets the perfect setting for the rest of the game.  While playing the game the percussion instruments take over and the theme has a more up tempo beat.  It matches the rest of the game well.

As you walk around, you can talk to the characters and they are all voiced.  While some of the generic characters sound similar, EA took great care with the voice acting of the main characters.  They even had new voiceover sessions with James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Abe Vigoda.  Marlon Brando even lent his voice to the game.  The characters speak with real emotion that make you believe they are there.

The background noises have been given care as well.  As you run along you hear your footsteps while you run.  Necks snap with a loud crack.  Guns have their own unique sound.  The difference in how loud they are is really noticeable.  Even the gurgling sound from choking someone sounds satisfying.

The controls are a bit more confusing and convoluted than you would think they should be.  Movement is typical of a third-person action game where you move with the left analog stick and look around with the right stick.  Holding L2 then using the D-pad or right analog stick selects your weapons and arms them.  Hitting Circle crouches, Triangle performs actions like opening a door and talking to people, and Square makes you lean up against a nearby wall.

To engage enemies, locking onto them helps your aim.  Holding down L1 locks onto an object or person.  In hand-to-hand combat you use the right analog stick to swing.  By just using the upper half of the right stick, you perform quick and light jabs.  Pulling back and then pushing forward all the way gives you a roundhouse punch.  You can grab enemies if you are close enough by pulling back the right trigger.  You can drag your opponent by moving the left analog stick or choke your enemy by pushing in both left and right sticks.  Occasionally the screen shows that you can perform an execution move using the R2 button.

The issue with the right stick control is that when you want to do something the controls don’t always respond appropriately.  Locking onto the correct target while holding a weapon isn’t easy because you need to let go of the L1 button and push it down again quickly.  There are times when you want to punch but it doesn’t act accordingly.  It also seems to take a while in the midst of action to arm your weapon.

Driving can be a frustrating experience even though the controls are simple enough.  Acceleration is handled with X and R1, braking with Square and L1, and Circle uses the handbrake.  Moving forward is easy, but most of the other traffic is so slow you have to dodge them on the street.  Going in reverse is especially problematic because the camera angle seems to be off, and trying to turn around on a street usually means that you are going to run into something.

At the start of The Godfather you create your character.  You can change you character’s facial features, skin tone, and body.  You use sliders to change your appearance.  They include things like haircut, hair color, eye color, eye shape, nose shape, and chin.  If you are going to work for the Don, you have to dress the part, right?  You start out with a basic set of threads to choose from, but eventually you can head to the tailor for more clothes that earn you respect.

Like any good employee, you have to earn your keep.  That means that you need to earn money.  The easiest way is to offer "protection" to local businesses.  You have to convince the owner of the establishment that your services are required to stay in business.  Some business owners respond to physical threats.  Others respond when the customers are handled with "special care."  Others will fight life and limb for their merchandise, so destroying some goods can help them see the light.  When you do this, you have to be careful that you take care of other "protection agents" that can usually be found in the front of the establishment.

When entering negotiations, a Pressure Meter shows up on the screen representing how far you need to push someone, and if you’ve pushed someone too far.  If you don’t apply enough pressure, you won’t get as much money as you could.  Apply too much pressure and they won’t do business with you not to mention you’ll probably end up killing them.

We all know the real reason for the businesses: Most are fronts for illegal rackets.  Once you have convinced a business to purchase your "protection services," you get access to the back door of the establishment.  Here you can find the owner of the establishment and pay him off.  Offering protection and paying off the racket are good ways of earning money.

A map provides you with which family owns which establishments.  As you grow larger in status and own more establishments, other families will be hunting for your head.  Holding onto all your establishments can be quite the challenge later in the game.

You need to be careful that you don’t draw too much attention to yourself.  Killing civilians, stealing cars, punching cops, and driving recklessly are all ways to raise your heat.  If your heat level goes too high, the cops won’t be afraid to shoot you on sight.  You can lower your heat level by going into a safe house and laying low, or you can pay off a cop so that they will turn a blind eye to minor crimes.

Sometimes someone will ask for you to do a favor for them.  These are a quick way to earn respect and possibly get a little cash on the side.  Sometimes a merchant asks for a favor, and if you do it they will pay you for your "protection" services each month.

Respect is important to raise your rank within the Corleone family.  Just about everything you do earns respect.  Earning respect allows you to upgrade your character.  Your character has five skills that can be upgraded.

People that have missions or help you move the storyline along have the puppeteer hands symbol over them.  These are helpful to give you an idea where to go to continue the storyline.

One of the features in the PS3 version that was also in the Xbox 360 version is the paying henchmen to join your crew.  They can help you with whatever missions you are on.  You have to pay them out of your own pocket, but tough missions are made a little easier by their presence.

There are a few issues with the game.  The first is that a lot of the missions seem to get old, at least in the beginning when you are starting out and offering "protection" and buying off rackets.  Still, the special missions that continue the storyline are actually fairly entertaining, such as when you need to make the death of a police chief look like an accident.

The biggest issue with the game is that you need to do a lot of backtracking, especially to save the game.  You can only save the game at the safe houses you own.  At first the only safe house available is in Little Italy.  If you don’t own any safe houses in the other areas in the game, you need to go back to Little Italy to save the game.  This just plain flat out sucks, especially in the early game.

Finally, if you are trying to persuade a business and you end up getting whacked, you lose some money and you wake up in a questionable health care facility with full health.  Why can’t I start out again outside the establishment and try it again or move on from there?  Waking up usually means needing to travel across town to retry a mission which feels like a waste of time.

If you like collecting items to unlock videos and other features, you’ll be impressed with the number of items you can collect.  The most common one is film reels.  There are plenty of the establishments to own as well.

What about those who have played one of the current generation versions of The Godfather?  Are there any new features in the PS3 version?  There definitely are.  The biggest difference between the PS3 version and the Xbox 360 version are the motion-controls.  If you have grabbed an opponent while holding L1 and R1, you can move the controller in certain directions to perform certain actions.  Moving the controller forward will lift the opponent to their feet, slam them against a wall, or perform a standing headbutt.  Moving the controller left or right will swing them and possibly slam them into a table.  If you let go of the R1 button while swinging an opponent you actually throw them to the side.  If you are locked onto an enemy but aren’t grabbing them, you can knee them by moving the controller down diagonally, overhand smash them while moving the controller down, or handgun whip them by moving the controller left.  These moves performed while moving the SIXAXIS controller add a little bit to the game, but since most of your battles involve gunfights, they aren’t as prominent as they could be.

Those looking for a trip down memory lane will find an engaging story that takes place along side the events of the movie The Godfather.  The setting is nailed down perfectly, and EA has taken care to get great voice acting and music.

While there are some issues with the game that keep it from attaining perfection, there are a lot of positives with the game.  Those who were turned off by the setting of Saint’s Row might want to check out The Godfather.  It certainly has its charm.

Gaming Trend Score

82

1. Graphics: 74
2. Audio: 92
3. Controls: 75
4. Gameplay: 85
5. Value/Replay: 82
6. OVERALL:82