SystemShock

Title: The Godfather II
Available Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher:Electronic Arts
Distributor: EA South Africa
Genre: Action Strategy
Age Rating: 18+

Review By: Walt Pretorius | NAG Magazine (June 2009)

WHEN MICHAEL CORLEONE’S TRUSTED Don of New York City is killed, as the Mafia organisation attempts to flee from the New Year’s Revolution in Cuba (in 1958), he appoints a new Don to oversee the massive city. His name is Dominic, and the player controls him. This marks the first break from the first The Godfather videogame: instead of starting at the bottom, the player more or less starts as high as he is going to go for the whole game. However, as the Don of New York – and later Florida and Cuba – the player has more than enough to keep him busy. He has to ‘build up’ a family of ‘made men’, take over businesses, improve his own character (as well as those of the men who work for him), and take on five opposing Mafia families.

Where the previous game had depth in terms of the plot, this title is broader, giving the player much more freedom. In fact, it only borrows a few elements from the film’s plot (it is based on the second film in Francis Ford Coppola’s series) and makes rather wide deviations from the main story for most of the game. This will probably get Godfather purists in a twist, but if one considers that this is an alternate take on the story (much like the X-Men movies), it becomes a minor problem.

A big addition to the game comes in the form of a management screen called The Don’s View. In this mode, the player gets a quick overview of business interests in the various locations, and can manage guards, ‘made men’ and a few other functions. The management required by the game is hardly rocket science. It comes down to making sure that places ‘have’ sufficient muscle to keep rivals from taking them, and making sure that the books balance at the end of each day. It’s not complex stuff, but it is a welcome addition to the game, and gives the player an added sense of being in control of a crime family.

Businesses form the core of the game, because they provide the player with income and other advantages. They are divided into two categories: crime rings and rackets. Crime rings are made up of several individual businesses, and fall into socially unacceptable categories like prostitution, drug smuggling and gunrunning. Controlling all the businesses in a crime ring will provide the player with advantages that include extended ammunition capacity, armoured cars and other handy abilities. Rackets, on the other hand, are fronts that allow a player to launder the money earned from crime rings. While crime rings bring in the most income, rackets modify that income (with a percentage modifier) and prove to be very valuable because of that.

Once the player controls an interest, it needs to be guarded. Guards can be hired via The Don’s View, and the player will have to balance their numbers carefully in the early stages of the game. ‘Made men’ can also be sent to guard interests, or defend them should a rival attack occur. They can even be sent to sabotage rival interests, which will deny those rivals the use of crime-ring bonuses for a limited time.

The bulk of the game is made up of taking over businesses and doing battle with rival families. This is a violent, often brutal activity, with Dominic capable of leading three additional ‘made men’ into a mob war. The brutality is high, which, when combined with the thoroughly foul language and partial nudity, means that this isn’t one for the kids. Businesses are taken over by killing all the rival men guarding them, and then roughing up the owner until he (or she – this game is not sexist) gives in and hands control over.

Taking out rival families is a rare and entertaining treat within the game. This activity invariably leads to massive gun battles, although the ‘planning’ stages (which involve assassinating the families of ‘made men’, should the player choose to do so) are also enjoyable. The freeroaming basis of the game affords the player massive amounts of freedom, without pushing the dynamic towards the plot-driving missions too much.

The overall dynamic is fun, although the game gets fairly repetitive at times. Still, in smaller doses, the action is intense and addictive, with a large arsenal of upgradeable weapons, special executions and hand-to-hand styles available to the player. Once the singleplayer action is sorted, the player can take to online multiplayer gaming, too.

The Godfather II is great fun, but it is not without its problems. The graphics vary from being excellent in terms of special effects, to feeling dated when it comes to character modelling. The cities are rather small, and the driving required to get from A to B is plain nasty. (Narrow roads, stupid pedestrians, dodgy vehicle controls… worse than driving in Cape Town.) A number of in-game bugs crop up as well. They are small, annoying bugs, though – not the kind that ruin a game. Some of the voice acting is equally dodgy, although there are very few examples of this problem.

For the most part, players should enjoy this free-roaming action title, as long as they are willing to forgive its quirks.

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