Here are some customer reviews of
Godfather
: Different companys make different versions of sport games right? EA, 989 studios, etc. The thing they all have in common is the fact that they are making a game about hockey, or what ever sport. The Godfather has done this. If you've played Grand Theft Auto, you've played a part of the Godfather. Godfather throws in some things like needing to pay off the police and an intimidation meter so it wont be a total clone. The targeting system is flawed but a little better than GTA's and the little map in the corner shows the actual street name not to look like another clone. If you like GTA, you might like this. If you liked the movie, you might enjoy this. If you're looking for something new...you wont find one bit of anything original.
 There have been a lot of games that have copied the GTA formula in the past few years. I think this is the only one that I have actually enjoyed. The Godfather does a pretty good job of emulating GTA, but has enough different aspects to keep it from being a complete copy-cat. You play as a no-name member of the Corleone family who has to work his way up through the ranks to eventually become the Don of New York. You have to extort businesses for protection money, carry out hit contracts, bribe cops, buy safehouses, rob banks, and take over rackets, warehouses, and other family compounds. In between all this, you get to carry out missions that brilliantly blend into the original Godfather movie. For example, you're assigned the job of beating up the two guys who assaulted the undertaker Bonasera's daughter. You're the guy who plants the gun behind the toilet for Michael Corleone and then drives his getaway car after he kills Solozzo and McCluskey.
Driving control is pretty decent. Targeting is much better than the system used in GTA, although it still has a few glitches. The fighting controls were done very well. You can grab your enemy and use various combinations of the analog sticks to punch him, slam him against a wall, throw him across a room, or choke him to death.
My biggest complaint about the game is that it is way too repetitive. One thing that was always nice about GTA is that the game world was so diverse. Not so in The Godfather. You never really feel like you know your way around the city because everything looks the same. Interiors are used over and over and over again, and the enemies are almost always in the same place, so it becomes fairly predictable. The five family compounds have the exact same layout. It would have been nice to see them put some more work into creating more original environments.
Having said all this, there's about 30-40 hours worth of gameplay here. Granted, it starts to get pretty repetitive after 5-10 hours, but if you don't mind that, it is a pretty fun game otherwise.
 OK, it's a great game with clever storytelling and lots of cathartic violent fun. But it's shameful the way Electronic Arts and the game creators, in their "Making of" documentary on the Special Edition, have conspicuously decided to not credit the true creator of the Godfather: Francis Ford Coppola. I heard that Coppola was not happy with the game because of its concentration on violence (What did he expect? A gnocchi recipe and wine making puzzle challenge?) But nevertheless, talk about vendettas! For the creators of the Godfather videogame, poor Francis is sleeping with the fishes.
 this game is miserably ok to flat out sucks!!!!!!!! dont get me wrong, i love the godfather, but is nowhere near the movie..whats up with the character customization?? i think its a bad idea....if you were from another race or origin rather than italian,you know don corleone will be giving you the boot!!another thing is you see one building, you see them all!!!! they all look alike...!!! mafia "the game" was way better and it can be purchased for like 10 bucks i think??? official x-box magazine rates the godfather a 7.5...being not the best!! its not just me....lets hope scarface makes up for such a mess!!!
I was one of 10 people from around the world (one flew in from Naples!) invited to Electronic Arts in San Francisco to preview the game, meet and talk with the game developers, and take a tour of EA's main campus.
I'm not much of gamer in general. The last console I owned was a Sega, ok? So, I nervously (yet also curiously) sat down with this game to give it a shot.
Wow. First off, the graphics were great! (Personally, I think the X-BOX version looked a little better than the PS2 version, but both were really nice. However, the PC version of course blew them both away). There was no "official confirmation" -- nor denial -- of a 360 version in the works, but I have a feeling they're working on that for a later release. Incidentally, they're also going to release a special edition which will include a DVD with special features (making-of) for the console versions.
Anyway, back to the game itself: I played mostly on the PS2 version, and have always had trouble with all those buttons. That's just me, of course. But I tell you, I had fewer problems with this game than most others I've tried -- the "Black Hand" controls were quite intuitive for once, and it never felt like I had to fumble around to find the right button.
What's unique -- and wonderful!! -- about this game is that you are NOT Vito or Michael or Sonny or anyone like that, but you are you -- your own character (that you can even create to look however you want to the most minor detail) interacting with the characters from the movie. You start out as a lowly hood and work your way up the ranks by first strong-arming shop keepers for protection money, bribing cops, and going on specific missions set forth by Clemenza or other characters. What is REALLY cool is that you can be doing your thing and at any moment, a major scene from the movie will happen, say, outside the window!
For instance, while in a shop muscling the shopkeeper, outside I saw Don Vito get shot, and my new mission was then to kill the would-be assassins before escorting the ambulance to the hospital! And what's great is, events such as these happen pretty much chronologically, and pretty true to the story -- the movie and surprisingly also the book itself.
One of my favorite features was walking down the street, and hearing passers-by having conversations! Very much like real life.
The idea of the game, of course, is to move up in rank in the Corleone family by earning money and respect. As you progress, you'll be taking control of neighborhoods and the compounds themselves of the Barzini's, Tattaglia's, Stracci's and Cuneo's (the other 4 of the 5 Families). Your ultimate goal is to be The Don of NY/NJ controlling everything.
Some of Marlon Brando's dialogue was used I was told, but they got a terrific voice actor to record bits they needed afterwards. Of course, Caan, Duvall, and Vigoda lent their voices as well, and I was told that they had a terrific time doing it! (We saw some footage of them, which will be on the bonus DVD of the special edition).
All in all, I was VERY impressed with this effort from EA! And even tho I'm not much of a gamer, this is definitely one that I will spend some time with!
I think all Godfather fans (not just gamers) will love to check this out!
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