The Godfather

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on August 04, 2006

First Impressions: Will it be a game Xbox 360 owners can't refuse?

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The Godfather hit current gen consoles back in March but unfortunately, Xbox 360 owners were left sleepin' wit' da fishes. However, our patience should be rewarded next month as EA has spent all of this time tweaking the game to satisfy our elevated next gen expectations.

Briefly for those who missed it the first time around, The Godfather is based on the classic novel and film but is not a simple recreation in another medium. Rather, you will play as an associate working your way up the Corleone family and interact with Michael, Sonny, Tom Hagen and of course the Don himself. As such, you will be an insider witnessing and participating in famous scenes from the movie like Sonny's ambush, whacking Tessio and putting the horse's head in the director's bed. To further enhance the feeling that you're actually in the world of the Godfather, James Caan, Robert Duvall and the late Marlon Brando all recreated their roles for the game (sadly, Al Pacino declined to participate).

Gameplay is similar to Grand Theft Auto with an open sandbox world where you have full freedom to play story missions, a wide variety of sidequests Ц including extortion, robbing banks, mob hits and so on Ц or just wander around creating your own mayhem in 1945 New York. Of course, your main objective is to move up the Corleone ladder by earning respect, shaking down businesses, rubbing out rival gangs and paying off cops, all necessary steps towards the ultimate goal of becoming Don of the city.

The Xbox 360 version will contain all of the same content as the Xbox version but with several enhancements, which naturally includes improved graphics with higher resolution textures, normal mapping and dynamic weather. Improved particle effects will result in prettier explosions, blood sprays and shattered glass. The game world should have a more realistic and vibrant feel to it thanks to doubling the number of onscreen pedestrians and vehicles, and redesigned locations with more unique characteristics and features Ц in other words, no more repetitive generic rooms and buildings. New venues have been added and even the family compound has been redesigned.

But the changes aren't just about a pretty face; there are several tweaks and additions to enhance and improve the overall gameplay. For example, there will be four new story missions and a new Favor System with store owners. Previously, you gained control over a business by intimidating owners through their weak spot, which ranged from simple threats to property damage to a nasty beating. You can still do that of course, but with more weak spots to exploit like targeting specific property items, which will now be destructible. This means you will be able to selectively wipe out a store owner's inventory by blowing the crap out of a liquor store's bottles or the meat in a butcher shop. On the other hand, the new Favor System will allow you to take a more subtle approach by letting you do favors for store owners in exchange for control over their businesses, which opens up a whole series of brand new sidequests.

You can also bring some extra muscle with you thanks to the new Crew System, which will allow you to contract NPC henchman once you reach a certain trust level. The henchmen have a variety of skills to choose from and will provide much needed backup in hairy situations. They will basically copy your actions, so they'll shoot when you do but will react accordingly if you or they are attacked. An improved targeting system should also make combat a lot easier.

We will also get a new weapon, the УSicilian candleФ Ц a fancy name for a 2x4 set on fire Ц which allows you to stun enemies by whacking them upside the head, giving you an opportunity to set them on fire. Nice. As well, you bloodthirsty types will be pleased to know that 26 new execution moves have been added for a total of 48.

Other enhancements include more realistic and unique vehicle handling, and the ability to access the MobFace custom-character creation tool without having to quit the game. Now you will just have to visit a barber to change your hair or a tailor to change your clothes. The difficulty level of taking down racket trucks has been thankfully reduced, gang reports will be improved and 38 new Achievements have been added, along with support for future downloads through Xbox Live.