The Godfather: Blackhand Edition

The Good
The one complaint I had about the GTA series (from which this game borrows the most), was that I never enjoyed the free roaming. There was plenty to do. Just never anything as deep as the main storyline gameplay.

The Godfather doesn't have this problem. Having played it for a good 15 hours, I am only 20% of the way through the main story. Your secondary objective throughout the game, is to reclaim Corleone territory, thus earning you and the family money. Starting in Little Italy, your home, you're pretty much free from the get-go, to drive out rival families from the store fronts, and the illegal venues they hide. And it's this aspect of the game that I find most appealing.

The store-fronts must be taken over first. Some clerks & owners will bend to your scary will, just by asking. Others will need convincing. And this is a very cool aspect of the gameplay. Because store owners have a limit to how much convincing is required before the fold, and a slightly higher limit to when they'd give you the place over their dead body.

Some store owners value their wares. So destroying their stock behind the counter with a Tommy Gun, gets them to their sweet spot. With some, it will be physical violence (against them or their customers); and I never thought I'd enjoy smashing somebody's head against their own cash-register, so much. Others just need scaring (firing a gun in the air, will do). The more you push them, the more they'll pay out on a weekly basis; too far, and you may as well kill them on the spot, and wait while for someone more reasonable.

The hidden venues, are only available after pocketing the store-front. These are gambling joints, speak-easys and the like. I found the bosses here very reasonable, and you can usually just buy them out. Both kinds of venues, are guarded by the owning family's goons. So a gunfight will almost always ensue, before getting to the owners and bosses.

I've blabbered about a secondary feature long enough. Suffice to say, I would be satisfied taking over New York for the rest of the game. Never touching the main storyline.

This being a Wii game, the developers decided to make the most of the gestures needed. Driving about is nothing special, save from a punch with the Nunchuck will make the car horn toot! It's in conflict the motions shine, and out of this and the PS3 version, I think we got the good stuff.

Fighting is as you would imagine it. Punches are performed with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. Grappling is performed by holding down B and Z simultaneously (just like grabbing a person by his shirt collar). Once you've grabbed someone, you can still hold either B or Z and carry on punching with the spare hand, or bring both towards you to perform a Head-butt.You can drag grabbed foes about, swinging both hands in a direction left, right and forwards will either swing them about, or smash them into something (Walls, doors, counters, off buildings, the floor).

Equipping the piano-wire and sneaking lets you strangle enemies silently, and beating the life out of someone enables an execution (following on-screen prompts). It's a very visceral and satisfying way to fight; Manhunter 2 may have the gore, but this is definitely a lot more violent. It's sometimes messy, with punches flying everywhere; it's about training your fighting skills, and ending it as quick as you can - because there's always someone else willing to kill you.

Pick on a family too much though, and you'll start a war. There's a few ways to deal with this, like fire-bombing another of their property, or bribe a Federal agent to pay more attention to them. And being on the run from a rival family's death squad is some of the most adrenaline-pumped experiences I've had, in game. It's very similar to being chased by a lot of police in GTA, but the cars are slower, they don't don't last long under gun fire, and running through the streets defending yourself with a single 6-shooter is a really isolating experience. You're on your own, and miles away from help or a hideaway. It certainly gave me flashbacks from the bank heist scene in the film, Heat. By the way - you can also rob banks!

The Firearms are varied, and the ensuing gunfights reminded me of the game Mafia (which in turn inspired me of the tense gun-fights of The Godfather, The Untouchables, and other brilliant gangster films). There's something about them. They're definitely not all-out action scenes. But paced, deliberate. The AI is good enough to keep out of the way, and choose its moments to shoot. Every gunfight is tense, and clearing out a building single-handedly is very satisfying.

You can free-aim, or lock on. Both are intuitive and sharp; even locking on, you can free aim a little; aiming up will aim for the head; left or right, the arms; down and left or right, the legs; that kind of thing. It's very cool to take down a group of guys by choosing your targets, and the enemy will respond to where ever you hit them. Hitting the leg will make them limp and try and find cover, the arm, and they might drop their weapon.

The graphics and sound have been polished a little from it's PS2 roots. They won't make you soil yourself in awe, but they're very decent, and I'm amazed by the detail and population on screen at any one time; especially after playing No More Heroes, which despite being much newer, features a very empty city, by comparison. The fire and lighting effects are top notch, I was shocked when I knocked over my first street light: Brilliant!

They've really worked on bringing you into the New York of the 30s, and from what I can tell - it's huge. It wasn't until about the 10 hour limit that I ventured into areas other than Little Italy. You see different families are more prevalent in their own areas, some tougher than others.

And of course the main aspect (the licence) is also well catered to. You won't be disappointed if you really want a game of The Godfather. The voice acting is wonderful, and it follows the film quite closely, albeit, in the shadows. Another bonus is that this game is not afraid to keep it's adult roots. There's no dumbing down, and the violence and language would make the original motion picture proud.

The Bad
Oddly, the weakest part of the game is also the licence. The music is fantastic, and the The Godfather's theme is exactly what you want to hear in this genre. But I just don't get as much fun with the missions as I would expect.

It's just so much fun trying to take full control of New York, and ignoring the Missions, which take place in the peripherals of the Films scenes; you'll be responsible for some of the most memorable scenes; e.g. The Horses head. It's not that the missions are bad, you can just find a more focused story, missions structure, atmosphere, and levels in Mafia; its graphics on PC, probably still look better than this, despite its age.

I personally would rather they scrap the the story, and mission structure, and added more to taking over NY. But with the way the game (s)industry is, I doubt this game would have been made at all, were it not for the licence. So I am thankful it didn't turn the way of almost all Movie licences. There's still an awful lot I haven't accomplished in the free roaming mode, it's just very addictive: "One more shop front" I'll say to myself; hours later I own most of Little Italy!

The Bottom Line
If you're looking for a more open ended sandbox game, set in the 30's: step right up! If you want a more focused, mission-based, and original game, go for Mafia on PC (if you can).

Otherwise this game ticks all the right boxes, and is good step for Sand-Box games to go. The main missions are there if you feel the need, otherwise you'll find a very (or more, in my case) satisfying experience taking/robbing over business, warehouses, banks and the like.

The light-weight empire building, combined with the fantastic Wii controls make this a game everyone old enough should have. Whilst some reviewers have given negative points because it was first released on PS2, and they're right - If you one one version, the Wiimote gestures aren't enough to warrant purchasing it again, but if this is your first foray - the The Godfather for Wii is the version to get!