The Godfather: The Game

The Good
Although it greatly resembles GTA, what sets this game apart from the GTA clones is that it has a very elaborate storyline. It follows the movie very closely, while at the same time, complements it greatly by creating a story told through your perspective. In fact, some questions left unanswered in the film are clarified here (i.e killing Bruno Tattaglia). All in all, it's basically the film with a more complete and thorough storyline. Unlike most GTA clones out there, this one has a period setting: It's set in a fairly accurate portrayal of New York 1945-1950 and has more engaging characters.

The game has a lot of music tracks and cutscenes from the movie, and most of the cast from the film provide the voiceovers (including Marlon Brando, who shot his lines before his death in 2004). The one notable exception is Al Pacino, who refused to take part for reasons unknown. All this definitely reels the many fans of the film and makes it all the more enjoyable.

But the high-water mark of this game is the gameplay. Since this game is set in New York and not in L.A like in GTA, you have far more places to go and more things to do. The primary missions are constitute a much smaller percentage in this game than GTA, since you can go about extorting businesses, seizing rackets, hubs, and shipyards, getting hit contracts and doing favours as well as whacking A LOT of mafiosos. Fulfilling all these objectives requires a lot of firepower, some strategy, bribing some cops, back-up and some luck too. All in all, you'll definitely take days, even weeks, to finish this game and becoming the Don of NYC.

The Bad
Some backgrounds look pretty similar, which can create confusion even if you know where you are and make things a bit repetitive.

Depending on who you're fighting, the AI extends from being very easy to extremely cheap. I.E, the bank guards are a little too easy to take down, but the Barzinis take more damage than a tank and have more brains. Sometimes when you're hiding behind a wall, it becomes tricky to shoot an enemy, as you can end up either switching to another target or blasting to parts of the scenery. At worst, you can even hit an explosive barrel and get iced (That happened to me several times).

A little more realism would've been nice. I can go on violating traffic violations without having a cop pull me over. You can duck, but you cannot jump. Other than that, it stops here.

The Bottom Line
If you're a fan of the movie, then this is the game you've been waiting for! As I've mentioned in previous movie-game reviews, movie-games tend to be mediocre (or worse) exploitations of a franchise, but this one does the 1972 film justice. The game has more interactivity than the GTA games, and you'll be playing even past your bedtime just trying to achieve certain objectives.

I'd say buy it rather than rent it, since this game IS a long one, but a a long road which you'll enjoy all the way!