The Godfather Review

The Godfather was released March 21st this year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC platforms, but EA Redwood’s open-world mafioso epic wouldn’t be stopped there. The Xbox 360 version has finally been released. It’s the same great game that was released seven months ago with a few small tweaks and new features that make it a better game for anyone that hasn’t invested time into it.

The Godfather isn’t any different from its current-gen editions in terms of story, so I won’t go on and on about the story. You’ll still create your own gangster with a deep MobFace creation system, pick out and buy clothes with “Wealth” earned in the game, and complete missions for the Corleone family. You’ll still earn Respect points by taking out opposing gang members, extorting businesses, taking out rackets, hijacking supply trucks, and taking over warehouses. Nothing of the core gameplay has changed, but I did notice a slight bump in the difficulty.

A few new cars have been added, including one that looks very similar to a Porcshe and controls quite nicely. There are still weapon upgrades, but new weapons in a “Level 4″ form have also been added. Players with Xbox Live accounts won’t be able to get them until November, but they’re there. There are new missions, with one of them coming up very early in the game. None of the new missions are that much different from the old ones, but they flesh out a bit more story and give you more to do. Having plenty to do is never hard–there are dozens of storefronts to capture, rackets to bust, and warehouses to take over.

The Godfather controls pretty well with the Xbox 360 controller, and the Black Hand fighting system that takes over the right analog stick is as intuitive and fun to use as ever. The shooting system, taken from EA Games’ From Russia With Love, is still an easy system to use and creates some entertaining gunfights. Getting in and out of cars is still a little bit too slow–especially when the car at attention is on fire and about to explode–but few problems in the control category come up.

Visually, The Godfather isn’t a top-tier Xbox 360 game, but it looks solid in every way. The character models and faces have been given that extra layer of detail that couldn’t be added in current-gen versions. There are still far too many repeated interiors, though. I can’t help but feel like I’m doing the same thing over and over when the inside of one racket is the same as another. The animation isn’t perfect, but it never has been–it’s fortunate that the already-great particle effects have been improved and outdone. The sound is basically the same as before, save a few lines for the new missions.

Overall, The Godfather is the same great game that came out seven months ago, just with a little “next-gen” face-lift. It’s not worth $60 to anyone who’s already gone through and done everything there is to do in this game, but it’s definitely worth the price of admission for those of you who chose to wait it out and try the next-gen version.