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'''The Godfather: The Game''' is a 2006 video game based on the 1972 film of the same name.
The game is notable in that it features the return of several original actors from the original film to lend their voice. The participating actors are James Caan as Sonny Corleone, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen and Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, with the most notable absences being Marlon Brando because of his bad condition and his later death, the audio producers found that the quality of the recordings were not good enough and hired an imitator, and Al Pacino's voice, due to his involvement with HEAT production. In addition, Mark Winegardner, author of the novel ''The Godfather Returns'', provided story editing and insight into the fictional world of the Godfather.
Electronic Arts announced in 2005 that players would create mobsters of their own, customizing their character's physical features, build and clothing in a very in-depth program known as "MobFace". Also, the game would not be the traditional mission-style type but a sandbox game, in a huge free-roam 1930's style New York City, and have non-linear gameplay (similar to games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise). Electronic Arts has also created the "Black Hand" control system as a means of pressuring and extorting business owners. Using the analog sticks on the game controller, players have a wide range of available methods to achieve their goals. These methods include punching, kicking, headbutting, strangling, etc. EA has released a separate version for the Nintendo Wii titled 'The Godfather: Blackhand Edition'. There is also a PlayStation 3 version (titled 'The Godfather: The Don's Edition') that includes the "Corleone Expansion Pack" (adding new gameplay and missions), an enhanced "Black Hand" control system that makes use of the PS3's SixAxis controller, and added Shipyard and Rail yard transportation hubs for the player to "explore and exploit".^[1]
While the game shares much in common with the ''GTA'' series, it also has similarities with the video game '' (for instance, Don Salieri appears in the Godfather as Mikey Salieri, a Soldier for the Tattaglia family).

Contents

Plot and overview

Character level stages

Families

Supporting characters

Other versions

Xbox 360 version

PSP version

Wii version

PS3 version

Reception and criticism

Sequel

References

External links

Plot and overview

The game starts with a cutscene that shows the main character (who, for the sake of reference, is called Aldo Trapani here, according to the default set name) as a child witnesses his father get gunned down on the street by the Barzinis, the Corleones' rivals in 1936 New York. Don Vito Corleone comforts the child, telling him that when he is old enough and the time is right he will take his revenge. The story then fastforwards to 1945 with the wedding scene in the opening of the film, wherein Aldo's mother asks Don Corleone to look after her son, who has been hanging with the wrong crowd. Luca Brasi is sent to recruit Aldo and teach him the ways of the Mafia. Like the film, Luca is later killed at a meeting he was sent to by Don Vito Corleone. After witnessing the murder, Aldo escapes meets up with Marty "Monk" Malone, a Corleone Associate. Like the scene from the film, Don Corleone is gunned down while getting oranges and Aldo must rescue Monk's sister, Frankie Malone. Aldo is the one who drives the Don to the hospital with Fredo, and is told to leave by a distraught Sonny Corleone. Aldo later helps Michael Corleone protect his father at the hospital. Soon after it is New Years Eve in New York City, and Peter Clemenza extends Aldo an invitation to Rosa's for a party. Once Aldo arrives at the party and intermingle with all the other Corleone Family members there, the police sergeant Joe Galtosino puts a stop to the party, and takes Rosa in for "questioning".
Essentially, there are two stories: the major events of the film (with the character making central contributions) and a personal story arc. In the former, Aldo does everything from planting the gun for Michael Corleone to killing Sollozzo, to helping Rocco put the horse head in Woltz's bed, guarding Don Vito Corleone at the hospital to killing significant Corleone rivals during the baptism, witnessing the death of Sonny to showing up at the meeting of the five families. In the latter, Aldo befriends and later kills "Monk" Malone, romances Francis "Frankie" Malone and takes revenge for her death, and kills Don Barzini in vengeance for killing his father as noted earlier in the storyline.
After the story missions explained above have been completed, wherein the character becomes an underboss in the end, the miniature missions continue, with Aldo subsequently becoming Don of New York in 1955. Before this, Aldo must continue to intimidate store owners for protection money, bribe police, pay the FBI to stop mob wars, bomb rival mobster compounds, assassinate thugs, take over goods, and buy out gambling rackets and brothels. All of these things increase your respect points further.

Character level stages

As the player successfully completes missions in the game, he gets promoted to a higher level of the Corleone crime family. Stages include:
'Outsider' - Outsiders are freelance hoodlums who work for the mob for a fee and have no loyalty to any organization. They hold no rank within any of the crime syndicates and, being out for their own good with no allegiance to anyone, they are usually not to be trusted. Occasionally, such as the player does in the game, an outsider may choose to offer his services to only one family in the hope of working his way up the ranks. A subrank of ''Enforcer'' is obtained when the player first meets Tom Hagen at the Corleone compound, before moving on to the next stage.
'Associate' - Associates are not members of the mob, but more like gofers. They are usually a go-between or sometimes deal in drugs to keep the heat off of the actual members. Non-Italians never go any further than this. In the game, the player's character reaches this rank a few missions into the main story mission sequence as he is introduced to characters such as Tom Hagen and Sonny Corleone.
'Soldier' - Soldiers (soldatos), known as "made men", are members of the family, and can only be of Italian background. Soldiers start as Associates that have proven themselves. When "the books are open", meaning that there is an open spot in the family, a Capo (or several Capos) may recommend an up-and-coming Associate to become a new member. In the case that there is only one slot and multiple recommendations, the Boss will decide. The new member usually becomes part of the Capo's crew that recommended him. In the game, this rank is attained at a certain point through the main story mission sequence.
'Capo' - Short for ''caporegime''. Capos head groups or squads of soldiers. They report directly to the Don and act as liaisons between the Don and the soldiers.
'Underboss' - Usually appointed by the Boss, he is the second-in-command of the family. The Underboss is considered to be the Captain that is in charge of all of the other Capos and is controlled by the Don. The Underboss is usually first in line to become Acting Boss if the Don is unable to serve. In the game, this rank is achieved by completing all of the story missions.
'Don' - The Don is the head of the family. In the game, this rank is achieved after becoming Underboss and bombing each of the rival families' compounds. The Godfather of the title, Vito Corleone, holds this rank as the leader of the Corleone family. When your character becomes the Don, he takes the name Corleone, as understood by the fact that when you talk to certain people on the streets, they will call him Don Corleone.
'Don of New York' - Achieved once the player has completed all missions, taken control of all rackets and businesses, and have slightly more than 90% completion in the game. Afterwards, you go to a hotel in Little Italy as your last mission. This means that all the families have been unified under a single banner with you having complete control over the streets of New York with no opposition. In the game once this rank has been achieved, the player will receive $1,000,000 and 1,000,000 respect points. For every version except the PS3 and Wii version, player will also get unlimited ammunition in his weapons (PS3 and Wii version are integrated into "Enforcer" route.)

Families

In the game there are five mafia families that have been adapted from the ''The Godfather''. Nicknamed The Five Families, these families consist of:

★ 'The Tattaglia Family' - The Tattaglia family dominates Brooklyn, owning almost every business and racket on the Brooklyn waterfront. Don Philip Tattaglia heads the Tattaglia Family. The Tattaglia family has a serious rivalry with the Corleone family because of their business expansion into Little Italy, the Corleone's turf. The Don's son Bruno is next in line to become Don of the Tattaglia Family. Bruno has an alliance with Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo. The Tattaglias' consigliere is Freddie Nobile, and their Underbosses are Bruno and Johnny Tattaglia. The Tattaglias' Capo Regimes are Tony Bianchi and Donnie Marinelli. Under Bianchi are Soldiers Mikey Saleri and Squeegie McNeese. Under Marinelli are Soldiers Luigi Bonetti and Rocky Della Barca.

★ 'The Cuneo Family' - The Cuneo family hails from Hell's Kitchen. The Cuneo family is not very rich, owning few rackets and businesses. Don Carmine Cuneo heads the Cuneo Family. They are ruthless killers, always appearing in the motherload largely due to the environment of Hell's Kitchen, which is run down and filled with poor communities. According to certain Corleone associates, Cuneos' are trustworthy unless you mess with their business. The Cuneos' Consigliere is Luciano Fabbri, and their Underboss is Marco Cuneo. Their two Capo Regimes are Ronnie Tosca and Mario DeBellis.

★ 'The Stracci Family' - The Stracci family is based in New Jersey. Don Victor Stracci heads the Stracci Family. In the daytime the neighborhood looks quite peaceful, with fancy houses and well-groomed parks, but at night, it becomes much more dangerous. The Straccis are the most cruel and vicious family. The Straccis' consigliere is Jack Fontana, and their Underboss is Salvatore Stracci. Stracci Capo Regimes include Oscar Zavarelle and Leon Grossi.

★ 'The Barzini Family' - The Barzini family hails from Midtown, the richest community in New York, making them the richest family. The Barzini Family is headed by Don Emilio Barzini, who rules with an iron fist. Emilio Barzini is also the one who ordered the murder of the main character's father, and is rumored to be in control of another New York Family. The Barzini Family is undoubtedly the most powerful family in all of New York. The Barzini' Consigliere is Domenica Mazza, and their Underboss is Emillio Barzini Jr. Their two Capo Regimes are Pietro Testa and Big Bobby Toro.

★ 'The Corleone Family' - The family where the main character settles down. The once-powerful crime Family was created by three Italian immigrants in the mid 1920s - - Don Vito Corleone, Peter Clemenza, and Salvatore Tessio. The Corleones' business operations are run from the Genco Olive Oil Import Company (named after the Don's first consigliere, Genco Abbandando), and their methods of extorting local businesses was the model system for decades. The Corleones thrive on their wits and brutal nature, and the Godfather, Don Vito, still commands tremendous respect. However, the family has fought incursions from rival operatives, and now owns only a small selection of businesses, although they are currently looking to expand into Las Vegas. The Corleones' operations are based in central Manhattan, in Little Italy, and are troubled by increasingly daring raids by the Tattaglias in Brooklyn. Little Italy has streets of moderately poor local shops run by well-established Families. It is against this backdrop that the Corleone creed was developed: Loyalty and reward to those in their service, but a sudden and violent response to a traitor. In the game you meet many members of the Corleone Family, including Vito Corleone, Sonny Corleone, Tom Hagen, Michael Corleone, Fredo Corleone, Salvatore Tessio, Pete Clemenza, Paulie Gatto, Rocco Lampone, Al Neri, Willie Cicci, Jaggy Jovino, Jimmy DeNunzio, Luca Brasi, and "Monk" Malone.

Supporting characters

★ 'Police Sergeant Joe Galtosino': The tough lawman of Little Italy, known to abuse power. The player murders him when he assaults Rosa by throwing him off of a rooftop.

★ 'Rosa Morelli': Corleone Associate and owner of a flower shop in Little Italy. Is known to have a friendship or possible attraction to the player.

★ 'Police Captain McCluskey': Corrupt, bigoted captain believed to be in line with Sollozzo. The player hides the gun that Michael kills him and Sollozzo with.

★ 'Frances "Frankie" Malone': Marty "Monk" Malone's sister, main character's love interest. It turns out that she is older than her brother. They both eventually become lovers until she is murdered by Bruno Tattaglia.

★ 'Amerigo Bonasera': Funeral home operator, daughter is beaten up by punks. He has his vengeance when the player, Paulie Gatto and Monk Malone beat the punks to a pulp.

★ 'Emilio Brunetti': Butcher shop owner under the Tattaglias. He is the first person to be extorted by the player.

★ 'The Trojan': Mysterious Corleone special operations go-to guy. He has many missions for the player to carry out.

★ 'Marty "Monk" Malone': A wise guy working for Clemenza who becomes good friends with the player. He becomes an FBI informent after his sister Francis dies and when he isn't allowed to rise in the family due to his Irish heritage. In one of the missions, when Monk killed an FBI fed, it turns out that he became an informant against the Corleones. In the end he dies trying to kill the player.

★ 'Johnny Trapani': The player's father who was evidently a high ranking mafioso in the twenties and thirties. He is shot to death at Don Barzini's orders while trying to make sure his son, the young player, is alright. Johnny's death is the catalyst for the player's involvement with the Corleone Family.

Other versions

Xbox 360 version

The Xbox 360 version was released on September 19, 2006. This version had a huge improvement on the earlier versions with the addition of several new features:

★ The graphics have been widely improved, this time including more hue, saturation and detail to the city. Also, lighting and shadow have been added to buildings and cars.

★ There are additional story missions that were in the movie but not included in the game first time around.

★ Weather physics have been added such as rain, fog etc. to bring more realism.

★ There is new option called "Crew" which allows the player to hire additional assistance from the family throughout the game. The higher your ranking is, the better people you are able to recruit.

★ As to the above, the cops can now be bribed to fight alongside the player in certain situations (i.e. mob wars/turf wars, assaults from rival families, etc.)

★ Instead of just shooting out trucks and stealing the gold and escaping to the safehouse, the players now have to take the trucks themselves to specified points in order to receive cash. the outtake of these heist has also been upped from 2000 to 7000.

★ The ability to shoot out of vehicles is now possible while driving if you have a crewmember with you.

★ The enemy A.I has been updated. Enemies will now hide behind walls and shoot out. They will now also 'search and kill' if they cannot target the player.

★ Five new hit missions, which are provided by Rocco Lampone.

★ Two out of the four compounds (which can be taken over) have been redesigned bigger and better.

★ Face Damage is also part of the game (When you punch someone you can actually see a black eye, big lip and the face bleeding)

★ The following execution moves have been added to the 360 version:

★
★ 'Between The Eyes' - The player shoots the enemy in the chest and then rapidly shoots the enemy between the eyes (the forehead) (See Mozambique Drill)

★
★ 'Head Strong' - The Player uses a machine gun (Tommy Gun) and rapidly shoots the person in the body while moving the machine gun to every part of the body all the way up.

★
★ 'Crooked Cop' - The Player uses a bat or a police baton and quickly kicks the enemy in the midsection and breaks the gangster's neck.

★
★ 'Taste My Chamber' - The player shoots the enemy in the chest and quickly shoots again in the face.

★ Three new missions have been added:

★
★ Tom is Still Missing: Trapani must rescue Tom Hagen from Tattaglia captors.

★
★ Special Delivery: Trapani must bomb a drug-filled warehouse

★
★ A Royal Flush: Trapani kills Moe Greene, who is looking to expand his business into New York from Las Vegas.

PSP version

A Sony PlayStation Portable version was released, titled ''The Godfather: Mob Wars''. Unlike the console versions, ''Mob Wars'' does not feature free-roaming environments. Instead, the game is restricted to a series of story missions involving Aldo Trapani. However, ''Mob Wars'' includes a new turn-based strategy mode with the aim of controlling all of New York City by neutralizing the rival families, completed by issuing orders and executing them as real-time missions. The portable version of the game also lacks the entire section of driving, even in the story missions, where the driving segments are replaced with cutscenes.

Wii version

The Wii version, entitled 'The Godfather: Blackhand Edition', was developed alongside the PS3 edition and released March 20, 2007. Improved upon the Xbox 360 edition, it includes brand new controls designed for the Wii Remote. Aiming is now handled by the pointer function of the Wii Remote, and allow more locational damages, though the lock-on option is still in the game. Melee combat is handled using the Wii-mote and Nunchuk, such as swinging a Baseball Bat, or throwing a molotov cocktail. Also, once the player has taken hold of a NPC, making a punching action with the Wii-mote and Chuck will result in throwing numerous styles of punches in-game, also quickly pushing the controllers towards the screen will cause the player to shove, and bringing the controller away from the screen will result in a head butt. Bringing the Wiimote and Nunchuk away and then together will choke them; twisting the controllers left or right will move the player and the held NPC around and even throw the NPC through a window. In total, there are 25 unique motion-based execution moves available in the game, in addition to normal punches, choke, and headbutt motions.
The Wii version also reworked the crew system; unlike the 360 edition, the crew will accompany the player even after loading a saved game (that had hired a crew previously). Furthermore, players also have the ability to call in a 4-Man Hit Squad to assist the player in missions; the gauge that is needed to be recharged can be automatically refilled if they did not sustain too much damage in the last save points, allowing player to instantly call upon them on the next load. This provided player with an ability to call upon a total of five crew members at any time, helpful in assaulting enemy compound or holding up a bank.
The Blackhand Edition also adds a second path that the player may take through the game, that of the operator. The main method of progressing for the operator is by using Blackmail on cops, the FBI or members of other families. Blackmailing is a Mini-Game of sorts, as what the player does or says will affect the outcome. While the Enforcer's goal is to destroy the other Families through brute forces, the operator's is to blackmail the police chiefs of the Five Boroughs by finding "dirt" on them during missions, once enough is collected the player then blackmails the chiefs, enabling the bribe gauge to fill to the top for free every time the player talks to the chief. This effectively allows the player to take control of police in that area, which not only provides free-reign for players, but also is helpful during any confrontation with other families, as the police will also fight along side your family members. The police can also arrest or kill rival family members (this can also become a result of a mob war).
The path of the operator also grants the player's abilities additional tactical abilities that are not open to the enforcer:

★ Enhanced and regenerating health.

★ The ability to call in the 4 man hit-squad twice as often.

★ The ability to plant car bombs and pull off instant, stealth, kills.

★ Enhanced crew's damages and health.

★ reduced price on bribing on FBI and Police.
The Wii version also features 20 normal missions, ten new hit missions, a new rival family seen only in the new hit missions, rooftop battles, new favors, and other methods such as blackmail and bribery to improve gameplay.
The Blackhand Edition is the highest rated version of The Godfather on Gamerankings and IGN.^[2]

PS3 version

The Sony PS3 version, titled 'The Godfather: The Don's Edition', is very similar to the Wii version (such as 4-man hit squad, operator's path, and battle on rooftops) and improves upon the Xbox 360 edition, save for having some minor graphic enhancements, a larger city with additional locale, lack of interactive controlling, and instead, utilization of the SIXAXIS motion sensor controls. While the moves available are less than those available on Wii version, players can use SIXAXIS to shove people around and perform special execution moves. However, unlike Wii, these moves are generally finishing moves and thus not always available.
Additionally, the PS3 edition has two special locales, a freighter and a train yard, that serve as transportation hub, providing a few special scenarios, as well as five new hit missions, given by a corrupt police sergeant.

Reception and criticism

The director of the film trilogy, Francis Ford Coppola, did not approve of the game's release.^[3] Coppola denounced it, citing that he felt they were making money off of his work. The average results on GameRankings are:

★ Blackhand Edition - 77%

★ PS2 & Xbox - 77%

★ 360 Version - 77.4%

★ The Don's Edition - 73%

★ Mob Wars - 62%
On Gamespot the following games are rated separately to 4 categories. The PS2, Xbox and PC are rated 8.1. The reason although its a film done right, its criticized for recycled graphics of shops and buildings and making it difficult to travel around. Mob Wars received a 6, saying that it has poor game play. The Xbox 360 received 7.9 for it's minor improvements like bribing cops and recruiting a bodyguard, but the graphics left something to be desired. The PS3 and Wii are rated 7.6. Although it is similar to the Xbox 360, it is well credited with hit squads and easier drive around.

Sequel

EA have recently announced plans for a sequel, with no date mentioned. It is most likely that this sequel will be based on the Godfather Part II since the current Godfather game is based on Godfather Part I. ^[4]

References

1. EA
2. IGN.com: The Godfather: Blackhand Edition
3.
4. GameSpot

External links

★ Electronic Arts - official site

★ The Godfather (Xbox) Reviews - at Metacritic.com

★

★ GameSpot's Review for the XBox 360

★ IGN's Review for the XBox

★