The Godfather

The game itself is an uneven mishmash of fighting, driving, and shooting. Call it Grand Theft Goodfellas; if someone took Rockstar Games' popular Grand Theft Auto series, moved its setting to New York, and then sent it via the Wayback machine to post-World War II New York, the result would be The Godfather.

While it features an innovative, easy-to-use melee combat system and some interesting campaigns, it's ultimately hurt by boringly repetitive side missions and some underwhelming environments.

The emphasis on driving, the lack of scope in the side-quests, and the subsequent compulsion to complete the main mission, are definite weak spots in the game, the result being that players will all to easily get bogged down in the general repetitiveness of the experience.

Adapting one of Hollywood's masterpieces was brave, but it's a pity the game designers lacked the courage of their convictions, choosing to shoehorn Grand Theft Auto into the mafia setting.

There’s a lot to like about The Godfather and enough neat little touches to make it one to look out for (side missions, unlockables, character progression and the fighting style spring immediately to mind). Unfortunately though, there’s not quite enough polish in some areas to make it an essential purchase.

It just doesn't have the scope to match Rockstar's efforts though, and the driving sections aren't thrilling enough to get the pulse really racing.

Don buy this! A "GTA" wannabe as bloated as Marlon Brando's cheeks, and five times as ugly. [May 2006, p.60]

A lacklustre affair that misses the point of the movies, but still manages to capture their atmosphere. A stellar cast, incredible cutscenes and high production values can't hide the fact that this is an average city-based gangster game. [Issue#139, p.82]

The melee fighting and driving are bland, as are the environments, but the story is compelling and the acting is impeccable. For forty dollars it’s a good offer, but not one you can’t refuse.

The fighting in all its forms proves to be a sticking point, and Godfather suffers accordingly. [May 2006, p.49]

Though The Godfather is competent, it is also bland, despite the voices of James Caan and Robert Duvall, and you rarely feel a sense of power.

An extremely average crime sim bolted onto a much-loved license, this just proves that you can't buy class. Not horrific, just freakin' dull. [Apr 2006, p.88]

A huge, lazy and sometimes glitchy disappointment of a game. The character progression really doesn’t provide a strong enough excuse to keep playing after the initial joy of the combat has dissipated, and the number of times you find yourself going through the same old motions during missions smacks of padding of a magnitude normally associated with the corpulent Don.

EA has turned it into a story about gain. Whereas the motive of violence was once to illustrate Michael’s downward spiral, here it is merely a tool with which to boost your bank balance. [May 2006, p.118]

Were it just another faceless GTA free-roaming clone I'd say EA did a pretty good job, despite a few minor shortcomings. But as it is, The Godfather has a hard time living up to the standard set by its license.