The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (Wii)
- Publisher:
- EA Games
- Developer:
- EA Games
- Release Date:
- 20.03.2007
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action
- Reality Factor:
- Realistic
- Perspective:
- Third-Person
- Extra:
- Streets
- Blood Level:
- Bloody
- Age:
- Modern Times
1 movie
We play The Godfather: Blackhand Edition...
So you played the other versions of The Godfather, but just found yourself unimpressed by its Grand Theft Auto-alike gameplay? EA take another look at the series, add some controls and try to make you an offer that you can’t refuse.
This may come as somewhat of a surprise, but the PlayStation 2 – the original edition of EA’s Godfather game – was actually released back at the end of March 2006. Time flies, as they say.
So, what to do with a year old PS2 game that suffered from vaguely disappointing sales? Yes, Wii owners – it’s port time again! The Godfather was an average Grand Theft Auto clone one and a half years ago, and not much has changed. You play an entirely new character in the Godfather world, brought into the family as a low level thug to do odd jobs for people like Don Vito Corleone, Tom Hagen, Sonny Corleone, Pete Clemenza and more. As the game progresses, you’ll become more integrated with the Corleone family, rising in rank from outsider to associate, and eventually on to underboss, and even Don of New York, if you complete enough of the game.
There are plenty of obstacles in the way of course – namely, the Tattaglia, Cuneo, Stracci and Barzini families, who are also competing to rule the city. And if you’ve seen the movies, then you’ll be aware that there’s also plenty of problems within the Corleone family, from a hit on the Don, to headstrong successors and numerous traitors attempting to rise to power without following the honourable channels.
In order to get into positions of power, you’ll need to get respect, which is achieved by doing favours for people within – and occasionally outside of – the family, and by taking over the businesses that the other families demand protection money from. It’s a big city, though, and there are certainly quite a number of businesses to gain control of, and this is pretty much where the game runs into trouble.
Unfortunately, similar businesses are generally laid out in the same way – most bakers look the same, for example, as do most of the restaurants and butchers, so as big as the city seems in the beginning, the whole task of taking over the city in this way soon becomes more than a little repetitive. The city itself is a little better; split into Little Italy, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen, it’s a reasonable representation of New York, but the tunnels that connect the boroughs and the sheer amount of time needed to traverse the area takes away a good deal of the joy in exploring – especially when you realise that the only music you’re going to hear in the cars is music from the movie. Sure, you might think The Godfather Theme is great, but after
There’s also the issue of the city’s memorability: The Godfather’s New York pales in comparison to Grand Theft Auto’s Liberty City – and especially in comparison to Vice City – simply because it’s a little too realistic. The same problem occurred in True Crime (although, admittedly, it was simply one of many for that game) with the accurate portrayal of Los Angeles taking away the fun of exploration simply because there wasn’t much to find other than street after street of similar looking buildings.
Yes, the boroughs in The Godfather are noticeably different, and some of the industrial areas in particular are well done, but there’s no soul or personality to the city like there is in the Grand Theft Auto games, and that’s a big problem. On top of this, there’s also the fact that the actual rendering of the city is well below par – if this is the standard Wii owners have to look forward to from future PS2 ports, then third party developers are going to have to pick up their game. There’s little lighting on either buildings or vehicles, which gives the game an exceptionally flat look in the streets.
The interiors are an improvement, and the time spent inside is – even with the aforementioned repetitiveness of the environments – pretty enjoyable. The cover system is quite good, and you’ll become quite adept at rushing from box to wall, picking off enemies along the way. It’s no Gears of War, but the range of guns and the well spaced out nature of the health power ups make the combat enjoyable, which is probably just as well, since you’ll have to kill at least six or seven enemies each time you try and take over a business.
Of course, that kind of thing isn’t taken lightly with the other families – who, it should be noted, are essentially the same except for the colour of their trenchcoats – so you’ll often run into mafia wars, especially after taking down a warehouse or compound. The manner of taking care it the war is disappointingly simple, though: you’ll simply need to bomb one of their businesses, or bribe an FBI agent, who can be easily found on your map. Dying in the middle of a war will see a few of your businesses bombed, though they’ll be rebuilt within a few in-game days, something that’s actually pretty indicative of another one of the game’s major issues: dying seems to generally have no consequence, with the exception of a few lost dollars. Guns and ammo remain at the same levels before your death, which feels a little too lightweight; you’ll be relieved, since you’ll probably die a few times, and while it is nice not to have to backtrack to buy back ammo and so forth it’s hard to shake the feeling that you’re getting way too off easy.
The strange thing is, despite all of those issues – issues that would probably see the game rating nothing more than a 6 at best – it’s rather compelling on the Wii. EA, with a few months to rethink the whole deal, have managed to construct one of the most interesting and vibrant control systems seen on the console yet. You’ll find yourself aiming at individual body parts when taking down opposing gangsters, and you’ll more than likely love every second of it. Even the time spent “convincing” shopkeepers that they need your protection is fantastic – the nunchuck and the remote act as separate hands, allowing you to punch, throw, strangle, headbutt and slam people into walls with an impressively instinctive ease.
It’s still disappointing and repetitive, and plagued with a number of problems that a company like EA shouldn’t make, especially in regards to its abysmally last-gen graphics. It’s also completely lacking in soul and personality, which is completely inexcusable for a license of this nature. But the controls make the game seem a lot better than it would have on other platforms - they really shouldn’t change that much but for some reason they do, and the game, while still not exactly great, is solid rather than average, and actually seems generally exciting rather than monotonous. And at this point in the Wii’s lifecycle, that’s better than a lot of what’s out there, especially in regards to the PSP and PS2 ports.
Top Gaming Moment: The first time you extort a business is hard to forget – it’s immediately visceral, and wonderfully thrilling.
 |
 |
|
| laNote the complete lack of lighting on the buildings in the backgroundbel | Create a character is fun, but an odd shine to rendering on your character makes him seem strangely out of place |
This may come as somewhat of a surprise, but the PlayStation 2 – the original edition of EA’s Godfather game – was actually released back at the end of March 2006. Time flies, as they say.
So, what to do with a year old PS2 game that suffered from vaguely disappointing sales? Yes, Wii owners – it’s port time again! The Godfather was an average Grand Theft Auto clone one and a half years ago, and not much has changed. You play an entirely new character in the Godfather world, brought into the family as a low level thug to do odd jobs for people like Don Vito Corleone, Tom Hagen, Sonny Corleone, Pete Clemenza and more. As the game progresses, you’ll become more integrated with the Corleone family, rising in rank from outsider to associate, and eventually on to underboss, and even Don of New York, if you complete enough of the game.
There are plenty of obstacles in the way of course – namely, the Tattaglia, Cuneo, Stracci and Barzini families, who are also competing to rule the city. And if you’ve seen the movies, then you’ll be aware that there’s also plenty of problems within the Corleone family, from a hit on the Don, to headstrong successors and numerous traitors attempting to rise to power without following the honourable channels.
In order to get into positions of power, you’ll need to get respect, which is achieved by doing favours for people within – and occasionally outside of – the family, and by taking over the businesses that the other families demand protection money from. It’s a big city, though, and there are certainly quite a number of businesses to gain control of, and this is pretty much where the game runs into trouble.
 |
 |
|
| Targeting the exact part of the body you want is a great use of the Wii remote | Yes, they both appear to be the same man. That’s three in the same basement |
Unfortunately, similar businesses are generally laid out in the same way – most bakers look the same, for example, as do most of the restaurants and butchers, so as big as the city seems in the beginning, the whole task of taking over the city in this way soon becomes more than a little repetitive. The city itself is a little better; split into Little Italy, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen, it’s a reasonable representation of New York, but the tunnels that connect the boroughs and the sheer amount of time needed to traverse the area takes away a good deal of the joy in exploring – especially when you realise that the only music you’re going to hear in the cars is music from the movie. Sure, you might think The Godfather Theme is great, but after
There’s also the issue of the city’s memorability: The Godfather’s New York pales in comparison to Grand Theft Auto’s Liberty City – and especially in comparison to Vice City – simply because it’s a little too realistic. The same problem occurred in True Crime (although, admittedly, it was simply one of many for that game) with the accurate portrayal of Los Angeles taking away the fun of exploration simply because there wasn’t much to find other than street after street of similar looking buildings.
Yes, the boroughs in The Godfather are noticeably different, and some of the industrial areas in particular are well done, but there’s no soul or personality to the city like there is in the Grand Theft Auto games, and that’s a big problem. On top of this, there’s also the fact that the actual rendering of the city is well below par – if this is the standard Wii owners have to look forward to from future PS2 ports, then third party developers are going to have to pick up their game. There’s little lighting on either buildings or vehicles, which gives the game an exceptionally flat look in the streets.
The interiors are an improvement, and the time spent inside is – even with the aforementioned repetitiveness of the environments – pretty enjoyable. The cover system is quite good, and you’ll become quite adept at rushing from box to wall, picking off enemies along the way. It’s no Gears of War, but the range of guns and the well spaced out nature of the health power ups make the combat enjoyable, which is probably just as well, since you’ll have to kill at least six or seven enemies each time you try and take over a business.
Of course, that kind of thing isn’t taken lightly with the other families – who, it should be noted, are essentially the same except for the colour of their trenchcoats – so you’ll often run into mafia wars, especially after taking down a warehouse or compound. The manner of taking care it the war is disappointingly simple, though: you’ll simply need to bomb one of their businesses, or bribe an FBI agent, who can be easily found on your map. Dying in the middle of a war will see a few of your businesses bombed, though they’ll be rebuilt within a few in-game days, something that’s actually pretty indicative of another one of the game’s major issues: dying seems to generally have no consequence, with the exception of a few lost dollars. Guns and ammo remain at the same levels before your death, which feels a little too lightweight; you’ll be relieved, since you’ll probably die a few times, and while it is nice not to have to backtrack to buy back ammo and so forth it’s hard to shake the feeling that you’re getting way too off easy.
The strange thing is, despite all of those issues – issues that would probably see the game rating nothing more than a 6 at best – it’s rather compelling on the Wii. EA, with a few months to rethink the whole deal, have managed to construct one of the most interesting and vibrant control systems seen on the console yet. You’ll find yourself aiming at individual body parts when taking down opposing gangsters, and you’ll more than likely love every second of it. Even the time spent “convincing” shopkeepers that they need your protection is fantastic – the nunchuck and the remote act as separate hands, allowing you to punch, throw, strangle, headbutt and slam people into walls with an impressively instinctive ease.
 |
 |
|
| Not what you would call a compelling environment, really | Shading on vehicles? Why would you want that? |
It’s still disappointing and repetitive, and plagued with a number of problems that a company like EA shouldn’t make, especially in regards to its abysmally last-gen graphics. It’s also completely lacking in soul and personality, which is completely inexcusable for a license of this nature. But the controls make the game seem a lot better than it would have on other platforms - they really shouldn’t change that much but for some reason they do, and the game, while still not exactly great, is solid rather than average, and actually seems generally exciting rather than monotonous. And at this point in the Wii’s lifecycle, that’s better than a lot of what’s out there, especially in regards to the PSP and PS2 ports.
Top Gaming Moment: The first time you extort a business is hard to forget – it’s immediately visceral, and wonderfully thrilling.
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Trailer
Posted 18.01.07
Length 01:09 Views 1337
