Game Review: The Godfather II

Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

The Godfather II

For: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC

From: EA

ESRB Rating: Mature (blood, drug reference, intense violence, nudity, sexual themes, strong language)  

Sometimes, it's the little things. In a game as wonderfully, erratically ambitious as "The Godfather II," it's the little things that, however subtly, sometimes save the day.

Take, for instance, the game's ingenious living map, which not only helps you get from point A to B - handy, considering the story takes place in open-world Florida and open-world New York City at the same time - but keeps track of your targets, your allies, your family's holdings, the profit margins at each property and just about everything else you need to manage via the game's newfound Don powers. When a holding is under attack, the animated 3D map quite decisively illustrates the urgency. Ditto for when a rival holding is up for grabs.

And thank goodness, too. The original "Godfather" game was a busy affair, but "II" takes it to another plane. You're still on the ground as a soldier - intimidating businesses, picking locks, battling rival gangs, handling random strangers' dirty business and doing what needs doing to stay out of jail. At the same time, though, you're also building your own branch of the family from the base. Among other activities, you'll build your own crew, assign guards to newly-acquired businesses and send protection whenever your family - in New York, Florida or both - comes under attack.

That's a lot to ask of a game that's also cribbing from the "Grand Theft Auto" school of open world game design, and "II," much like its predecessor, proves to be a jack more than a master of many of its trades. The third-person shooting controls are good enough, but prone to sloppiness in close quarters or when cover is concerned. Opposing A.I. isn't particularly bright, bystander A.I. often is ridiculously inept, and sometimes, objects and people just plain disappear when you hit them.

The management stuff proves a surprisingly good fit considering how different its demands are from the ground-level gameplay, but some will find it an intrusion when, for instance, rival gangs repeatedly attack your holdings and force you to divert attention from whatever task is already at hand. Some will feel the same about the family management and character upgrading - all handled well, but all logistically demanding stuff that typically falls outside the bounds of this genre.

The natural upside is that "II" is one heck of a meal for players who bring their appetite. All those logistics translate into a maze of ways to see the story to completion, and the usual torrent of unlockables and side objectives are there for the truly ambitious. "II's" online component (16 players) isn't quite as interesting - the available modes are themed, but typical of team-based squad shooters - but any money you make (or lose) online does apply to your single-player family's balance sheet.

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