July 08, 2006

THE Godfather is not just a movie but a legend in its own right. It is a story of family values, money, power and corruption. The movie is based on the novel by Mario Puzo and thus needs no introduction. But the game (based on the same novel) which came out early this year is definitely worth discussing.

Electronics Arts, the creators of this highly anticipated game, have taken great pains to stick to the movie. The game is also based in New York city, along with the five families who are fighting for money, power, and control of the entire city. The Godfather, therefore, makes a mark on gamers, especially those who have watched the movie and are looking to find bits and pieces of it in the game.

The game allows you to play the part of a new and different character which you are responsible for creating at the start, quite like The Sims or other EA sports games. You can also customise your character more as the game progresses. However, the character you created is neither found in the book nor the movie and in this regard, EA has slightly deviated from the original script. But the creators of the game quickly justify the presence of this character in the storyline — it is a character that never found its way in the adaptation, but it did have an important part to play in the drama that subsequently unfolds.

Once you have done the needful by creating your very own made-to-order “gangster” the story begins with the help of a scene where you witness your father being murdered by members of another gang. The story quickly changes course and takes you a few years down the road to — you guessed it — the hugely popular wedding scene that movie buffs will remember from the beginning of the film. Don Vito Corleone is persuaded by your mother, in no uncertain terms, to initiate you into the ways of the gangster. And since Sicilians are known for honouring any and every favour that is asked of them on their daughter’s wedding day (once again, watching the movie will be of great help to all those who want to play this game), the Don does what any self-respecting mobster will do: he sends his very best, in this case the very intimidating Luca Brasi, to teach you all that you need to know.

Thus begins what appears to be a very promising adventure in the form of this game. Like most apprentices affiliated with all things criminal, you begin as a lowly henchman for the Corleone family trying to make a name for himself by forcing small-time store owners to pay you protection money. The way to do this is simple: you can either talk to the owner, and ask him to pay you money, or you can throw your weight around by threatening him, vandalising his door or beating the living daylights out of him till he agrees to give you what you want.

Soon enough, the business becomes yours for the taking and as a result, your character receives a payout each week. Of course, all is not what it seems to be because these store owners are far from being “good citizens”. If anything, they use their stores as a cover to carry out all sorts of illegal activities — so much for being a good samaritan.

The game offers a great deal in terms of the missions that pave the way for your career as a professional mobster. A lot of these missions have been borrowed from the movie, like the famous horse head scene and the gunning down of Don Vito. Interestingly enough, the creators of the game have made sure that these scenes do not suffer from the slightest bit of deviation in the game and due credit must be given to them for religiously following the original storyline. Players will be able to recognise several such segments in the game which makes it all the more fun to play.

The visuals are magnificent with such strong graphics that the game looks exactly like the movie. The entire Corleone family looks exactly the same except for Michael, who is not even remotely close to looking like Al Pacino. Not only are these characters a visual treat, but they are also great to interact with. Then there are other characters in the city which look life-like and add to the visual diversity of the game. Similarly, New York looks every bit the beautiful city that it is and several areas in it, such as Little Italy, Brooklyn, Midtown, Hell’s Kitchen and New Jersey can also be found in the game.

This is, however, a double-edged sword for those who have never been to the city or seen the movie, since they will have to depend on the game map and signboards to help you get your way around town. There are a lot of interiors, which load easily and which you can get into easily. They do become repetitive, however, and you will see the same shops and houses over and over again, making the backdrop of the city seem a little too monotonous at times. The vehicles depicted in the game are stunning and serve as an added incentive to play the game.

The soundtrack has also been borrowed from the movie and while you will hear the main theme too many times, you will not get bored. The voice-over is excellent and all actors in the movie have given voices to their own characters in the game, except for Michael Corleone. The sound of the vehicles is also true to life, making you feel like you are really driving in the 1950s.

Sadly enough, the creators of the game saw the need to seek “inspiration” from the Grand Theft Auto series. In fact, there is a lot you can get involved in as a criminal — auto theft, hit-and-run accidents, needless shooting at people and dodging the police. As with the GTA series, the more you commit crimes, the more your heat gauge increases, meaning that the police will be actively seeking you out.

Of course, chances are that they will let you go if you offer them a bribe before you decide to commit a crime. If not, they will try their best to hunt you down, which once again, is nothing to worry about, since you can lose yourself in the city’s traffic and evade them. Still, you just may get caught and then they will have a field day breaking your bones. The hospitals nearby, however, will take care of any bodily harm as do the health tonics which you can use to heal yourself.

The gameplay is not all that difficult either. You can do a number of activities, such as locking on to enemies and taking cover to avoid getting beaten up or shot. Not only this, but the free aim mode of the game is extremely helpful as well, since it offers variation in terms of how you want to play. The selection of weapons available is also rather extensive and several of these can be bought from arms dealers who can also help you upgrade a particular weapon for a steep price, of course.

On the whole, the game is fun to play mainly because of the different moves you can use during combat. The artificial intelligence of the game is rather impressive and often you will find that your enemies will give you a hard time when you are fighting them. Of course, there are other times when they act equally silly. For example, when you go up close to kill them, some of them will just wait there waiting for you to do the deed (quite like most Indian movies) or they will choose not to make use of their weapons. So yes, the artificial intelligence does have its fair share of faults.

The game is not as much fun on PlayStation 2 as it is on PC. However, the controls are better on PS2 as is the frame rate, but all the versions of the game suffer from choppiness, which can be extremely tedious.

With The Godfather, you can easily enjoy 20 hours of gameplay. You work your way up the “career” ladder and destroy other families before gaining full control over the city. If you are a fan of the film, you will love the game, especially because it pays homage to a movie that has turned into a cult classic of sorts. Simply put, EA makes “you an offer that you can’t refuse.”

The writer is a student of computer science at Iqra University, Karachi
 

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