The Godfather 2 is EA's latest attempt at providing gamers an offer they can't refuse, though it's rather easy to refuse this offer. While praise should be noted for their attempts to move away from the common Grand Theft Auto clone we so often see in such a genre, one can't help but feel that their attempts often get lost in the vision of the overall package. Now while I'm no Godfather expert, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't follow the same story path as the classic sequel, this is actually where many of the concerns for the game start to appear. While it offers quite an exciting and enjoyable start, things can start to feel somewhat dry and repetitive when you start engaging in the same methods of crime and violence. Many of the key features found in the original Godfather game make a return and there still quite enjoyable, but the real meat of Godfather 2 lies in it's Don's view which allows you to almost play Godfather 2 as a strategy game, infact many aspects of it's gameplay suit that genre quite well.
Don's View is a system that gives you an overview of a specific city and the buildings owned by yourself and your enemies. It's your job as head of a new family to make sure that it's your family that dominates. This requires you and your helpful crew to beat down on shop owners, kill members of other enemy families or other criminal activities. While at first Don's View can feel quite overwhelming for a console game and there is a lot of other deeper systems to keep in mind such as upgrades and perks, it works surprisingly well and is rather easy to read. It's just frustrating that it's affected by poorer less optimized areas of the game. One such area being actual gameplay, it's not terrible but everything within the city feels rough and simply slapped down there rather then the care shown in games such as GTA4. It also doesn't help that Godfather 2 is a rather plain and blurry looking title. Textures in particularly look rough when driving around in the city and nothing truly feels polished or cared for. Though there are a number of cities to conquer so there is some expanse in the feel of the game, even if each city only truly offers a small area.
Despite this, if your willing to forgive such issues then you'll find quite an interestingly deep strategic Mafia management game that will last you a solid amount of hours in entertainment. But it's when you compare it to other titles available in the genre where you truly see Godfather 2's short falls. I did enjoy aspects of specialised crew members which vary from arsonists to medics and it tells a solid if unspectacular tale. Trouble is we are talking about The Godfather license here and fans expect so much more then a rough looking Mafia strategic game. So it's still worth a rental, but be prepared to suffer some serious rough edges along it's overall experience. If this isn't what you were looking for, then I highly recommend you wait for Mafia 2 to be release this year. 3 OUT OF 5!
