The Godfather II Preview

On the eve of New Year’s 1959, revolutionaries succeeded in overthrowing the Cuban government and taking control of the country. Into the reality of that has been crafted the beginnings of EA’s The Godfather II, a game that continues to follow the rise to power of the Corleone crime syndicate.

It would be easy to dismiss the latest title in the franchise based off the Mario Puza book and Francis Ford Coppola films as steering away from the epic nature of those works … and it would be erroneous. The purpose of the games is to drop the player into that world, to make him or her (though you play the character of Dominic) feel the grand scale of the world. To that end, the dev team – EA Games and EA Redwood Shores – has sprinkled the game liberally with cut scenes that embrace the characters of Puzo’s world while putting you smack dab into the middle of a gang war for control of New York.

The game begins, though, in Cuba. Hyman Roth has declared the revolutionaries not much of a threat and that the families will get very rich by working with the government. Your boss (Dominic’s) is part of the celebration, as are Michael and Fredo Corleone. But in the middle of the countdown to the new year, the government announces that the revolutionaries have won. This, of course, begins wide-spread panic as people decide they must flee the country. Your job is to get the Corleones to the airport. When almost to the plane, a sniper kills your boss, Aldo. On the plane ride back to the states, Michael explains that there are few he can trust, but Dominic falls into that category. In fact, Dominic is the one Michael has chosen to take control of New York. With the disaster in Cuba, a lot of families will be vying for a piece of the Big Apple.

It is a large task, but the game helps you get organized. There are directed quest lines, but you can also use the heads-up display called the Don’s View to scope the city and find tasks you may need to take care of. Using the Don’s View, accessed through the start button, will allow you to zoom around the city, see where mission locations might be and even set waypoints to the areas.

The musical score is very rich and includes composer Nino Rota’s classic theme. The score varies, depending on the action – and there is a lot of action in this game – and keeps the pacing feeling right. The graphics are also, for the most part, well done. With the exception of Michael Corleone, you should be able to identify the characters immediately if you have seen the films. Some of the voices are the same, but others just seem slightly off. Al Pacino, obviously, did not allow his image to be used for Michael whereas many of the others did.

The game has a lot of action but it is intuitive and not gratuitous. It all fits within the story parameters and creates a solid gaming experience. The game does not release to retail until late in February, but this look was a great portend of what should be an enjoyable and entertaining gaming experience.