The Godfather 2 Hands-On Preview

Impressions

Not all of Godfather 2 has been about expanded the game and giving the players new challenges though. In fact, the game world has actually been shrunk down compared to the first game.

“Well, not so much shrunk as more compacted,” said that same developer who had been pressing his lips unnervingly close to our ears before.

“We wanted to offer people more playing time and less commuting, so to speak,” said this developer – echoing the plans of Bethesda, who trod a similar path with Fallout 3 and Oblivion.

At other points however, the design choices seem a bit more questionable – such as the graphics executions that often open themselves up to the player.

Looking down on an unarmed enemy or civilian, putting a tommy gun in their mouth and riddling them with bullets may appeal on some immature level, but it’s out of touch with the idea behind the films. The very reason The Godfather films were so tense was because they rebuked the need for gore and introduced a weird civility to organised crime.


That said though, if you’re a hardcore fan of the movie then you’d perhaps be better off avoiding the game altogether anyway – it looks set to deviate from the plot of the film quite heavily as the story progresses.

The flip side to that though is that it probably won’t end up setting the scene for the God-awful Godfather 3. That film was worse than wearing sandpaper underwear in a vinegar bath!

Weighing out this negative though is the impressive-sounding multiplayer side to the game and, while we didn’t get chance to go hands-on with it then and there unfortunately, we did have our appetites whet. With up to 16-player online support, Godfather 2 is all about playing as your Made Men and using them to unlock singleplayer content.

By taking your own soldiers into the online battles you can bag yourself new weapon licenses that’ll upgrade your weapons, nab some cash to further finance the expansion of your singleplayer empire, and enhance the skills of your specialists. Carry these characters back over into singleplayer and they’ll have a better chance of completing missions without your help – plus you’ll have enough cash to replace them if things go awry.


Above all though what we like the look of most in The Godfather 2 is the way that it looks set to bleed the furious pace and exploration of a third-person shooter with the strategy and squad tactics of an (admittedly simplified) RTS. It’s something we’ve only really seen done in games like Freedom Fighters, which didn’t manage it to this scope.

With the ability to disrupt enemy economies, assassinate enemy leaders and lead assaults on their territory that are as hands-on or hands-off as you like, Godfather 2 is set to offer players a large amount of choice for how they progress – and that’s only ever a good thing.

At the same time though, we did get only a short time with Godfather 2 and it won’t be until we’ve had a chance to go hands-on with the full game, seen the multiplayer and worked our way through the entire campaign that we’ll be able to pass judgement – so keep an eye out for our full Godfather 2 review in late February. We promise it'll be a review you can't refuse and full of jokes you can't stand.

The Godfather 2 is set to be published by Electronic Arts on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. It will be out on February 27th.