Godfather II expands on the gameplay mechanics of the first game
What’s the game about?Godfather II is a third person action adventure based on Francis Ford Copolla’s 1974 gangster movie. The videogame draws its inspiration from the film and follows the Corleone family as they build their crime empire. Things have changed a little since its action-focused predecessor and in Godfather II Electronic Arts has now incorporated resource management in the hope that it will get our brains ticking away rather than us simply barging in heavy-handed at every opportunity.
Extorting businesses through intimidation and gun-play are back on the agenda, but unlike Godfather I you don’t start off from the bottom of the criminal underworld. Instead you play as Dominic Corleone who has been ordered to take control of the family and monopolize the business crime rings across the open-world areas of New York, Miami, and Havana. Godfather II is still an action-packed title, but now you have to manage your family as well as taking time out of your shady dealings to take out other crime families who constantly prove to be a threat to your rise to glory.
What do we like?
From the outset, Godfather II captures the style of the movies through superbly rendered cut-scenes and believable voice acting and therefore it's fairly easy to become immersed in the atmosphere while enjoying the power that money brings to you on your rise to the top. Intimidating business owners by finding their weak-spots, be it by dangling them over a ledge, smashing up their premises or even slamming their face onto a hot stove, is perversely satisfying and the 'Black Hand' combat mechanic works extremely well. The real-time strategy element of gameplay mixes things up nicely allowing to take your foot off the gas and deal with matters remotely from within the menu. This is done via Don’s View, an excellent addition to the series and the hub for all resource management activity. Here you can manage guards that you’ve employed to protect your businesses, locate missions or send out your own hired thugs to do your dirty work, plus plenty of other stuff. Things are kept relatively simple, there’s no micro-management involved, but the addition of RTS-style gameplay does make Godfather II feel different to the slew of third person action shooters out there and it can be enjoyable sending in arsonists to do your dirty work by bombing a rival business. Watching from a distance as to how well your commands are playing out can be rewarding.
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