At first glance, turning "The Godfather" into a video game just seems like a suicide mission for the game's developers; with something that great, the odds are good that the video game is going to pale in comparison. But in the end, Electronic Arts, the developers of "The Godfather: Blackhand Edition" for the Wii, created something that pays its respects to the film in the best way possible.
While the events of the movie unfold over the course of the game, they do so at whatever pace you want. "The Godfather" is ultimately a sandbox game where you're free to roam and do whatever you'd like, rather than being forced through a story or campaign at a set pace. The lack of pressure to continuously keep the narrative moving is incredibly refreshing, as you are instructed to just contact someone from the Corleone family (typically Peter Clemenza or Tom Hagen) when you want to take on your next major mission. Until then, you are free to roam about New York (and a little bit of New Jersey) to extort businesses, destroy compounds of enemy families, upgrade your weapons, carry out hit missions, and much more. Naturally, this greatly expands the game's value; by the time I finally beat the story...after which you can continue to play until you own everything, at which point you are declared the "Don of NYC...I had logged in over 30 hours.
The hit missions in the game are incredibly fun, if not outlandish at times. For any given hit mission, you are allowed to just march right in, shoot your target and leave, but that will get you considerably less money and respect. Instead, completing optional conditions during the hit allows you to earn massive amounts of money and respect, and these conditions can be anything from killing your target via electrocution, running him over with a car or by first shooting him in the arm, leg and then head (in that order!).
In the Blackhand Edition, not only are there extra hits for you to carry out for people, there are also favors that you can do to earn more "respect," the equivalent of experience points in the game. The favors, like the hit missions, are where the game gets creative. Often utilizing many of the "Godfather" characters, you are asked to do anything from destroying Fredo's car that has been seized by the police (and, naturally, has a body in the trunk) to outrunning the cops in a painfully slow truck containing rather damning evidence against Clemenza.
That being said, it's especially enjoyable to see how your character has been worked into the canon of "The Godfather" while still remaining faithful to the characters and events of the film. (For those who have somehow never seen the movie, skip the rest of this paragraph.) The shadowy figure in the back of the car that whacks Paulie? That's you. Michael needs a gun planted in the restaurant where he's meeting with Solozzo? No problem, your man is on the job. And you know the incredible baptism scene near the end of the film? Yeah, you help carry out all those hits. The game is amazing in that basically, you get to play through one of the greatest films of all time from a never-before-seen perspective.
Besides not getting carried away by creating some ridiculous story line to work in your character...it's not like you play the Don's brother who is somehow miraculously never seen in the film...the creators of the game worked as hard as they could to make this a true "Godfather" experience. The character models for the more prominent characters are excellently rendered...especially by Wii standards...and many of the original actors from the film lent their voices to the game. James Caan, Robert Duvall, and others provided voiceovers (and those who didn't got excellent imitators in their place), and clips of Marlon Brando's voice were even worked into some of the cutscenes. Many of these cutscenes are scenes taken directly from the movie and played out verbatim (while looking and sounding wonderful) as, for instance, your character waits just out of sight in the next room. Being a fan of the movie, it was just so cool to have a cutscene start and see my character listening in on a conversation, only to realize that it's a scene straight from the film.
As excellent as the game's presentation is, the most important element...gameplay, obviously...has a few flaws that detract from the experience. Probably one of the worst parts of the game is the cover system; after playing games like "Rainbow Six: Vegas" where the cover system is immaculate, it's pretty disappointing to come to a game like this where it is so poorly executed. To take cover, you're supposed to run up to any wall and hit a button, at which point your character will automatically do so. First off, this is not always the case, as it sometimes does not register. Should you successfully "take cover," however, there is still a good chance that your player will either be facing the wrong way (he'll take cover and look to his right when his enemies are around the corner to his left) or he will not be fully protected by the wall. It's incredibly frustrating to take cover in the middle of a firefight, only to still have your shoulder and face blown to bits as your character is still sticking out from behind the wall.
An equally problematic system in the game is the lock-on system. Basically, if you want to have any hope of hitting your opponents with your shots, you need to lock on first in order to do so. There is a free-aim option in which you can aim with the Wii remote, but given its over-sensitivity and the fact that the camera moves with the reticle, you'll probably just make yourself dizzy rather than shoot your enemies. It's fine, then, that when not in free-aim mode you must use the lock-on, but the issue is that the system is not very intuitive when it comes to picking your target. Supposedly, you can aim the Wii remote in the general direction of the enemy you wish to lock onto or cycle through your targets by releasing the lock-on button and hitting it again, but the reality of the situation is that you will continue to lock onto the same target over and over again. This is especially irritating if there is an enemy right next to you who is filling you up with lead, yet, despite your efforts, you are only locking on to some enemy who is way off in the distance taking potshots at you.
The controls aren't a total bust. The aiming with the Wii remote is at its best when it is only partially involved in the process; if you wish, once you are locked on, you can then select different parts of the body by aiming the remote in the general direction of said area. This is especially useful when trying to achieve certain effects during special missions, like disarming your enemy or bringing him to his knees (which are done by shooting the arm or leg, respectively). The integration of the Wii's motion controls into the game are also very well done; to slam a person against a wall, you just put the Wii remote and Nunchuk up in front of you and push forward. A similar (and a little more disturbing) gesture with the Wii remote is when garroting an opponent with a wire, you just sneak up behind them, and then squeeze the remote and Nunchuck as if strangling your enemy with the wire that connects the two controllers. Rest assured, there are plenty other different uses of the motion controls, each as fun and well-executed as the last.
The RPG-esque elements of the game add a great deal of depth to the experience. The aforementioned gaining of "respect" eventually leads to leveling up, at which point you can upgrade your statistics. Here, you can improve anything from your healing abilities, your skills with firearms, your fitness and agility, and you can even learn special abilities like car bombing or pistol whipping. Additional customization comes in the form of your ability to upgrade your weapons...of which there is a fantastic selection...as well as the option to modify your personal appearance by changing your hair, facial hair, clothing and accessories at any point during the game.
Typically, video games that are movie tie-ins are absolute garbage, so I can recognize why some may be a bit hesitant to give "The Godfather: Blackhand Edition" a shot, especially since the source material is so prestigious and therefore stands to be completely bastardized. I cannot stress enough, though, that in this case, EA really took its time and created a masterpiece that does justice to the film. The story is obviously engrossing, the presentation of and loyalty to the Godfather universe is great and the gameplay, while flawed in parts, offers plenty of freedom and room to explore. It's also worth noting that this particular edition for the Wii (as opposed to the original version on Xbox or the "Don's Edition" on PS3) offers the best extra material in the form of near-solid motion controls and extra missions. You saw this line coming from a mile away, but I'm here to tell all you gamers: This is an offer you can't refuse.
Score: 8.9/10
Grant Hatchimonji
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition
At first glance, turning "The Godfather" into a video game just seems like a suicide mission for the game's developers; with something that great, the odds are good that the video game is going to pale in comparison. But in the end, Electronic Arts, the developers of "The Godfather: Blackhand Edition" for the Wii, created something that pays its respects to the film in the best way possible.
While the events of the movie unfold over the course of the game, they do so at whatever pace you want. "The Godfather" is ultimately a sandbox game where you're free to roam and do whatever you'd like, rather than being forced through a story or campaign at a set pace. The lack of pressure to continuously keep the narrative moving is incredibly refreshing, as you are instructed to just contact someone from the Corleone family (typically Peter Clemenza or Tom Hagen) when you want to take on your next major mission. Until then, you are free to roam about New York (and a little bit of New Jersey) to extort businesses, destroy compounds of enemy families, upgrade your weapons, carry out hit missions, and much more. Naturally, this greatly expands the game's value; by the time I finally beat the story...after which you can continue to play until you own everything, at which point you are declared the "Don of NYC...I had logged in over 30 hours.
The hit missions in the game are incredibly fun, if not outlandish at times. For any given hit mission, you are allowed to just march right in, shoot your target and leave, but that will get you considerably less money and respect. Instead, completing optional conditions during the hit allows you to earn massive amounts of money and respect, and these conditions can be anything from killing your target via electrocution, running him over with a car or by first shooting him in the arm, leg and then head (in that order!).
In the Blackhand Edition, not only are there extra hits for you to carry out for people, there are also favors that you can do to earn more "respect," the equivalent of experience points in the game. The favors, like the hit missions, are where the game gets creative. Often utilizing many of the "Godfather" characters, you are asked to do anything from destroying Fredo's car that has been seized by the police (and, naturally, has a body in the trunk) to outrunning the cops in a painfully slow truck containing rather damning evidence against Clemenza.
That being said, it's especially enjoyable to see how your character has been worked into the canon of "The Godfather" while still remaining faithful to the characters and events of the film. (For those who have somehow never seen the movie, skip the rest of this paragraph.) The shadowy figure in the back of the car that whacks Paulie? That's you. Michael needs a gun planted in the restaurant where he's meeting with Solozzo? No problem, your man is on the job. And you know the incredible baptism scene near the end of the film? Yeah, you help carry out all those hits. The game is amazing in that basically, you get to play through one of the greatest films of all time from a never-before-seen perspective.
Besides not getting carried away by creating some ridiculous story line to work in your character...it's not like you play the Don's brother who is somehow miraculously never seen in the film...the creators of the game worked as hard as they could to make this a true "Godfather" experience. The character models for the more prominent characters are excellently rendered...especially by Wii standards...and many of the original actors from the film lent their voices to the game. James Caan, Robert Duvall, and others provided voiceovers (and those who didn't got excellent imitators in their place), and clips of Marlon Brando's voice were even worked into some of the cutscenes. Many of these cutscenes are scenes taken directly from the movie and played out verbatim (while looking and sounding wonderful) as, for instance, your character waits just out of sight in the next room. Being a fan of the movie, it was just so cool to have a cutscene start and see my character listening in on a conversation, only to realize that it's a scene straight from the film.
As excellent as the game's presentation is, the most important element...gameplay, obviously...has a few flaws that detract from the experience. Probably one of the worst parts of the game is the cover system; after playing games like "Rainbow Six: Vegas" where the cover system is immaculate, it's pretty disappointing to come to a game like this where it is so poorly executed. To take cover, you're supposed to run up to any wall and hit a button, at which point your character will automatically do so. First off, this is not always the case, as it sometimes does not register. Should you successfully "take cover," however, there is still a good chance that your player will either be facing the wrong way (he'll take cover and look to his right when his enemies are around the corner to his left) or he will not be fully protected by the wall. It's incredibly frustrating to take cover in the middle of a firefight, only to still have your shoulder and face blown to bits as your character is still sticking out from behind the wall.
An equally problematic system in the game is the lock-on system. Basically, if you want to have any hope of hitting your opponents with your shots, you need to lock on first in order to do so. There is a free-aim option in which you can aim with the Wii remote, but given its over-sensitivity and the fact that the camera moves with the reticle, you'll probably just make yourself dizzy rather than shoot your enemies. It's fine, then, that when not in free-aim mode you must use the lock-on, but the issue is that the system is not very intuitive when it comes to picking your target. Supposedly, you can aim the Wii remote in the general direction of the enemy you wish to lock onto or cycle through your targets by releasing the lock-on button and hitting it again, but the reality of the situation is that you will continue to lock onto the same target over and over again. This is especially irritating if there is an enemy right next to you who is filling you up with lead, yet, despite your efforts, you are only locking on to some enemy who is way off in the distance taking potshots at you.
The controls aren't a total bust. The aiming with the Wii remote is at its best when it is only partially involved in the process; if you wish, once you are locked on, you can then select different parts of the body by aiming the remote in the general direction of said area. This is especially useful when trying to achieve certain effects during special missions, like disarming your enemy or bringing him to his knees (which are done by shooting the arm or leg, respectively). The integration of the Wii's motion controls into the game are also very well done; to slam a person against a wall, you just put the Wii remote and Nunchuk up in front of you and push forward. A similar (and a little more disturbing) gesture with the Wii remote is when garroting an opponent with a wire, you just sneak up behind them, and then squeeze the remote and Nunchuck as if strangling your enemy with the wire that connects the two controllers. Rest assured, there are plenty other different uses of the motion controls, each as fun and well-executed as the last.
The RPG-esque elements of the game add a great deal of depth to the experience. The aforementioned gaining of "respect" eventually leads to leveling up, at which point you can upgrade your statistics. Here, you can improve anything from your healing abilities, your skills with firearms, your fitness and agility, and you can even learn special abilities like car bombing or pistol whipping. Additional customization comes in the form of your ability to upgrade your weapons...of which there is a fantastic selection...as well as the option to modify your personal appearance by changing your hair, facial hair, clothing and accessories at any point during the game.
Typically, video games that are movie tie-ins are absolute garbage, so I can recognize why some may be a bit hesitant to give "The Godfather: Blackhand Edition" a shot, especially since the source material is so prestigious and therefore stands to be completely bastardized. I cannot stress enough, though, that in this case, EA really took its time and created a masterpiece that does justice to the film. The story is obviously engrossing, the presentation of and loyalty to the Godfather universe is great and the gameplay, while flawed in parts, offers plenty of freedom and room to explore. It's also worth noting that this particular edition for the Wii (as opposed to the original version on Xbox or the "Don's Edition" on PS3) offers the best extra material in the form of near-solid motion controls and extra missions. You saw this line coming from a mile away, but I'm here to tell all you gamers: This is an offer you can't refuse.
Score: 8.9/10
