Godfather, The

GamePro

Whether through it's trademark music or unique take on the film's plot, The Godfather does something that licensed video games have tried and failed to accomplish in the past - give gamers a good time and an experience worthy of the film it's emulating.

Cheat Code Central

The Godfather is not a perfect game but it's a hell of a lot of fun. There's nothing particularly frustrating about it so the challenges won't be insurmountable to casual gamers. Hardcores can immerse themselves in the mob world and enjoy the game as an interactive movie.

WHAM! Gaming

In many ways, The Godfather is much better than "GTA". The producers have taken the "GTA" gameplay concept as a starting point and then made it their own by surrounding it with a well-established storyline that gives everything purpose and charm.

Gamezilla!

Instead of walking you through a calmly paced, occasionally tense New York from the film, you’ll have all sorts of ways to smash and crash your way through this game.

AceGamez

The actual hand to hand (or baseball bat to hand) combat is excellent too; targeting in the same way, you use both thumbsticks to combat your opponent, one for moving you or your opponent, you can throw or ram your foe into the wall with this stick too - and the other stick is generally for hitting them. Use both together for best results!

Game Over Online

The camera is the root of my problems with the game. Everything else adds up to a fun ride and a nice homage to the film. It isn't perfect, but it is an enjoyable game, and it even pushes the sandbox genre forward a bit by moving the focus away from just mayhem.

DarkStation

EA shatters the curse as The Godfather does the great movie justice, drawing you into the Mafia world and backs it up with solid gameplay and engrossing plot.

GamingTrend

It’s hardly a unique video game, but it is a very fun one and at the end of the day that’s what counts.

Armchair Empire

Yes, it’s a blatant rip-off of Grand Theft Auto. So were a lot of other games – but at least The Godfather is a good rip-off of the genre setter, unlike some embarrassingly awful games (the putrid "Driver 3" and equally dreadful "25 to Life" come to mind).

IC-Games

The game will shock, however it should entertain, and if you don’t take it too seriously it’ll probably end up being one of the better releases this year.

Talk Xbox

The storyline fits in to the movie well, and refrains from changing the plot in any way.

BonusStage

Yes, the game’s main collection of 20-plus story missions last roughly 10 hours, but after that you’ll be spending at least two or three times as many hours striving for 100% game completion and the ultimate ascension to Don of NYC.

PGNx Media

The missions are great, tying in the story great, but the side missions just aren’t that exciting.

GameZone

Not only will you feel like you’re running with the Corleone family but as far as the mobster genre is concerned, it will not fail to reveal a true peek into what it really means to be a gangster.

GameBiz

The game is entertaining and challenging missions, excellent writing, terrific voice acting, and the way it recaptures the feeling of one of the greatest American films of all time.

Xbox Solution

There is a real strategy in playing the game the right way and with every action comes a reaction which is perhaps the best part of the game.

Gamers' Temple

Overall the game does an excellent job of making you feel a part of the timeless Godfather saga. In a world where movie-licensed games are forgettable attempts to cash in on a movie’s fleeting popularity, this is no small accomplishment.

Game Chronicles

There is no denying that EA has made good on the Godfather license and created an inspired game that should give the boys at Rockstar a few good ideas for their next GTA.

Xbox Evolved

The game overall has a sort of gloom to it that you would expect from a game based on mafia families, and while at times the visuals of the current-gen systems can show there age, for a game as big as this, it is quite impressive.

TeamXbox

It’s a ton of fun watching your gangster progress through the ranks. Some of the gameplay mechanics come off better than others but for the most it’s a fun package that stays enjoyable throughout the saga.

Kombo

I’ve come away impressed. It has its flaws: inconsistent AI, lack of fast transit, and lack of in-game character customization, but at the core this is a very good game. The license is used beautifully. I’ll go as far as to say that this is the best implementation of a movie license to date.

Gaming Age

The depth of The Godfather while you rise through the ranks is incredible...What EA did well is incorporating the Godfather story line along with yours, versus having you control one of the main characters. This opens up the gameplay immensely and allows you to unfold the Godfather story at your own pace.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Once you get past the fact that the film's somber gravity will in no way translate to the console, The Godfather: The Game is as good a moral perversion as any.

Xbox World Australia

It's a great game for fans of the films as it represents a high-quality and faithful replication of some defining film moments, as well as for gamers with a craving for violence, extortion and gangster shenanigans.

GameShark

If you have been itching to play a game that lets you delve into the classic gangster life in a GTA playing style, the Godfather is worth checking out, whether you have seen the movie a hundred times or not at all.

XGP Gaming

It’s a game no one who enjoys a good mafia theme should miss. With superb voice acting, a hell of a story and the ability to control an entire city, The Godfather is an experience you shouldn’t at least give a long rental.

Pelit (Finland)

Starts off strong with fun missions that follow the story of the movies nicely. However, towards the end the quality and amount of plot-related missions goes down and the optional missions start to repeat themselves. It is still a fun GTA clone, just not what it could have been. [April 2006]

Official Xbox Magazine UK

As clones go, The Godfather is one of the better ones. It's got a unique atmosphere all of its own, due largely to the quality period setting, and manages to stay faithful to the film while carving out some interesting takes on classic scenes. [April 2006, p.80]

GameSpot

The Godfather is a satisfying, lengthy adventure, and more importantly, it remains faithful to the classic film while managing to create a compelling story of its own.

Games Radar

The action is bloody and satisfying, the story plays out like exceptionally well-written fan-fiction and the spirit of the movie and its characters are intact.

MS Xbox World

Despite the driving, which I couldn’t stand and the odd glitch here and there I found The Godfather to be a compelling and entertaining title. Yes it does look rather dull in places but in general has enough character and polish to keep you hooked.

eToychest

Repetition, weak A.I., and a general unpolished fell keep this title from meeting the lofty goals one might place on a game based on such a great film.

Deeko

Completely ignore every fancy pants gaming site's review, as they will no doubt crap all over the game. This game is fun, well made and fills in some big story gaps from the film. Buy this game, for it truly is an offer you can't refuse.

Worth Playing

The fact of the matter is that Godfather is a good game, but only if you can keep in mind that it's really a game, instead of a well-adapted license. Instead of expecting to play the movie, instead, simply take this as your chance to cause mayhem in the city that the film presents, and let loose your inhibitions.

The New York Times

The game's attempt to create a vast, thriving city is undercut by a lack of variety. The Godfather's New York apparently has only a single architect: when you've seen one nightclub or butcher shop, you know how all the others will look. And while the game focuses heavily on driving, there are only seven models of cars.

G4 TV

The game creates a distinctive, unflattering view of criminal life in the 40’s, and the huge virtual city the Godfather offers is rife with missions and opportunities.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

I welcome the Godfather into the GTA family, though I can't say it'll be running the place anytime soon. [May 2006, p.93]

VGPub

While it’s definitely no San Andreas, The Godfather is easily one of the best mafia related games out there, and perhaps the best sandbox game to hit the market since San Andreas.

IGN

Despite obvious areas in need of improvement, I had a blast playing The Godfather. Taking over businesses and rackets became an obsession. About ruling the other families? The process of taking them over is unique, tough and hugely rewarding.

Ferrago

Fans of The Godfather will be pleased to hear that the game based on the film hasn't trodden down the same path as disasters such as "Enter The Matrix"; but isn't quite up there with consensual videogame classics such as the Nintendo 64's "GoldenEye."

Game Informer

Take 2's under-rated Mafia is still the closest video games have come to capturing an atmosphere similiar to that of this legendary film in a gameplay context. [May 2006, p.99]

Pro-G

It just doesn't have the scope to match Rockstar's efforts though, and the driving sections aren't thrilling enough to get the pulse really racing.

1UP

For any other legacy, this game would be just fine. For the iconic Godfather series, it really could have been something with more of a Brando weight. But even though it's more of a Tony Soprano, The Godfather: The Game still manages to deliver a solid gangster experience.

Yahoo! Games

The game itself is an uneven mishmash of fighting, driving, and shooting. Call it Grand Theft Goodfellas; if someone took Rockstar Games' popular Grand Theft Auto series, moved its setting to New York, and then sent it via the Wayback machine to post-World War II New York, the result would be The Godfather.

PALGN

The individual mechanics come together reasonably well with none being brilliant or outstanding but once you get the way that the game encourages you to play, it works out reasonably well. It’s just too bad that it doesn’t really hit the peaks that you’d expect.

Sydney Morning Herald

Adapting one of Hollywood's masterpieces was brave, but it's a pity the game designers lacked the courage of their convictions, choosing to shoehorn Grand Theft Auto into the mafia setting.

GameSpy

While it features an innovative, easy-to-use melee combat system and some interesting campaigns, it's ultimately hurt by boringly repetitive side missions and some underwhelming environments.

Total Video Games

The emphasis on driving, the lack of scope in the side-quests, and the subsequent compulsion to complete the main mission, are definite weak spots in the game, the result being that players will all to easily get bogged down in the general repetitiveness of the experience.

Game Revolution

The melee fighting and driving are bland, as are the environments, but the story is compelling and the acting is impeccable. For forty dollars it’s a good offer, but not one you can’t refuse.

Official Xbox Magazine

It's all beautifully violent yet terminally one-dimensional once the story wraps. [May 2006, p.73]

Play Magazine

The fighting in all its forms proves to be a sticking point, and Godfather suffers accordingly. [May 2006, p.49]

My Gamer

It is not a game you will blow through in 2 days, but I spent about 7 hours a day on it and beat it in about 6 days.

games(TM)

EA has turned it into a story about gain. Whereas the motive of violence was once to illustrate Michael’s downward spiral, here it is merely a tool with which to boost your bank balance. [May 2006, p.118]

Jolt Online Gaming UK

A huge, lazy and sometimes glitchy disappointment of a game. The character progression really doesn’t provide a strong enough excuse to keep playing after the initial joy of the combat has dissipated, and the number of times you find yourself going through the same old motions during missions smacks of padding of a magnitude normally associated with the corpulent Don.

GamerFeed

But too many things come up short, like the haphazard combat and gun systems and the fact that most of the missions run the same, with the dumbest cops in the world getting outran and you getting the best of goons.

Times Online

Though The Godfather is competent, it is also bland, despite the voices of James Caan and Robert Duvall, and you rarely feel a sense of power.

Eurogamer

A game that offers a decent amount of fun, with great combat, occasionally inspired set-pieces, but sub-par driving and a half-baked story mode with barely enough variety to fill a long evening.

Edge Magazine

For such a costly flagship title to provide neither the promised statement of mainstream grown-up appeal nor even polished, lesser disposable thrills is a landmark failure. [May 2006, p.92]