The Godfather II

[Alex Riviello]

Hands-on Impressions- http://chud.com/articles/articles/17...YES/Page1.html

I think I was the only Italian from NYC at the event, which made me chuckle. But I can see getting some fun out of this game, something I never would have considered after hating the first one so bad. Getting through the first area of the game probably took around 5-6 hours, and my gameplay session ended with me getting kicked off the system just as I had flown to Florida to meet with Roth.

[blunderbuss]

I expected to hate the first game, and sure, I still cringe at its use of the film's name, but I actually ended up having a lot of fun with it. It's good to hear how this one is turning out so far.

[Alex Riviello]

I don't know, it was just far too repetitive for me to like. Although I hear that the Wii and PS3 versions were much improved (I played it when it first came out on the original Xbox). I still find it strange it's all about taking over other family's businesses.

The multiplayer does do some interesting things to keep you playing, though. They're aware of the mistakes GTA did and are trying to fix them. We'll see if it happens- I'll have an article up Friday about all the modes.

[Jcassady]

Was there a cutscene with Fredo's wife screaming "never marry a wop"? If not, then this game is a travesty.

[Alex Riviello]

hahaha you should have yelled that at my wedding.

But no, there's nothing of the opening scenes in the game. It all starts in Cuba, but it bounces around a bit on the timeline.

[History Buff]

As long as I get to shoot a guy in the head while he's saying the "Hail Mary" I'm in.

[Ravi]

I kinda wish they included the Young Vito portion. It would have been fun to sneak up on Don Fanucci with the silencer.

Wonder how they'll do a videogame for GF III? They most likely won't, but it's interesting to wonder about.

[SAIRUS]

It'll be a game where you get to shoot Sofia Coopola as much as you want. To break up random bits, you help Michael take his blood pressure/stroke meds.

[History Buff]

And you also get to sneak around the Vatican as you try to kill a high ranking member of the Pope's inner circle.

[mongycore]

Technically this game stumbles all over itself. Actually, this game is the kind of drunk that leaves its kids to freeze in the cold while it staggers back to the comfy confines of a warm house on a cold prairie night.

Go hyperbole.

I know some folk who insist this game was built off the modified Dead Space engine. I'm not seeing it. This is a last gen game all the way with barely any high res polish of any kind applied.

In the Godfather universe:

- Traffic on the freeway falls through some kind of black hole getting stuck in road geometry. Saints Row 1 clipping issues.

- Hyman Roth sounds like the G-Man from Half-Life.

- Quest progression stoppers will occur if you do the sandbox playstyle too liberally. I ignored several requests to meet with a story advancing npc to take over the cities I was in, as well as gaining wealth and favors for my crew. When I do return to NPC's for the cutscene the title behaved as if I hadn't initialized the cut scene and my npc buddies kept pestering me to go see important guy x or take out enemy don y. Saving and loading mostly fixed it.

- Favors becomes broken if you do it too much. I had a tree full of made men I was gathering intel on. There were several points where doing favors for random folk didn't reward me with the intel I was working towards obtaining. Saving and reloading didn't fix this. I had to storm the enemy's gates with the made men waiting there to defend it.

- Driving cars will get stuck in the sides of buildings when hit or against stairs.

- No explanation of the cop evasion system when beginning gameplay. I'd do crimes but had no concept of how to shake the cops. Only after unlocking the 1st safe house did this sort of make sense.

- Bulletproof vests double as Carproof vests. It was hilarious the first time seeing enemy ai be unfazed at being hit by a high speed car. Then it just became sad that this kind of shit wasn't caught during development.

- A lot of the gameplay is filler and major takeover missions can be done by your upgraded ai teammates. No risk at all of sending folk to take over the entire city for you while you just walk the earth.

- Every male character is fugly. Add to that weird edge enhancement halo-ing around their hair.

- Gamma levels are broken in the game. They'll be either too dark or too bright.

- Game is pretty much just filler in between cut scenes or key moments from the movie. Very short experience.

Though since most folk aren't even talking about this, it's kind of a good thing nobody else wasted any rental or purchase money on this mess.

[Dan]

Not that i'd expect much deviation, but which format?

[Farsight]

Yikes.

I need to go adjust my Gamefly queue!

[mongycore]

Originally Posted by Bees?!

Not that i'd expect much deviation, but which format?

I played on the xbox.

[Mr.Crowley]

You gotta give them credit for the fantastic rendition of New York, it's almost like being there.