When I saw this game advertised I had to have it. I am a huge fan of all three films, the music and the novels. The way the game is presented, the packaging, the marketing and the hype point to this being the game we Godfather fans have been waiting for, but for me at least this was not the case.
From the outset the game reminds the player of Grand Theft Auto III and later GTA titles. This would not be a bad thing, as they are some of the best selling games of all time, what is a bad thing is that the graphics and the movement (on the PS2 at least) feel more like GTA III than the year old San Andreas.
The story that runs through the game starts well with reenactments of the movie and big star voices matched to well rendered characters. The player missions do not fail to entertain, but if you fail them a few times the game fails to entice you to try again and again in the way that GTA does. The most boring part of the game is the neighbourhood consolidation missions. These are highly repetitive and time consuming.
The controls of the game are also a let down to any fan of the GTA franchise. It would seem that in a move to distance this game from GTA the new 'blackhand' control setup has been created. Trying to learn this new setup after years of GTA play left me frustrated playing the early stages of the game. Worse than this, however, is the driving model. The cars are mindlessly unrealistic in their reaction to the controls and driving in a straight line is as much a challenge as knocking over a tailors. (More likely to accidentally knock it over in a car) Fans of the Coppola and Rota expecting great use of 'that' music will also be disappointed. Yes the themes are used but only when driving, and mixed with what sounds like dodgy 80s synth.
All in all I'd recommend fans of the Godfather to play The Godfather soundtrack whilst playing Mafia to avoid disappointment.
