Whether you love or hate Electronic Arts, there is little doubt that of all the multi-million dollar licenses the mammoth company has bought, handling this one is the biggest yet. The Godfather, the grandfather of all Italian mob movies, is a landmark story that resonates through our culture and history. EA's tale, however, isn't just a videogame version of the movie. It's EA's serious attempt at getting into the Grand Theft Auto category, the mother load of console moneymakers, if you will. When you add both of those monumental components together, coupled with EA's own internal pressure, pressure from Wall Street, and -- well, you get the picture. For EA, this is of the utmost importance.
To make both a great videogame version of the movie and to contend with three increasingly deeper, larger, and more sophisticated versions of GTA is not an easy task. Perhaps it's a Herculean task. Most companies that have tried in this area have done OK or done poorly. EA has the hubris, the money, and the people to enter and contend. What's more, EA delayed the game from a fall release to give it extra time and polish. How has it fared?
Re-creating The Godfather in all its cinematic brilliance is an almost impossible job to do in a videogame, and EA's finished product conveys just how vastly different the medium of videogames is from movies. EA did an OK job at capturing the film. The areas where it shines most are in the beginning, when you hear the theme song slowly evolving and you attend the traditional Sicilian wedding. Later on -- because the game's length ranges from 12-50 hours depending on how you play -- The Godfather completely loses the flow of the movie. When special, moving scenes are re-created, the game doesn't deliver the same flair, style or feel from the movie. There are several times when the game tries to re-create pivotal moments in the movie and it fails. The original PC game Mafia does a far superior job of capturing the essense and vibe of The Godfather than EA's The Godfather.
