The Godfather: The Game [X360]

Old-school thuggery in the third-person perspective meets the next generation of video game consoles when The Godfather comes to Xbox 360 this fall. Fans of the fun-but-flawed Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC open-world crime adventure based on Mario Puzo's book- and film franchise will be glad to learn that Electronic Arts graciously refused to offer them the same exact game reheated and indifferently ported to a brand-new platform.

Simply, this new Godfather addresses its predecessor's flaws. In doing so, it improves upon the original game in some very fundamental ways. It may have taken gangster-sized guts (and, to be blunt, even cojones) for Electronic Arts to take a severe look at its work and critically pick it apart in order to improve it, but thank the game gods that it did. Godfather is now a dramatically improved piece of electronic entertainment.

As an up-and-coming goodfella in the Corleone family, players get to carve out a criminal empire one right hook and one smoking gun at a time. A simulated New York City in the 1940s and '50s can be explored on foot or by car, and players can perform a variety of criminal feats including, but not limited to: robbing banks, extorting money from shopkeepers, whacking enemies, hijacking cars and trucks, blowing up safes, and performing clever gangland-style executions. Earning money and completing missions earns respect, which in turn vaults the player's character up the crime ladder. The goal, of course, is to become the king of New York City.

Immediately, graphical improvements are evident. As the protagonist's dad takes up new employment as a corpse, the game punctuates the scene with wisping flames and a choking wash of smoke particles. There's a noticeable improvement over the last generation here, especially in terms of character faces (which now show the lumps and bruises taken during beatings) and game environments. Other small improvements include the addition of a day and night cycle, dynamic weather, and new shadow effects serving to add an extra bit of gloominess to the city. To Electronic Arts' credit, this is the most noticeable and, simultaneously, the least important of the upgrades.

Combat was the original game's Achilles' Heel. Players were always outnumbered and outgunned, whether they chose to fight hand-to-hand, with melee weapons, or firearms. The game routinely offered four-, five- or six-on-one battles, and trying to take down a host of foes, regardless of the character's abilities and weapons, or the player's skill, was always an exercise in frustration. A terrible gun-aiming system compounded the problem; players had to scroll through available targets by flicking on the controller's right analog stick, but the game had the unfortunate tendency to include noncombatants along with the real threats. At best, this was a deadly chore in the heat of a firefight.