Title The Godfather: Blackhand Edition Date 04.12.2007 Genre Action Platform Wii Developer EA Games Publisher EA Games

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition pretty much embodies the reason I purchased the Wii, not the specific game itself but for the possibilities the unique control system opens up. I'm a huge fan of all things Godfather and have played both the PlayStation 2 and XBox 360 versions of the game. The Wii version, however, is my favorite by far.

GAMEPLAY
In short, The Godfather plays almost exactly like the games in the Grand Theft Auto Series. After you customize your character, you a set down in the middle of New York City in the 1940's. You have the freedom to explore the city, take over business and rackets to increase your income, steal cars, rob banks, collect weapons, complete storyline missions, do favors for people, and pretty much anything else you might want.

What really makes the gameplay of The Godfather: Blackhand Edition shine is the hand to hand combat. You use the Wiimote and Nunchuck to punch, strangle, beat people with baseball bats, and engage in all sorts of other criminal activity. The hand to hand combat is so much fun and the controls so easy to pick up that you will probably find yourself favoring that approach to dispatch your foes over the game's numerous firearms. Guns work with a more traditional control scheme but you can use the Wii-mote for precision aiming.

In addition to the Wii specific controls, other areas of gameplay have been enhanced from older versions. The map has been redesigned and it is much easier to find your way around the city. Gameplay is now much more varied as well. My main complaint with the PlayStation 2 version was that you spent all of your time when not on story missions walking into a place of business and convincing the owner to give you a cut of the profits. That opened a back door where you found a racket to buy out. It got very boring and repetitive, especially since there were only about five different interiors. The Wii version improves upon this considerably, adding new favors, sub-quests to complete for store owners before you gain control of their business, new interiors, and many other little touches to diversify the experience. A few new missions have even been added to the main storyline.

The system of experience gaining and leveling up has been redone as well, giving your character more abilities and the possibility of becoming much stronger than in previous versions. The only complaint I have with the gameplay is related to this, like previous versions of The Godfather, this game is pretty easy.

GRAPHICS
The Godfather is not a bad looking game, though it is not the best looking thing on the Wii. The game does look substantially better than the PS2 version but not as sharp as the Xbox 360 version. They only real problem are some issues with parts of the landscape suddenly popping into view, it looks bad and takes away from the feel of the world. The city is a bit bland overall, though there are some pretty nice areas. You can also explore the whole city with no load times, though you will have to drive across some very long bridges and through some very boring tunnels to get between sections.

SOUND
The sound in the game is wonderful. The voice acting is exceptional and the music, much of it taken from the film, is a pleasure to listen to and fits the mood of the action well. I normally don't pay much attention to game music, so when I do it's usually an indication that something is being done right. Sound effects for punching, shooting, and driving are spot on.

STORY
The game follows the plot of the first Godfather movie, and your character plays an accessory role in it. The stories will, admittedly, appeal much more to fans of The Godfather since much of that fun of it is getting to be a part of the film's memorable events. If you think it would be awesome to be the one to plant the gun in the washroom... then you're in for a great time.

REPLAY VALUE
The replay value isn't great here, but there is just so much to do... businesses to take over, rival families to destroy, hits to carry out, 100 hidden film reels to find, and more... that you will be playing this game for a very long time before you can do everything there is to do.

Overall, The Godfather game really shines on the Wii. Other versions might have better graphics but I would gladly trade that for the fun of beating down rival hoods with my Wii-mote baseball bat, even if I look ridiculous doing it. The Wii functionality takes this from being a good game to a truly great one. If you are a fan of The Godfather films or own a Wii and want a GTA-style action game, then I can't recommend The Godfather: Blackhand Edition enough.

Game Score

B+

Reviewed By: Contributed