All your usual mob-controlled vices apply. The goal is to build your empire for the Corleone family by taking over every racket controlled by the other families (by killing everyone in sight, of course). From there you embark on many of the late 1950s events that took place in Godfather II, in a sort of “Forrest Gump” bystander way. Some effort is made to offer a whole layer of strategy and planning in this game (as opposed to only running about and pummeling people in creative ways), but it falls short in every possible way in its execution.Players assume the role of Dominic, a previously unheard of underboss who Michael Corleone promotes to “Don” of New York at the outset. Godfather II, naturally, falls into the latter category and from the moment “Start” is pressed it feels like the easy way out was taken in every aspect of the title's creation.

Some have tried to create their own worlds and cities (Saints Row, True Crime) and some decided to take the easy way out and license well-known film icons (Scarface, The Godfather). It was such a ridiculous (but deserving) success that all the “me toos” ran scrambling to find their own criminal avatars to unleash. There is a perfectly valid reason why the Godfather and Godfather II films should and will be preserved forever, and an equally valid reason why the Godfather and Godfather II video games will spend the majority of their existence in the bargain bin.Grand Theft Auto III is to blame. This latest example, The Godfather II from Electronic Arts, is yet another attempt to cash in on a proven work of art by tarnishing its image with an unnecessary extension of its characters, themes and storyline. Our music has become banal and corporate driven, our television has become insultingly moronic, our film industry has taken to cannibalizing the talents of eras gone by with inane remakes and our youngest, most interactive form of creative expression, video games, are well on their way to permanently inheriting the bad habits of their parents. When this era is looked upon in hindsight some years down the road, it is surely to be seen as a period of virtual cultural bankruptcy. The entertainment industry can be its own worst enemy.

Godfather 2 pc reviews