[Shard]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=153953

Silver haired Electronic Arts boss John Riccitiello has been chattering away about the company's plans for a sequel to The Godfather game. Speaking in an investors' meeting he said, "You can play this game both at the street level, much like a GTA-style game, but you can also play it top-down, almost like you're in an RTS, controlling the strategy of the boroughs you can see what's going on." It's not the first we've heard of a Godfather II game. Executive producer David DeMartini said second and third instalments were in the works back in February 2006 - before the first game had even hit the shops. Looks like he's moved on though, as Riccitiello said EA's Hunter Smith is taking the exec producer role for Godfather II. Smith's previous credits include work on two of EA's James Bond titles. Riccitiello didn't offer any hints as to which platforms Godfather II is in development for, but it's worth remembering its predecessor was released for everything except DS. As for when it's out - "It's a game that I think we'll be talking a lot about this fall," said Riccitiello. That'd be just before Christmas, then. Makes sense.

[alistairw]

I'm really curious to see how this goes. The first one wasn't too bad, considering, and the second movie is one of my favourite films of all time. It's just not chronologically coherent, which could pose problems for the game.

[RiotPelaaja]

They were supposed to show this already in late April/Early May when EA had an showcase event in London, but they pulled it at the last minute. It's definitely in development.

[DrXym]

I wonder if it can be even more disrespectful of its movie / book origins than the first game.

[BigBlackGamer]

Godfather on 360/PS3 was DRASTICALLY under-rated. REALLY fuckin fun game.

[_Alkaline_]

Wii version is where its at. It was definitely the best version of the original Godfather.

Can't wait to see what they do with the controls this time.

[Illuminati]

Godfather on 360/PS3 was DRASTICALLY under-rated. REALLY fuckin fun game.

How could it be underrated when we made fun of it so much in photoshop threads during it's development?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83892
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82877

[E-phonk]

Wii version is where its at. It was definitely the best version of the original Godfather.

Indeed, one of the first titles that showed how much fun "traditional" games can be when they include motion control.

[fresquito]

I liked the controls of the first game on the Wii. If they can offer some decent presentation and some good missions this time around, I'll be all over it.

In fact, only good thing about the first was the Wii controls. The rest was quite mediocre, but the controls were so much fun.

[BigBlackGamer]

How could it be underrated when we made fun of it so much in photoshop threads during it's development? http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83892 http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82877

yea especially this classic.

[Bluecondor]

I really feel like the best elements of this game got lost in all of the fixation over how this was an abomination of the movie, etc. I agree that the cinematics in the game paled in comparison to the film, but, to be perfectly honest, you could have refused to watch every single cutscene in this game and still had a blast.

This game did an excellent job at creating five rival families that were tied to neighborhoods in NYC (Tattaglias in Brooklyn, Corleones in Little Italy, Cuneos in Hell's Kitchen, Stracci in New Jersey and Barzinis in Midtown). The Tattaglias were the weakest opponents, but you fought them mostly when your stats were low. The Cuneos were tough because they were cold-blooded and went for the kill in a few shots. The Stracci fought with a similar style as the Tattaglias, but they had better stats and better weapons by the time you got to them. Finally, the Barzinis were the toughest in the game. I really got into this game, because they felt real. I think I hated the Tattaglias the most because they were there when you were struggling to learn all of the controls and got a lot of cheap kills. It was really satisfying when you took their compound.

The other thing the game did that was really immersive was the logical and deep economy behind the game. You had all of the various stores and bars, and all of the backroom organized crime activities going on in back. Then, you could go after each family's hubs and their warehouse and finally their compound. I absolutely loved this part of the game. It wasn't just about shooting down your enemies. You could take down their businesses and eventually take over their entire operations and neighborhood.

In fact, the PSP version added some depth to this, in that you could move your crew around on the game map and pay attention to how much revenue you were generating from particular businesses.

So - after reading what Riccatello says about the basics of the game, this is a day one purchase for me: "You can play this game both at the street level, much like a GTA-style game, but you can also play it top-down, almost like you're in an RTS, controlling the strategy of the boroughs you can see what's going on."

I think this is what differentiates this game in the true crime/open world genre. You can run around and do missions and side missions like you do in GTA or Saints Row, but at the same time, you can step away and really focus on strategy and building a criminal empire.

I just hope that this game doesn't fall into the common trap that nearly every game in this genre has shown - namely that there is very little to do (or even to buy) once you become the dominant force in the neighborhood. I would love to see the other families form alliances against you (this was in the PSP version) to try and make a serious comeback.

[straydog1980]

this is day 1 for me. I put 150 combined hours in the ps2 and wii versions.

[Egg Shen]

I wonder if it can be even more disrespectful of its movie / book origins than the first game.

I'm still trying to block the images of Fredo going shotgun happy on the way to the hospital, but I had a lot of fun with it. Robbing banks never really got too old, but I hope it doesn't go the GTA4 route and not give the player stuff to spend it on. I'd like to see them allow players to own the pad on Lake Tahoe, buy up casinos, blackmail Senators, and run Havana before the revolution.

[NarcissisticJay]

this is day 1 for me. I put 150 combined hours in the ps2 and wii versions.

:o