From IGN.com Godfather Goes GTA
EA promises free roaming world and human drama for movie to game conversion.
By Anoop Gantayat
January 14, 2005 - Electronic Arts' surprising plans to convert The Godfather to the videogame scene have remained shrouded in secrecy since the project's March unveiling, and even then not much was said. But someone managed to get the big scoop on the game. In what's sure to be a silly bit of game trivia years from now (or maybe one of the first signs of EA's intents on the Japanese market), Japan's most popular game magazine, Weekly Famitsu, got the first word on what we can expect of the title. We, of course, picked up the magazine and put our Japanese dictionaries through the paces to bring you a full report.
EA has entrusted senior producer Hunter Smith with this license -- sure to be one of the years most scrutinized movie to game conversions. Smith has worked on the 007 and Road Rash franchises, and in comments with the magazine, he promises a movie-to-game conversion of a flavor completely different from existing movie-to-game products (many of which are released by EA in the first place).
Smith isn't going at the game alone, of course. Currently, 120 people are working on the title, with EA expecting that number to rise to 200 leading up to the final development stages. Definitely the makings of a big game.
IGN hinted in initial reports that EA may take a GTA-style open world approach with The Godfather, and sure enough, that's turned out to be the case. The game takes place in New York's Little Italy during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Players move freely through a virtual re-creation of the movie's setting, taking on missions as they see fit.
As an original member of the Corleone family, your goal is to earn respect by successfully clearing missions, rising up in the family ranks. Your character is your own creation. Although EA hasn't revealed specifics, it's promising some revolutionary new way of character creation -- something that hasn't been been done before. We'll leave the speculation to you for now.
Missions feature the expected gun-and-car sequences. Gun sequences, where you exchange fire with enemies, can get tricky, as enemies will take hostages to keep you from shooting them. Get close to enemies, and you can strike them with your gun and even make use of sticks, in case bullets aren't your thing. Car chase scenes allow you to drive around Little Italy, firing as you navigate the roads.
EA had wanted to make an open-ended game for some time, Smith reveals. He acknowledges that open-ended crime-themed games are having big success in the market right now, but points out that they lack story. "We wanted to make a title with the same [style of] open world, but with a strong background, one where you build human relationships while creating your own story," comments Smith, revealing how Godfather may stand out from the current pack headed up by Grand Theft Auto.
Smith and his team plan to take the virtual world design one step further by adding memory to the world. The characters who appear in the game all have a past and a daily routine. As an example of character pasts, Smith explains: "If you fight with a character who appears during the game, the next time you meet that character, he'll act in accordance with the memory [of the fight]."
Although the game's story is your own creation, there will be plenty of ties to the movie. Smith cites the famous scene of Corleone getting shot. This scene will appear in the game somewhere. "Actually," Smith adds, "there will be a mission in the game which is related to this scene. It's constructed so that players will appear in the scene and will feel as if they are alive within it."
Just as it is for the movies, story is shaping up to be one of the main points of The Godfather on the small screen. EA states that "human drama" will be the main part of the game. Don't worry -- this doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be waiting through endless movies. Cinematic sequences allow for player interaction, examples involving your coercing people for information and bribing the law. Plus, once the human drama has come to an end, you'll take full control for action sequences without any pauses for loading. The transition to action-based gameplay is meant to be seamless.
The Godfather is still only 15% complete (even the name isn't finalized), but EA hopes to show more of it in February. That gives us plenty of time to watch the DVD box set to make sure we're fully familiar with the world we'll be playing in for EA's latest movie to game conversion.
