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Preview

The Godfather II

Format Xbox 360

Developer EA Games

Publisher EA Games

Genre Action, Shoot 'em Up, Adventure

27-Sep-2008 Just when you think you're out, EA pulls you back in

It isn't easy, this rise to power. You end up with more blood on your hands than your average butcher, while your soul is blotted with more dirt than your local bin man.

Saying that though, there's no clown in town with a bigger smile than you when you control all the organised crime syndicates of three cities.

That's the idea behind The Godfather II, which spins out of events of Coppola's 1974 mafia masterpiece, as you try and wrestle control from four other crime families across Cuba, New York and Miami.

To capture your progression from thug to Don, the game employs two separate viewpoints working in parallel. First is your typical third person vantage point, which lets you walk or drive around artistic interpretations of the three cities and explore their clubs, bars and strip clubs while breaking faces and enforcing the family's reputation.

A press of the button and the camera scales out to an overhead map entitled the "Don's View". The tableau is stylised like a board game, with markers designating different buildings that are colour-coded by family ownership.

From here you can check how many protectors each has, and order your men to attack or defend different buildings as you try and 'capture' a city - one dive at a time.

You can't sit back and order from on high either. You have to get your hands dirty and lead a team into the territory you want to take over. AI is good but not overly smart. They'll follow your lead and thanks to light RPG elements, you can use specific abilities designated to certain members, such as cutting factory fences to sneak into areas with a minimum of fuss.

It's important because ownership of a number of areas grants the victor more firepower and upgraded armour which is calculated in real time. Lose a weapons depot to another family and midway through a firefight you'll lose the shotguns and flak jackets only to see them reappear on your enemies. It might not be realistic, but it keeps the tense tempo going as you struggle for power.

It's an interesting premise and hopefully will keep your mind off the bare basic visuals. Bland environments and near-empty streets really don't do the Xbox 360 justice, but we hope that the game will start granting favours to us closer to its projected 2009 release.

Gillen McAllister