Godfather The Game (360, Xbox, PS2; $59.99, $39.99; Rated M for Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language; godfatherthegame.com)
Saint’s Row (360; $59.99; Rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol; saintsrow.com)
The unbelievable success of the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise opened the floodgates to an entirely new genre of open-ended exploration that’s become known as “sandbox gaming.” There have been many “me too” titles that imitate the “go anywhere, do anything” dynamics established by the GTA series, but none follow as closely to the source material as EA’s “Godfather The Game” and THQ’s “Saint’s Row”- both games who’s mechanics are similar enough to be almost interchangeable, but with content that couldn’t polarize audiences more.
Electronic Arts has the money to afford the Puzo/Coppolla epic and adapt a methodical, drama-heavy trilogy into an action-packed gaming experience. “The Godfather” universe is more of the focus than necessarily “The Godfather” storyline. Yes Don Vito, Sonny, Fredo, and Michael are featured characters in the game (all with likenesses and voices in tact, with the exception of Al Pacino, who would not sign his likeness or voice away to Michael Corleone- probably because he just got done signing them away for Vivendi Universal’s “Scarface” title), but the events of “The Godfather” films provide more of a backdrop for the player’s progression through the game than the actual game itself.
As a young boy left orphan from the results of family aggression against the Corleone’s, players begin the game working as an outsider to The Family. Through a series of events, one of most important being escorting Don Corleone’s ambulance to the hospital after an attempted assassination in Little Italy, players will be accepted as an associate to the Corleone’s. By protecting Family territories, overtaking rival family rackets, and completing missions made famous by “The Godfather” films, players gain more respect- eventually working up the food chain to becoming a Don themselves.
With “Saint’s Row,” THQ had the ingenuity to figure out everything the “GTA” series failed at, while keeping intact the core elements that made the franchise amazingly successful and ends up producing a mechanically superior version to the “GTA” franchise. “Row,” too, features a nameless young thug who is taken in by The Third Street Saint’s- a street gang with a heart of gold, that recognizes the only way to pacify the increasing gang violence, is by killing all other rival gang members and overtaking the city of StillWater. Players will hijack, 187, maim, and torch rival territories in order to lay claim and provide and “armed peace” to
Because gameplay in both “Godfather” and “Saint’s” is strikingly similar to the each other, the kind we’ve come to expect in these types of games, the escort and assassination missions tend to blend together- regardless of whether its in Depression-era New York, or a modern ghettopolis. “Godfather” distinguishes itself a bit by implementing a fairly tight melee system for roughing up store owners who don’t want to pay protection money. By grabbing an enemy by the collar, players can use the right analog thumbstick to throw, slap, gut punch, or even smash the enemy’s head through a cash register. The mechanic of using the right analog stick to do the dirty hand-to-hand stuff is borrowed from EA’s “Fight Night” boxing series which also ties all the hand-to-hand boxing to the right analog stick. Aspects like this are great if only to show the level of synergy that’s flowing throughout a mega-corporation like Electronic Arts, and even greater when the system works well as it does here.
Applying pressure to store owners for protection money serves a second purpose unique to “Godfather”- namely, exposing rackets. Sometimes a store owner only wants to make sure that you won’t take a bat to his merchandise, other times, he’ll give you the keys to the back room where all sorts of debauchery and illegality takes place. Sometimes, the back-room racket can be bought out with relative ease, increasing the player’s monthly take-home (with percentage paid to the Corleone’s) and respect. Other times, it will require some blood and bullets as the store is a front for a rival family’s racket. Killing all of the rival family associates and clearing the racket means that the Corleone’s extend their territory, and add to your character’s individual power.
“Saint’s Row,” on the other hand, doesn’t add anything new to the narrative mix. Its missions are similar to what we’ve seen before, and there is nothing as unique as the racket takeover. The closest innovation in “Row’s” single-player campaign is the ability to recruit fellow gang members to travel with you on missions. However, this “innovation” was already a part of “GTA: San Andreas” released a few years ago. I suppose another innovation is the ability to be hit by oncoming traffic in order to generate insurance fraud cash- it’s humorous, but it doesn’t make the game.
What “Row” does offer to the GTA crowd is a vast improvement on the weapon selection and targeting. It’s a simple thing, but “Row’s” weapons are easily selectable by holding down a shift button on the controller, and selecting the weapon with the analog stick. Even better, traditional third-person shooter controls allow for the player to easily move in one direction and shoot in another direction. Why, oh why have the makers of the GTA franchise never figured this out? Running and gunning has always been one of the most frustrating aspects of a GTA title. “Row” handles it with ease and intuitiveness and trumps “Godfather’s” inconsistent and ham-fisted click-to-target scheme which inevitably pulls fire away from the one guy you want to shoot at.
Character creation and customization are equally impressive in both titles. “Godfather’s” “Mob Face” mechanism allows players to detail their character to the minutest blemish or scar, and the Xbox 360 version allows for persistent bruising and scars- adding to the war-torn look of your mobster. “Saint’s Row” also allows for a surprising amount of detail in face customization, and even out does “Godfather” in overall body composition and clothing details. Want a gangsta bigger than Biggie? You got it. Personally, I went for an avatar that looked like a heroin-addicted Vanilla Ice circa the “Mind Blowin’” album. And whereas “Godfather” limits your gender to male and ethnicities to Italian or Irish, “Row” invites the hoochie-mammas and homeboys of all colors.
Comparing both titles on the next-gen platform, they are equally graphically impressive, with “Row” nudging ahead in terms of textures and environmental effects like weather and day-changes. “Godfather” gets the nod in cinematics because, while both titles are equally executed, seeing a motion-captured version of James Cann as an irate Sonny makes my heart smile. Sound-wise, “Saint’s” again wins out due to the extensive licensed soundtrack, which “Godfather” does not have. Plus, in terms of extras- “Row” has a robust, though lag-filled and ultimately uninspired, online multiplayer and takes the GTA experience a step further by implementing online co-operative missions over Xbox Live. “Godfather,” on the other hand, allows players to upload their progress, respect, and earnings to Xbox Live- which no one cares about anyways.
So why, then, is “Saint’s Row,” while narrowly beating out “Godfather” in terms of technical skill, so much lower rated?
Its content is abhorrent.
Yes, both games feature and reward a criminal lifestyle. Both titles allow for wide freedom to act as a “respectable” criminal, or to incur the wrath of the police due to rampant lawlessness and the taking of innocent lives. Though “Godfather” doesn’t carry the same tally or creativeness of profanities that “Saint’s” does, it still has coarse language. And “Godfather’s” special button and rewards for executions makes some of the action a little more gruesome. So though “Godfather” is no angel, there’s something less offensive about it as compared to “Saint’s.”
Clearly, neither game is acceptable for a young audience. But whereas “Godfather” feels more like a “romantification” of the 30’s mob culture and, therefore, a fictional work, “Saint’s Row” is nothing but a glorification of the modern urban gang culture- one that is far easier to access than that of the Mafia. Any kid can put down the controller, walk to the wrong neighborhood, and live the lifestyle depicted in “Saint’s Row;” the same can’t be said for “The Godfather” and therein lies the distinction. The crime genre is barely palatable as it is; at least “The Godfather” gives it some class. Games like “Saint’s Row” or its most direct influence “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” do nothing but cash in the ethnic and socioeconomic groups they exploit, while eroding the efforts of others to show the toxicity of the modern gang lifestyle.
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