PlayStation 3 Game Reviews

By naming their new sandbox game The Godfather 2 EA has opened themselves up to comparisons to the mastery of cinema that was Godfather 2 the movie. This comparison isn’t kind though, not only because of rose colored glasses covering the movie in nostalgia but also the high expectations this lays for anyone who is going to play the game. It should be clarified to anyone who wants to play The Godfather 2 for the Playstation 3 that you will NOT be playing the plot of the award-winning movie. Instead you’ll be playing along in a parallel story as Dominic, a new mob boss. The game occasionally crosses path with the movie but mostly it does it’s own thing. This story unique to The Godfather 2 does add a layer of the unexpected but the story and writing definitely doesn’t live up to the pedigree of The Godfather movies. It’s not awful but it’s not AAA. Otherwise The Godfather 2 is a sandbox game with an interesting game mechanic surrounding something called the Don’s View.

The Don’s View is a mode in The Godfather 2 that allows you to see the world of The Godfather 2 in a more RTS style perspective. In the Don View you get a bird’s eye view of the world and you can see who owns what, if there is security there, how much money it makes, or who is there for you to kill. The mode really gives The Godfather 2 a very strategic vibe as you can bounce around the map balancing all your resources and strikes. What’s also nice is that there are perks for owning all of a specific type of location. For instance, owning all the diamond dealers gives you bulletproof vests. The Don View even transfers over to online as one player can play the Don as their minions fight against each other. Overall the Don View is an interesting idea that makes The Godfather 2 stand out from all the other me too GTA clones.

The Godfather 2 stretches across New York, Cuba, and Florida. These locations are large and do change up the basic look of the game but overall the areas are cookie cutter and only vaguely represent their respective cities. This isn’t like the Playstation 2’s Getaway where London was painstakingly modeled. In addition to this the action in The Godfather 2 is standard. You equip guns and weapons and drive cars throughout the city. However in addition to simply fighting alone you also put together a crew that has various skills you can take advantage of like lock picking or kicking down doors. While your character is the wreaking ball of the team the skills that others bring to the fold can help you out in certain situations. Just don’t expect your partners to be incredibly brilliant because the AI that runs the characters is filled with glitches. The final thing you can do with your crew is execute them if you get tired of them. To deter this though you can pump skill points into them and yourself hopefully making it so you have some sort of attachment to your characters in game.

The last piece of The Godfather 2 is the multiplayer elements present in the game. In the multiplayer you can battle against other people online. Not only can you battle each other but one player on each team can play as the Don using the Don View from the single player game. The player who plays as the Don gets to set waypoints and even bestows perks on other players. While this mode is great the Don view isn’t nearly as polished in a full action mode as it is in the single player. However playing online isn’t just about the Don gameplay. By playing online you can earn money and items that carry over into single player. As a result multiplayer doesn’t seem as hollow as it otherwise would be.

The Godfather 2 is a step in the right direction for The Godfather franchise. Instead of making the game more about violence The Godfather has differentiated itself by creating a more RTS style action game that is different from anything else on the market. Overall the game is good but it’s definitely unpolished with many game glitches and multiplayer not being nearly as fleshed out as it could have been. If EA continues to add new ideas and improve on the quality of the existing ones I think future looks bright for this franchise. I can’t highly recommend this game but if you’re looking for something to shake up the sandbox norm you’ll be happy with The Godfather 2.

Overall: 7.2/10

The  game takes you on a ride of emotions with its plot being twisted an turned just like your plane slicing through the clouds.  You start off as David Crenshaw, and you have just been promoted to squadron leader of the High Altitude Warfare eXperimental squadron (H.A.W.X) .  Just like certain games such as Army of Two or even the reality of our own future, the world David Crenshaw lives in revolves around the growing use and influence of private military corporations (PMC).  Just like every other soldier, David is looking to make some extra cash.  A PMC called Artemis Global Security recruits David and his Squadron to become their elite fighter squadron.  Completing missions that are typical of flying games such as perimeter watch, escort, and bombing missions, you help Artemis secure contracts to become the world's premier PMC.  As you can imagine, securing contracts with so many different governments, there is bound to be a conflict of interest at one point or another.  Artemis is a business, and they do act like one.  I don't want to spoil it all with details, so you are going to have to pick up the game to see what happens in this intriguing storyline.  You probably won't jump up and down for joy or cry yourself to sleep, but the dialogue and storyline do keep you there wanting more.

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is a fan service game. It takes an idea that has so far seemed a fantasy and made it a reality. THQ has taken 38 past wrestling superstars and slammed them all into one package. You’ll be able to play as Hulk Hogan, Andrei the Giant, the Ultimate Fighter, and many more. The idea behind the game is sound however some odd choices with the game’s controls, a deficiency in entertaining online multiplayer, and the lack of legs beyond the two modes in this game tarnish a game that is all about celebrating the star studded past of wrestling.

For starters there are a few modes you can play in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania. You can play a quick play game in Exhibition, you can create a wrestler in the Create mode, or you can try out the history modes. The main meat of this game involves the history modes. In these modes you will be able to rewrite, redefine, and relive classic moments in Wrestlemania history. In the Relive portion of the game you reenact the famous moments, in the rewrite you change the outcome of a match, and in redefine you can change certain aspects of a match to make it more to your liking. In each of these matches you have certain objectives that you must complete to pass the match and move on.

Aside from what I’ve dubbed the history mode the other modes in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania are relatively light. There is a mode called Legend Killer that makes up the rest of the Single Player mode. In it you play in a ladder survival game with a character of your creation. You play against eight foes in a row until you rise to the top of the ladder. Unfortunately you can’t save mid ladder and you only receive a small portion of your health back as you climb. To make matters even more difficult the final Legend Killer has you play 38 wrestlers in a row. That’s a lot of wrestling!

The aspect I most enjoyed about WWE Legends of Wrestlemania was not the actual gameplay, it was the videos that lead up to each match. Before each match there is a very nice montage of actual footage showing you scenes from the fight you are about to fight in. For someone who hasn’t really watched a lot of wrestling this really put each match into context and made the upcoming fight more meaningful and exciting. Without these videos the matches would have been painfully out of context and boring. The nice thing is that a movie theater was included so after you play a match you can rewatch the associate movie whenever you’d like.

Earlier I touched on the controls that run WWE Legends of Wrestlemania. Unlike its wrestling counterpart Smackdown vs Raw 2009, WWE Legends of Wrestlemania’s controls are laughably simple. The controls in Smackdown use a variety of button combinations to create a very deep and enjoyable experience. However in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania you solely use the face buttons when fighting. This makes matches very simple and run together very quickly. To top this off there’s also a large amount of quicktime events and button mashing. This makes WWE Legends of Wrestlemania feel very basic and simplistic. There isn’t any skill required to finish a quicktime event or mash buttons.

There is a nice Character creator mode here in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania but for those who have played Smackdown it will feel very similar. That’s because it’s nearly identical to the other game. This isn’t a bad thing because the mode in Smackdown was very well done and full of options however in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania it almost feels like it was put in simply to take up space. Now I know you need to make a character to play in the Legends Killer ladder but I would have liked to see more matches in the relive and rewrite portions of the game rather than have this mode included. Still though WWE Legends of Wrestlemania’s character creator is still fun and it’s easy to make a freaky looking character.

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is not a terrible game. It’s easily approachable for the casual fan but those looking for a deeper experience will feel short changed. The famous matches are great fun but the challenge of defeating them isn’t there. With a little bit more time spent on the controls I think that this game could have come out a lot better for the involved wrestling fan. However for someone who is just looking for a simplistic and good time WWE Legends of Wrestlemania will bring a smile to their face though it may make the more loyal fan frown in frustration.

Overall: 6/10