Product Description

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition expands on the calssic adventure based on the movie. This version also includes material from the original Mario Puzo novel that didn't make it into the movie. Gamers will still join the Corleone family & complete missions alongside memorable characters from the film -- but now they'll have a new set of missions to complete, and the help of some new family members (and a few dirty cops). Exploit loyalties and fear as you rise through the ranks to become Don in 20th century New York City. Carry out orders, earn respect, and make the Big Apple your own. Take down two additional revised compounds of rival Families -- and execute five new contracts

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3247 in Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2007-03-20
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .22 pounds

Features

• Non-linear action-adventure gameplay -- countless choices for solving the family's problems with brutal violence, skillful diplomacy, or a cunning mixture of both
• From mob hits and bank heists to drive-bys and extortion, you'll need a talent for intimidation and negotiation - these are your tickets to the top
• Interact with new characters to get dirt on crooked cops
• Call in larger Corleone Hit Squads when the going gets tough & use them strategically
• Use loyalty and fear to earn respect through interactions with characters in the world

Amazon.com

Join the Family, Earn Respect, Become the Godfather

After a life of small-time crime you’ve been accepted into America’s most powerful criminal organization—the Corleone Family. Now it’s up to you to carry out orders, earn respect, rise through the ranks, and make New York City your own. Choose your path in the world of The Godfather in this game custom-built for next gen systems with new content, improved gameplay, upgraded graphics, motion-sensing controls, and more. Take on a variety of action-packed missions, including mob hits, bank heists, and extortion, plus all-new missions and contract hits, in a fully living New York City. Play your cards right and you could become the next, and most powerful, Don.

• The World of The Godfather, Rebuilt for Next Gen—The authentic The Godfather experience reaches a new level on Nintendo Wii with much more content than the current gen version of the game, including new hits, compounds, families, mini-games, and more.
• The Power of Intimidation—Wield the power of the BlackHand like never before with new motion-sensing controls, including special Wii gesture-based maneuvers for extra damage.
• Do It Your Way—The non-linear action-adventure gameplay features original and film-based missions, including all-new missions.
• Develop Your Character—The new RPG system lets you choose your path as an Enforcer for better fighting skills or an Operator with a gift for extorting and influencing others.
• Respect and Consequences—Use your powers of loyalty and fear to earn respect. How you go about gaining power—through negotiation, intimidation, or a strategic mix of both—affects how others deal with you.
• More Explosive Action—Mafia warfare gets more intense on next gen with new car bombs, hard-hitting Corleone strike teams, and more.

Customer Reviews

... did I just slice that guy in half with my tommy gun?
I have to say it's a bit odd to hear streams of swear words coming from a game built for a Nintendo system.

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition is a visceral experience for gamers, which is definitely brought on by the implementation of motion sensitive controls. Hand-to-hand fighting is done by swinging the Wiimote and Nunchuk, which is done with extreme precision and feels much more controlled than Wii Boxing.

Some of the actions may take awhile to get. Of course, trying to get the character to slam someone's head into a table as opposed to headbutting them really isn't too much to complain about. :)

Parents who are worried about the impressionable young minds of their children will most likely not want their kids playing this game (along with implementing the willful ignorance of the fact that they'll probably just play it over at their friend's house.) Grand Theft Auto was all about sandbox style car thievery with the added incentive of being able to kick people's butts. Blackhand is pretty much about organized crime, the incentive of getting to steal cars, and finding new and inventive ways to kill people... mainly the latter. My girlfriend was watching me play and at one point she just looked on in horror as I bent a guy over and shot him in the head with a shotgun at point blank range (while I, I'm sorry to say, laughed with testosterone filled glee.)
I actually spent a good twenty minutes running in and out of the safehouse, chucking bottles at people.

The game definitely earned it's M rating, but the overall gameplay is exemplary. The controls are fluid and intuitive, with the storyline mixing into the original movie complete with voice work from some of the cast members. It was a bit of a shock when "Michael Corleone" shows up and looks and sounds nothing at all like Al Pacino, which was a bit of a letdown.

The ultimate problem with the game, though, comes down to the graphics. I'm all about the gameplay, but EA really took the low road when they just ported over the PS2 version. They've added a ton of gameplay and, of course, the controls, but there have been plenty of times where I've thought "damn, these graphics are ten years old." Of course, with the realistic controls, maybe the world is better off with obviously shody graphics.

The storyline missions keep the game moving and there are plenty of side missions to keep you occupied. It's advertised as offering around 50 hours of gameplay, so anyone who beat Zelda and is looking for their next big time consuming epic, this would be it.

Violence for fun!
I bought this game because of the reviews on this site (as I usually do). This is a great game that follows in the footsteps of GTA with a solid new interface. Really cool game even if you haven't seen the movies. If you have seen the movies you should be glad to know that in the beginning of the game you start out as Luca Brasi's errand boy!! Running around lower Manhattan hassling shopkeepers and bribing cops. Tons of blood and swearing. Driving the cars is very intuitive as well. Only four stars overall, but that is more for the Nintendo graphic capabilities that remind me of Playstation 2 caliber. Sweet!!! Buy it. Did I mention fast loading times???

Exciting Adventure Flawed Somewhat by Monotony
Begin as a street-level hood and work you way up to Don of New York in The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, a game that blends elements from the Oscar winning film with a parallel story of your character's rise through to the top of the Corleone crime family. Through hits, extortions, and bank heists, earn respect and money while slowly building your power within La Cosa Nostra.

In classic "Zelda" fashion, your character has free reign over the 5 "worlds" of Little Italy, Hell's Kitchen, Midtown, New Jersey and Brooklyn. Each location features hotels, shops, and bars that are controlled by one of the other Five Families. Through intimidation and bribes, you must take control of each of these businesses and eventually lord over the towns. While this process is fun at first, the sheer number of shops becomes a bit overwhelming, and since all businesses need to be knocked-over to win the game, there will be some sessions that feel like "homework" as you do nothing but repeat the extortion process several times on similar businesses.

During these rackets, you occasionally get summoned (often by real characters from the movie like Tom, Tessio or Clemenza) to perform hits or missions. Blackhand's greatest strength is that many of the early missions are iconic scenes from the film. Your character gets to assist placing the horse's head in the bed, performs the "leave the gun, take the cannolis" hit and tags along behind Sonny for his fateful trip to the toll booth. With real life likenesses of Duvall, Brando and Caan and the ever-present familiar Godfather soundtrack, seeing your character woven into some of the most famous moments in cinema history is nothing short of surreal.