'Godfather II' is as much a disappointment as the original game was a pleasant surprise.
Now with 'Godfather II', however, those same words can't be said. The problem with this game is that it sticks to the formula of the first game way to closely, looks like crap, is repetitious, buggy, and they take more than a few liberties with the storyline that I didn't like. Is this game as bad as many gaming websites will have you believe? Not really. It's more of a rental for people who really liked the first game.
With all of it's faults, 'Godfather II' does manage to be fun at times. The addition of the 'Don's View' strategic element is a nice change from the first game. You can now bring three mobsters with you and upgrade them as you earn money. And even though it gets old after doing it a hundred times, it's still fun to intimidate an owner into giving you the keys to his business......at first.
And that is my main rub with this game. It's fun to play when you first begin. Then like a lot of these 'sandbox' games, repetition seems to set in and you realize you are doing the same thing over and over. Unlike in games like 'GTA IV', you are doing this in ugly & boring cities without a great storyline backing it. You may be shocked to find that, despite being based on a masterpiece of a movie, this game doesn't have a great story to go along with it.
First off, the Robert DeNiro side of 'Godfather II' is taken out completely. I can understand this, of course, but it would have been interesting if they could have found some way to fit it in there. Another problem is the fact that there just aren't as many recognizable faces this time around. Al Pacino still doesn't lend his likeness or voice here and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Robert Duvall reprises his role as Tom Hagen, which was nice. And the late John Cazale's likeness is here for 'Fredo'. Other than that, in my opinion, it was a disappointment. They couldn't have fit Talia Shire or Diane Keaton into the story (they play key parts in the movie)? And don't even get me started on how they handled the killing of Fredo.
'Godfather II' is a disappointment. By the time you leave New York and head to Florida, the feeling of repetition had already kicked in. The game is FAR behind the times as far as visuals go. And not being able to get Pacino's voice or likeness in the game is a big mistake. The character of Michale Corleone is a much bigger part of the second film than the first, so it's much more noticeable here. The liberties taken with the story went too far, in my opinion, and are not representative of how good the movie was. This game is a rental, at best, for fans of the first game.