YamNivek
May 17th, 2007, 12:11 PM
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition
Now this is by no means of the imagination a new game. It was originally released on the PS2, but due to it being so close to the launch of the next generation of consoles, EA (the cash *****s they are) decided to revamp the game and take advantage of the new consoles individualities.
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition has been modified from the original to take advantage of the Wii's unique control system. The story starts with you controlling a member of the Corleone Family in 40's New York. The game has you controlling the character almost instantly and you are pushed into a back street brawl with a rival family. Its a very quick introduction to the range of moves that your character can perfom. Punches are perfomed by punches with the wiimote and nunchuck (right and left hand respectivly) and give a very good feeling of control. Now punches are not exactly replicated as you can understand but in a street brawl, when the fists are flying, whether you aimed for the guys ribs or nose is a bit irrelivant. Locking onto opponents is done with the Z trigger on the nunchuck whille the B button is used to grab the enemy.
This is where the controls get interesting (as you find out and learn in subsequent missions). When grappling an enemy it is possble to to all manor of things. Stand near a wall, grab your enemy and throw your hands towards the wall and your character will smash the fella into the wall. Same as near boxes. Want to headbutt the guy? Just lockon, grab and then pull the controls towards you. Its scary how well the controls fit into this kind of game. I find a little grin creeping onto my face as i pull the cord tighter around the guy ive just crept up ons neck (just dont tell **** Thompson this!).
The hand to hand combat always feels intuitive as when you have locked onto and grabbed the guy your hands assume the position of a grabbing someones by their shirt. This is replicated on screen so it gives a great sense that your actions are actually hurting that guy on screen.
There is the ability to use weapons in the game and for a lot of the time its necessary. Using the lockon is mainly enough but at times you may need to just disarm and not kill the guy. This is where the wiimotes other function comes into play. Using the pointer you can target the hand, shoulder, knee or head of the victim. While this lock on and fire mode isnt completely freehand there is the option (by pressing +) to perform a freehand shot. Although in a manic gunfight, its not very advised. When coupling the lock on shooting with the wall cover (by pressing - when stood near a wall or box) it becomes very handy at shooting around walls and over boxes.
The motion controls (as in some games) does not feel overused and adds a very nice touch and feel to the game. While the voice acting is up there with the best of them the music sometimes lets the whole sound of the game down. If youve already played this game on another system then its maybe worth a rent to see how the controls change how the game is played. If your new to the game then I feel this is a must own.
Gameplay: 85/100 Its your average GTA clone, but the controls give it the added 10 marks.
Graphics: 80/100 Although a port from a last-gen machine, the main charactermodels are excellent, although the NPCs let it down slightly.
Sound: 85/100 The voice acting is among the best, yet the music is somewhat too ambient at times.
Overall: 83/100 If you have played the game before on PS2 then give it a 75. Althought not the best game for storyline on the Wii, the controls do point to a promising future. With hand to hand combat this good this early in the Wii's life, as D'Ream said, things can only get better.
Now this is by no means of the imagination a new game. It was originally released on the PS2, but due to it being so close to the launch of the next generation of consoles, EA (the cash *****s they are) decided to revamp the game and take advantage of the new consoles individualities.
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition has been modified from the original to take advantage of the Wii's unique control system. The story starts with you controlling a member of the Corleone Family in 40's New York. The game has you controlling the character almost instantly and you are pushed into a back street brawl with a rival family. Its a very quick introduction to the range of moves that your character can perfom. Punches are perfomed by punches with the wiimote and nunchuck (right and left hand respectivly) and give a very good feeling of control. Now punches are not exactly replicated as you can understand but in a street brawl, when the fists are flying, whether you aimed for the guys ribs or nose is a bit irrelivant. Locking onto opponents is done with the Z trigger on the nunchuck whille the B button is used to grab the enemy.
This is where the controls get interesting (as you find out and learn in subsequent missions). When grappling an enemy it is possble to to all manor of things. Stand near a wall, grab your enemy and throw your hands towards the wall and your character will smash the fella into the wall. Same as near boxes. Want to headbutt the guy? Just lockon, grab and then pull the controls towards you. Its scary how well the controls fit into this kind of game. I find a little grin creeping onto my face as i pull the cord tighter around the guy ive just crept up ons neck (just dont tell **** Thompson this!).
The hand to hand combat always feels intuitive as when you have locked onto and grabbed the guy your hands assume the position of a grabbing someones by their shirt. This is replicated on screen so it gives a great sense that your actions are actually hurting that guy on screen.
There is the ability to use weapons in the game and for a lot of the time its necessary. Using the lockon is mainly enough but at times you may need to just disarm and not kill the guy. This is where the wiimotes other function comes into play. Using the pointer you can target the hand, shoulder, knee or head of the victim. While this lock on and fire mode isnt completely freehand there is the option (by pressing +) to perform a freehand shot. Although in a manic gunfight, its not very advised. When coupling the lock on shooting with the wall cover (by pressing - when stood near a wall or box) it becomes very handy at shooting around walls and over boxes.
The motion controls (as in some games) does not feel overused and adds a very nice touch and feel to the game. While the voice acting is up there with the best of them the music sometimes lets the whole sound of the game down. If youve already played this game on another system then its maybe worth a rent to see how the controls change how the game is played. If your new to the game then I feel this is a must own.
Gameplay: 85/100 Its your average GTA clone, but the controls give it the added 10 marks.
Graphics: 80/100 Although a port from a last-gen machine, the main charactermodels are excellent, although the NPCs let it down slightly.
Sound: 85/100 The voice acting is among the best, yet the music is somewhat too ambient at times.
Overall: 83/100 If you have played the game before on PS2 then give it a 75. Althought not the best game for storyline on the Wii, the controls do point to a promising future. With hand to hand combat this good this early in the Wii's life, as D'Ream said, things can only get better.