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Sunday Comics: Dead Island One year ago today I started officially blogging for Kotaku. What better way to celebrate this anniversary than by ticking off a list of journalists that appear in video games?
Electronic Arts today contacted game writers around the country asking them to return the brass knuckles they were sent as part of a promotion for Godfather II.
Electronic Arts plans to start selling downloadable packs featuring new weapons, maps and a character for Godfather II two weeks after the game releases.
Godfather II, originally set to hit stores around the same time as Killzone 2, Halo Wars and Street Fighter IV, is now headed for stores on April 7 in North America and and April 10 in Europe.
My first impressions of Godfather II were tinged with the heady optimism that comes from starting a new job at Kotaku and with the forbearance I have for games in pre-alpha.
Here’s a new trailer for Godfather II. There’s head-punching, there’s old-timey music, there’s still that lingering sense that EA don’t really know what to do with this franchise. They’ve got until February 2009 to work it out, since that’s when it’s due on 360, PS3 and PC.
Even though it got very repetitive and ultimately fell short of my expectations, and others’, I still played The Godfather: The Game to 100 percent completion. After seeing this and reading A.J.’s impressions, I’m willing to give EA another shot with The Godfather II, seen here in the debut trailer that released earlier today. The intimidation animations and gunfire executions look like reprises from the first title, but you get a look at the “Don’s View” map, which takes the game’s flow away from a roam-the-streets looking-for-trouble model and into a more subtle, decision-making context. Plus, I love period pieces. And Fredo’s moustache.
As we mentioned earlier this week, the wraps have been taken off of Godfather II, in fact we’ll be playing a bit of it next week.
Today, though, Electronic Arts officially unveiled the game which will go beyond the second film’s story and have gamers take on the world of organised crime in 1960′s Florida, Cuba and New York. After taking over New York in the first game, players will work to expand their organisation to other cities through extortion, crime rings and wars with other crime families.
As Luke mentioned, the game will include an strategy-heavy Don’s View:
To help players manage their empire, The Godfather II introduces “The Don’s View” – an innovative strategy meta-game that allows players to oversee the entire world as they grow the family business. Using the Don’s View, players will be able to build, defend and expand their crime rings, while keeping an eye on the movements and plans of the rival families. Players will also learn to master the business of organised crime by building a family of Made Men, hiring crew, handing out orders, and promoting their best men up the ranks.
The lengthy and detailed release is on the jump.
Godfather was…OK. Not awful, but then, didn’t really live up to the name, either. So it’s thoroughly unsurprising to hear that, for the second game, they’re ditching the GTA-style gameplay in favour of something a little more…unique. The latest issue of the UK’s Xbox World 360 mag says the game’s a little more like “Scarface meets Total War”. Confused? Explanation follows: while the action/GTA bits remain, they’re only part of the action. There’s also a “Don’s View” element to the game, much like the world map for the Total War games, where you can inspect and tweak stuff on a more strategic level (this time across three cities: Miami, Havana & New York). Could get messy, but then, anyone who’s played X-Com may also find something to look forward to if EA can successfully manage the split between the planning and action sections.
We’ll be checking out the game first-hand next week, so stay tuned for our impressions.
