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Sunday Comics: Dead Island I would have found a different PC case mod to kick off our weekly celebration of the art of enclosure craft, but this Godfather-themed masterpiece made me an offer I probably could have refused but chose not to.
If you wonder why Dead Space cribs from other material, consider the fact that they were the sole new IP developed in competition with The Godfather, Lord of the Rings and The Simpsons.
Robert Duvall is a fine actor, and doesn’t need an uncredentialed drama lecture from me or anyone else. But watching him read off his lines in Godfather II … I’m not feeling it.
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.
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.
Anthony Puzo – son of Mario Puzo, author and creator of the Godfather – has begun legal proceedings against Paramount Pictures, accusing them of stiffing him over royalty payments he’s owed in connection with the recent Godfather game. Puzo says that a deal was struck between his father and Paramount in 1992, whereby the now-deceased series creator (and by succession, his kids) would receive a “significant share of the revenue of any audio-visual products” associated with the Godfather, but then accuses Paramount of failing to “pay the Puzo Estate the sums due it in respect of the Godfather game”. I don’t know what Paramount are getting at, but if I was dealing with the family of the guy who created the Godfather, I would not mess with their money, and I would not mess with their respect.
