If curse words could kill, gangsters wouldn't need to get their cords dirty.

"Some wise guy calls himself Dexter - I don't like him boss, I think he's bad news." The Godfather looks at the toothpick chewing mobster, puts both hands on the table and pushes himself off his chair. "I thought I told you not to go, how shall I say, 'interfering' with this new man in town?" The Godfather's eyes meet the unmade man seeking promotion. "What do they call you?" - The unmade man replies "Marti" with little hesitation. "Well, Marti, you've crossed the line." The Godfather puts on his white cotton gloves. "You know what happens to people who cross the line?" He reaches inside his very smart dinner jacket. "They don't live to cross it again, that's what happens." the unmade man will be receiving a punishment far worse than demotion tonight.

Meanwhile, this new 'wise guy' is making quite a name for himself. Freely roaming the authentic Godfather country as I like to call it, or 1940s New York City as you may like to call it, he goes around and extorts many of the businesses dotted around the towns. By extort, I mean force the business owners to pay for protection - and if they don't pay up, they'll be reminded why exactly they need protecting. On this occasion, fancy talk won't earn his wage. The gun comes out, the gun is aimed down, down and the business owner gets scared. He'll pay now, $300 a week, how does that sound? Not even close. The gun makes it way from the genitalia down to his left kneecap and a round is fired. He falls to his knees. Out comes the baseball bat and while the business owner is down, the wise guy smashes a few things in the shop. Windows, tills, he'll pay you $600 a week now. Satisfied? I suppose you could take away the use of his other leg in hope to get $800 a week, but an over pressured business extortion could go wrong. He might turn on you - and if he gets killed in the process, well, there are no weekly payments, are there?

And when the businesses are extorted, the back doors found in those businesses open up. What lies behind these doors is usually something a little more illegal. Casinos, brothels, you name it. If you want a slice of the illegal action, you can go make them an offer they can't refuse. Slip them a grand and this back door business could be yours, giving you a nice steady weekly return. Keep on extorting and buying out businesses and you'll be the richest new guy on the block.

But now you work for the Godfather.

So as well as getting your cut from the people who need protection, you're going to be your new family's bitch. You're going to do their dirty work - and you're going to have a lot of fun doing it too. The story is the best thing this game has to offer; it doesn't ruin the original great Godfather story in the slightest. In fact, it compliments it so well that fans of the film might play this game for the side story alone. The Warriors by Rockstar didn't follow the film's story - neither does The Godfather. Instead, it runs alongside it. You make your own mobster and you're the person on the sidelines who sees certain killings as they happen in the film, who compliments the bigger jobs of the movie, so you'll see the film unfold from the game's perspective, which I feel is very innovative, compelling, and just simply excellent.

The missions themselves are rather engaging and involve setting people up, or driving, or killing, or a combination of the lot. The actual killing is where the fun lies, though. Being able to kneecap people is a feat in itself; I think it a pinnacle point of my combat. The whole gun targeting system couldn't be easier really; you can target and then move a small target within the target (this is how you kneecap people too) similar to the later third person Bond games. The actual hand to hand (or baseball bat to hand) combat is excellent too; targeting in the same way, you use both thumbsticks to combat your opponent, one for moving you or your opponent, you can throw or ram your foe into the wall with this stick too - and the other stick is generally for hitting them. Use both together for best results!

The driving is okay, but the old cars handle a bit like new cars - they turn really fast and don't feel that realistic to drive. I was expecting to jump into a car and have some really crap handling. Would I have complained if my cars handled like the Skoda of today? Maybe - but the rest of the game feels authentic, so why not have a level of authenticity where cars are concerned? The automobiles look old fashioned but they all look the same, if not with a slight colour difference. There aren't many different things to drive in this game really - I suppose there wasn't much choice back in those days however, so this can be forgiven.

Graphically things are pretty good. I can't fault the actual characters, as the Godfather looks like the Godfather, enough said. Some of the objects in the town have the odd rough edge, but on the face of things, this game ticks the right boxes for this genre. Good gun effects, great explosions for TNT and a nice, large, authentically designed free roaming area with loads of back allies and businesses to extort. I'm sure the next generation could do a lot better on the graphical front, but The Godfather excels in gameplay and sound, which makes up for the odd lacklustre texture here and there.

The sound then, which EA seem to get right on EVERY game they make these days, is absolutely smack bang on the ten. The very Italian-American music plays through the entire game, when you accept and complete missions, when you're talking to fellow family members, when you receive objectives, I can't describe the type of music, but I'm sure you know what I mean. The dialogue is fantastic; when the Godfather talks he fills me with both fear and excitement, his voice is golden, his word is golden, he really is the man. Gunfire, the wailing sound of the old fashioned police siren, the screams of innocent citizens, the wise guy talk of opposing gangs, it all comes together nicely in a orchestra of sheer brilliance.

I could talk about The Godfather a lot more. I could tell you about bribing the police, I could reveal more of the story, I could tell you how wonderful all the weapons are and how good it feels to wipe the smile off the opposing family's face when you pump a shotgun into the stomach of one of their members. I could brag about all the businesses I control and how good that feels; I could rub the amount of money I'm earning weekly in your face and tell you about my black market dealings for TNT - and my adventures on how I use my TNT to rob banks. Still, at the end of the day, all these things are best discovered when you play. I can't see many people disliking this classic gangster romp, which delivers the authentic mob feeling we've been after ever since GTA III.

The Godfather reaches inside his secret inside jacket pocket and pulls out his hand shaped as a gun, with his white cotton gloves - he points it at the unmade man, who is now shaking like a bowl of jelly. "Marti…" he uses his thumb to insinuate a pull of a trigger on this handmade gun of his. "I'm just busting your balls!" Marti breathes a sigh of relief. The Godfather cups his hands around Marti's face and kisses him on the forehead. "Now, about that promotion…" - no sooner the Godfather said this, Dexter, the wise guy, emerges from the dark corner of the room and fires three silent rounds into the heart region of this unmade man. "The promotion is going to the 'wise guy'!" A rose is kissed, a rose is thrown and the rose lands on Marti's still and bleeding chest. Welcome to the family business.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).