If you think the idea of putting a movie drama with some action sequences into an action game with some drama sequences is a dumb one, you're not alone. However, EA has managed to make The Godfather (game) something of an homage to The Godfather (movie) with a fairly faithful rendition of the movie's distinctive 40's and '50's gangster atmosphere (albeit the Coles Notes version) by borrowing key characters and events from the film without trying to flat-out mimic the original story line (which is a good thing, because sitting around the dinner table arguing makes for great cinema but bad gameplay).

More impressively, The Godfather features some of the best voice over work this side of March of the Penguins. However, while featuring the superb talents of Caan, Duvall, and Brando (recorded before he died, obviously - but most of it from a superlative mimic at any rate) (oh, and a glaring lack of Pacino), the sequences with voice over work mainly serve as segues and intros for otherwise generic sandbox gameplay - think Grand Theft Auto with cotton balls in your mouth. It stars you as blossoming dirtbag learning the fine art of extortion, barehanded strangulation and the ol' Tommy Gun mow-down as well as specialties like how to slip a horse's head into bed on the sly. In short, you're the guy puts the unrefusablility in the Don's offers.

Funny how a "murder-simulator" like this gets away with it, all thinly veiled in When Puzo Met Coppola-isms and nary a peep from SOAP (Senators On A Platform), but there you go.

Anyway, The Godfather is at its best when it's not trying to be the movie at all. There's an entire economy of respect and favoritism built into the go-anywhere, do-anything option (i.e., you don't have to follow the game's basic plot; you can wander off to see the city and conquer it at your leisure); a deep and intellectual racketeering simulator that just uses The Godfather as a premise to get you started and keep you in the mood. In fact, they might as well have called it "The Second Cousin, Twice Removed with special guest appearance by Marlon Brando's Estate."