''The Godfather II'' is a 2009

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

. It was released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

, and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

in April. Based on the 1974 film ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'', it is the sequel to the 2006 game ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'', which was based on the 1972 film of the same name. Like the first game, ''The Godfather II'' follows a non-canon character, Dominic, who is initially the protégé and

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

of the original game's protagonist, Aldo Trapani. After Aldo is killed, Dominic is placed in charge of the

Corleone family The Corleone family are fictional characters in both the novels and the films created by Mario Puzo, first appearing in his 1969 novel, ''The Godfather''. They are an organized crime family originating from the Sicilian town of Corleone, and ba ...

's operations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and tasked with expanding the Corleone empire by taking out their rivals. Unlike the first game, which was primarily set in New York, the story also spans into

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. Like its predecessor, ''The Godfather II'' tells an original story, which intersects with the narrative of the film on multiple occasions. However, the game changes the film's plot more so than the first game did: none of the material concerning the rise of

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfathe ...

is present in the game, and the events of the film are presented in a different order. Additionally, whereas in the first game, most of Aldo's actions took the form of events which happened off-screen in the first film, in ''The Godfather II'', Dominic has a more central role, appearing in numerous scenes in which he was not present in the film; for example, he is with

Frank Pentangeli Frank Pentangeli is a fictional character from the 1974 film ''The Godfather Part II'', portrayed by Michael V. Gazzo. Gazzo was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance, which he lost to Robert De Niro, his co-star from ...

during his attempted assassination, he accompanies

Tom Hagen Thomas Hagen is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and Francis Ford Coppola's films ''The Godfather'' (1972) and ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974). He is portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He also appears ...

to see Pat Geary after the prostitute is found dead, and he kills

Hyman Roth Hyman Roth (born Hyman Suchowsky) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1974 film '' The Godfather Part II''. He is also a minor character in the 2004 novel ''The Godfather Returns''. Roth is a Jewish mobster, investor and a bu ...

and Fredo Corleone. Unlike the first game, which featured many of the film's actors reprising their roles, only

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

returned as Tom Hagen, while the rest of the cast comprises entirely new actors. ''The Godfather II'' received mixed reviews across all platforms. Common criticisms included graphical glitches, technical bugs, poor AI, and an unimaginative open world

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

. Many critics also felt the game deviated too much from both the plot and tone of the film, and that it was too easy and too short. It was a commercial failure, selling less than 400,000 units worldwide across all platforms. Its poor critical and commercial performance led EA to scrap plans for an adaptation of the third ''Godfather'' film.

Gameplay

''The Godfather II'' is an

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

and

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

played from a

third-person perspective Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, in which the player controls Dominic, an original character created for the game, who becomes the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

of the

, and

Michael Corleone Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather''. In the three ''Godfather'' films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominate ...

. The basic

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pl ...

and

game mechanics In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sh ...

fall into the subgenre of ''Grand Theft Auto'' clones, as the player can travel throughout the game world freely, commandeer vehicles, do whatever they want in terms of attacking and/or killing innocent civilians, and progress through the storyline at their own leisure, spending as much time traversing the city as they wish.

Combat

Much of the game is based around third-person shooting, with the player able to wield a

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

, a magnum, a tommy gun, a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- pr ...

, and a

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a port ...

, as well as projectiles such as

molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

s and

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and patented in 1867. It rapidl ...

. The game features both a lock-on system and a manual aiming system. In the manual system, the player has complete freedom to aim wherever they wish. In the lock-on system, the player can lock onto a target, but still has a certain degree of freedom to aim manually; the targeting reticule can be moved around the locked on target, allowing the player to target specific areas. If the reticule turns red, the player has found a weak point. All enemies have four weak points - their two

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

s and their two

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

s. If the player shoots one of their knees, the enemy will no longer be able to run, but will continue to shoot back. If the player hits a shoulder, the enemy won't be able to fire back or fight. The other mode of combat in the game is

melee combat A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...

, which is very similar to the "BlackHand" system used in the first game. Once the player has locked onto an NPC, either hostile or non-hostile, they can use the right

analog stick An analog stick (or analogue stick in British English), sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller (often a game controller) that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joy ...

or the shoulder buttons to engage in melee combat. The system allows for light attacks, heavy attacks, powered attacks, and directional attacks. It also allows the player to swing the opponent around, drag them, strangle them, lift them to their feet if they fall to their knees, slam them against walls, smash their head against counters, throw them over ledges and out windows, and perform execution maneuvers when the opponent is suitably weakened. Players can also wield numerous melee weapons, such as

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

s, tire irons, police batons, and snooker cues.

Extortion and family

A major part of ''The Godfather II''s gameplay is

extorting Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...

businesses. When the player is attempting to intimidate a business owner into paying

protection money A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from vi ...

, a meter appears on screen with two red bars. To get the owner to agree to pay, the player must intimidate them until the meter fills up to the first bar. After this point, the more intimidation the player can achieve, the more money the owner will pay out. However, if the meter passes the second red bar, the owner will begin to fight back and will refuse to pay anything. Every business owner has a weak point, something they particularly fear, and if the player finds it, the amount of money paid out will rise faster than the meter fills, allowing the player to extort more money before the meter reaches the second red bar. Intimidation methods include beating the owner up, throwing them around, smashing their shop, hanging them off ledges, attacking customers, or pointing firearms at them. A new element of gameplay in ''The Godfather II'' is "Crime Rings". Every business is part of a larger multi-business crime ring, and once the player has taken over every business in a given crime ring, they receive a gameplay bonus. For example, taking over every business in a

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

smuggling ring will give all members of the player's family

bulletproof vest A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. Th ...

s, taking over all businesses in a drug ring will double the player's income from each individual extorted business, taking over all businesses in a

chop shop A chop shop is a business, often mimicking a body shop, that illicitly disassembles stolen motor vehicles and sells their parts. Chop shops are often linked to car-theft rings as part of a broader organized crime enterprise. In the United St ...

ring will give the player access to armored vehicles, etc. However, these bonuses are also available to any rival family who controls the crime ring, until the player takes over any single business within the ring, then the bonus disappears. For either the player or a rival family to receive the crime ring bonus, they must control every business in the crime ring, but to lose the bonus, they need lose only one business. To ensure the player does not lose extorted businesses, they must assign guards. Every business the player has extorted is open to attack from rival families, and if the business is unguarded, it will be lost. If a rival family successfully takes back a business, they will break the crime ring, and the player will lose their bonus. Ultimately, the player must tackle the rival family's strongest holdout - their compound. Once the compound is destroyed, that family has been defeated. To destroy a compound, the player must first unlock it by taking over all of the family's businesses. They must then fight their way inside and plant a bomb. Each compound is heavily guarded by opposing family members. Another new gameplay aspect in ''The Godfather II'' is the squad mechanic, whereby the player can directly command a group of

made men In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...

. Each made man has one or more special skills; "

Arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

ist" (can set fire to various locations), "

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a bu ...

s" (can rig bombs on cars and buildings), "Bruiser" (can smash certain locked doors and perform stealth kills on enemies), "

Safecracker Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or the key. Physical methods Different procedures may be used to crack a safe, depending on its construction. Different procedures are required to open different safes ...

" (can open safes and certain locked doors), "Engineer" (can cut through fences and deactivate communications in enemy businesses, meaning they cannot call for backup) and "Medic" (can revive Dominic and other made men if their

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

is reduced to zero during combat). When a made man is hired, they start at the lowest rank;

soldato A soldato or soldier is the first official level of both the American Mafia and the Sicilian Mafia in the formal Mafia hierarchy or cadre. It is also commonly used as a rank in other Italian criminal organizations, such as the 'Ndrangheta and C ...

. A total of four soldato can be hired, with the player able to promote two to the rank of capo, thus leaving room to hire two more soldato. When a made man is promoted to capo, they are granted an additional special skill, and become more powerful. The player can also promote one capo to the rank of underboss, giving him another special skill and further enhancing his strength. Although the player can have a total of seven made-men working for him, only three can be active in his crew at any one time. The inactive men can be sent to guard businesses or attack rival businesses. To manage their crime rings, and get an overview of their empire, players have access to a semi-interactive map called the "Don's View." Presented in a 3D perspective, with a rotatable/zoomable isometric three-quarter top-down view, the Don's View allows players to examine rival businesses to see how many guards are present, select the number of guards to place at their own businesses, send family members to bomb or try to take over a rival business, set

waypoint A waypoint is an intermediate point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point or point at which course is changed, the first use of the term tracing to 1880. In modern terms, it most often refers to coordinates which specify one's posi ...

s, organize their own family, manage their finances, upgrade Dominic's skills, promote and fire made men, and examine collectibles.

Heat and favors

As in the first game, the player must be aware of "heat" at all times. Shooting rival family members in public, killing innocent people, or attacking police officers will all raise heat levels. If the level gets too high, police will fire upon the player on sight. To avoid this, the player can bribe police to ignore them for a while. The game also introduces witnesses. When the player commits a crime, a yellow circle appears on the mini-map. This is the crime scene, and police will soon arrive to investigate. On occasion, a member of the public will be willing to identify the player to the police. If this happens when the player is still within the yellow circle, the police will attack. To avoid this, the player can either intimidate or bribe witnesses into not talking before the police arrive on the scene. Another new aspect of ''The Godfather II'' is the favor system. Players can do favors for ordinary people on the street either for money or for information on how to

assassinate Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

rival family made men. Like the Corleone family, all of the other families have made men. If the player simply shoots a made man, he will be hospitalized, not killed. To permanently eliminate a made man, the player must meet his "kill condition"; that is, he must be killed in a specific way, such as being thrown from the roof of a building, hit by a car or killed using a certain execution maneuver. The only way the player can learn these kill conditions, and the location of each made man, is by doing favors for people on the street. The player can also do favors for various influential people, such as police chiefs, politicians,

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agents,

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s and DAs. Doing favors for these people grants the player bonuses which they can cash in at any time. These bonuses include instantly reducing heat to zero, instantly healing hospitalized made men, putting enemy made men in prison for a time, and instantly rebuilding bombed businesses.

Multiplayer

online multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

, players do not control Dominic, but one of his made men from single-player mode. Multiplayer can support up to sixteen players in eight-versus-eight man teams. However, the abilities of the made man are important to the type of game mode, although there is also a standard

deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters ...

mode. Other modes are "Firestarter" (which is designed with the arsonist in mind, where players gain bonuses by starting fires), "Safecracker" (designed for safecrackers, where players must open and then defend a safe from the other team), and "Demo Assault" (where demolition experts must destroy pre-designated targets in their opponents base). Additionally, each time the player uses one of their skills, they gain in-game cash. If a player uses their made man's skill enough times in a game, they gain honors, which can be used to unlock new weapons in both multiplayer and single-player modes. All cash acquired in multiplayer is also carried over to single-player mode.

Plot

In 1958, three years after the events of the first game, elderly mobster

( Danny Jacobs) calls a meeting with the

Corleone Corleone (; scn, Cunigghiuni or ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily. Several Mafia bosses have come from Corleone, including Tommy Gagliano, Gaetano Reina, Jack ...

, Granados, Mangano, and Almeida families in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

to discuss their future

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

n business prospects under the cooperative government of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

. Roth announces his intentions to have his businesses divided between the four families once he retires. However, the guests become caught in the ongoing

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

, and Corleone

Aldo Trapani ''The Godfather'' is a 2006 open world action-adventure video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. It was originally released in March 2006 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and the original Xbox. It was la ...

( Rick Pasqualone) is killed during the chaos.

( Carlos Ferro), his brother

Fredo Fredo is a masculine given name, and diminutive of Alfredo or Federico, which may refer to: People * Getúlio Fredo (born 1954), Brazilian football manager * Fredo Santana (1990–2018), stage name of American rapper Derrick Coleman (born 1990) ...

(

John Mariano John Mariano (born August 5, 1960) is an American actor who has worked in film, television, animation and nightclubs. He is known for playing tough guys with a comic edge. His ability of physical comedy has been compared to Jerry Lewis and Buster ...

), and Trapani's second-in-command, Dominic ( Chris Cox), manage to escape aboard a private plane, and Michael appoints Dominic as his new underboss, placing him in charge of the family's businesses in

. Six weeks later, Dominic is tasked with dealing with two ex-Corleone

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a '' made member'' of an Italian crime family who he ...

s, Carmine (Joe Paulino) and Tony Rosato (Peter Hulne), who have formed their own family and are dealing drugs.

(Gavin Hammon) wants them dead, but Michael suggests sending them a message by taking over their

protection racket A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

s and killing their men. Soon enough, Carmine offers to meet Dominic and Frank to make peace, only to try to have them killed. An assassin tells Frank that "Michael Corleone says hello" and shoots him, while Dominic escapes and confronts Michael, who denies being behind the hit. Shortly thereafter, Dominic kills Carmine and takes over his remaining businesses. Later, Dominic is invited to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

by Roth, and is met by Fredo, who has been sent by Michael to manage their hotels here. Roth and Fredo ask for Dominic's help in dealing with Don Rico Granados ( Vic Polizos), who has begun fighting Roth over various properties, and Tony Rosato, who has relocated his empire to Florida. After killing Tony's men and taking over his businesses in Florida, Dominic returns to New York to kill Tony himself at his compound. Shortly thereafter, Michael tells Dominic that a

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

committee is building a case against the Corleones and has acquired a key witness - Frank, who survived the assassination attempt and believes Michael betrayed him. He then appoints

(

), the former Corleone

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel '' The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a ...

and Michael's lawyer, as Dominic's new consigliere to assist him with his operations. Tom enlists Dominic's help in framing Senator Pat Geary (

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly (born August 6, 1969) is an American voice actor, comedian and singer. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series, '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several ...

) for the murder of a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

, and then offering to get rid of the corpse in exchange for his friendship to the Corleones. Geary agrees, and reveals that the Mangano family are planning to start operating in

. Rather than go to war with them, Dominic, at Michael's advice, strikes a partnership with the Manganos. During this time, he also finishes off the Grandanos, bombing their compound and killing Rico. After Dominic and Fredo are almost killed in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

, the latter blames the Manganos and convinces Dominic to exact revenge by taking over one of their warehouses. Outraged, Don Samuele Mangano (

Ralph Peduto Ralph Peduto (March 9, 1942 – May 12, 2014) was an American actor, playwright, writer and director. Peduto's film roles included ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' in 1993, '' The Rock'' in 1996, and ''Patch Adams'' in 1998, while his television credits inclu ...

) declares war against Dominic's organization. Asking Roth for advice, he and his associate,

agent Henry Mitchell (Peter Hulne), tell Dominic that all their problems will be solved if

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

is killed and Batista is reinstated as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. Dominic travels to Cuba to assassinate Castro, but is stopped by Don Esteban Almeida ( Sasha Roiz), who knew he was coming. Dominic manages to escape Cuba, but as his plane leaves, Roth arrives and ensures Almeida the assassination attempt will not interrupt their plans. Back in New York, Michael demands to know why Dominic and Fredo didn't turn to him after the Manganos tried to have them killed. Fredo reveals Roth was behind everything, hoping to align with Batista and Almeida after Castro was killed. Fed up of being ridiculed and ignored, Fredo agreed to help Roth, who had promised him his own family. Furious, Michael disowns Fredo. Meanwhile, Michael is worried about Frank's testimony, and has his brother, Vincenzo (

), brought over from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, hoping to shame Frank into not testifying. Roth has Vincenzo kidnapped, but Dominic rescues him in time for Frank's testimony. Frank doesn't testify against Michael, and Geary dismisses the hearing. After the hearing, Michael orders Dominic to kill the Corleones' remaining enemies: Roth, Mitchell, the Almeidas and the Manganos. Dominic successfully eliminates the two families and their heads, kills Mitchell in Cuba, and assassinates Roth, who was

extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

from Cuba on corruption charges, at

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most c ...

. Returning to Michael and Tom, they congratulate Dominic, telling him the war is over and that, from now on, he will be known as Dominic Corleone. The game ends with Dominic killing Fredo on a fishing boat.

Development

The development of the sequel was unofficially revealed on May 17, 2007 when Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst Todd Greenwald sent out a note to investors recapping a recent visit he had paid to EA Redwood Shores. In the note, he spoke mainly about '' The Simpsons Game'', but also mentioned a sequel to ''

'' was in the very early stages of development. Greenwald also stated the open world

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software ...

used in the first ''Godfather'' game was also being used in ''The Simpsons Game'', ''The Godfather'' sequel, and three other games; "the open-world engine was built from the ground up for ''The Godfather'', and is now being used by five different franchises, including ''The Simpsons''. ''The Godfather 2'' is also in development currently, though timing is unknown". In July, at

' annual

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...

s meeting, a shareholder asked Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, about the company's attitude to M-rated titles, to which Gibeau replied "The appeal of those types of games is growing as the demographics start to open up for that older demographic. We make products like ''Godfather 2'', ''

Army of Two ''Army of Two'' is a third-person shooter video game series developed by EA Montreal. The first game in the series, ''Army of Two'', was released on March 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Focusing on cooperative strategies, ...

'', ''

Crysis ''Crysis'' is a first-person shooter video game series created by Crytek. The series revolves around a group of military protagonists with " nanosuits", technologically advanced suits of armor that give them enhanced physical strength, speed, ...

'' -- a lot of products that appeal to that older customer." Nothing more was heard about the game until June 2008, when

John Riccitiello John Riccitiello () is an American business executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of Unity Technologies. Previously, he served as CEO, chief operating officer and president of Electronic Arts, and co-founded private equity firm Elevat ...

, CEO of Electronic Arts, commented at an investors meeting, "you can play 'Godfather II''both at the street level, much like a '' GTA''-style game, but you can also play it top-down, almost like you're in an

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

, controlling the strategy of the boroughs so you can see what's going on." On August 7, '' Xbox World 360'' ran a story featuring information on the as yet still officially unannounced title. According to the article, the game would be "'' Scarface'' meets ''

Total War Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-com ...

''", and would feature an open world environment combined with RPG and RTS elements. The article revealed the game would take place in

and

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, and would once again feature extortion of business owners as a central

element. It also revealed information about the crew mechanic, character classes, crime ring bonuses, and the basics of the favor system. In a press release on August 8, EA officially announced the game, which would be released for

and

, and was slated for a February 2009 release. In the press release, EA stated Speaking of "Don's View", executive producer Hunter Smith stated EA first showed the game on August 14, in a non-playable

beta build A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impr ...

of the Xbox 360 version. They revealed their main design strategy had been "Act like a mobster, think like a Don;" they wanted to enhance the features from the first game, such as extortion methods and shooting, but also include an element whereby the player would be able to control their entire family on a larger scale. They also revealed

was reprising the role of

from the films and the first game, but, as in the first game,

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...

would not be appearing in voice or likeness in the role of

. A major concern for the developers was the behavior of the other families. Whereas in ''Godfather'', the other families were relatively inactive, and simply waited for the player to attack them, in ''Godfather II'', they are more proactive and will attack the player, and each other, on a regular basis. In the first game, once a player took over a business, they couldn't lose that business. However, in ''Godfather II'', the other families are constantly trying to retake businesses from the player. The developers also explained the crime ring bonus system was built using an "under-the-hood" battle card model, whereby different perks are awarded for different rings owned, which determines how the families act. However, they emphasized the card game element only serves as the basis for the logic system that drives the behavior of the families, it is not actually a part of the game itself. In November, EA showcased a playable

alpha build A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

of the game. Addressing the fact that the game deviated from the film's story more so than the original game, they stated they had taken some "creative liberties" so as to focus more on Dominic's actions. They felt that in the first game, Aldo's story and the "film story" were divorced too much from one another, and they wanted to ensure this didn't happen in the sequel. As a result, the game is not a direct retelling of the film, but instead non-canonically places Dominic directly into scenes in which he was not present in the film. They also consciously gave Fredo a much more central role than he has in the film, having him leave Cuba with Michael rather than staying behind. On January 8, EA announced the game would be released in North America on February 24, and in Europe on February 27. However, on February 3, the release date was pushed back to April. John Riccitiello explained the decision was taken because the original February release date was seen as too cluttered, and EA felt that by pushing it back, ''The Godfather II'' would have better luck in the market. On February 11, new release dates were announced; April 7 in North America and April 10 in Europe. The game went gold on March 9. On March 18, EA announced a new

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

option, which would be available as a free

patch Patch or Patches may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Patch Johnson, a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives'' * Patch (''My Little Pony''), a toy * "Patches" (Dickey Lee song), 1962 * "Patches" (Chairmen of the Board song ...

immediately upon the release of the game. Called "Don Control", it would be a new option available for all pre-existing multiplayer modes. Don Control lets one player from each team view the battle field from above, but not participate directly in the combat. As the Don, this player can drop

s anywhere, directing their teammates to strategic areas. Additionally, specific areas of the map, called "capture nods," can be controlled by either team. Once controlled by a team, the Don can activate the nod to do one of three things; give a health boost, give an armored vest, or explode when members of the enemy team approach. The mode also lets Dons wager in-game cash prior to the commencement of the battle. Dons sets the amount they wish to wager, and how much they will give to their team should they win. However, if a player loses, all cash wagered will be removed from their single-player campaign.

Marketing

In March 2009, EA launched a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

app, called ''The Godfather II: Crime Rings'' to help promote the game. Based on the crime ring mechanic from the game, the app allowed players to create a mobster and take over rackets, building crime rings and eventually becoming Don. Players were randomly placed into one of the five families from the game (Corleone, Rosato, Granados, Mangano and Almeida) upon joining the app. In early April, EA sent out

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckle ...

to game journalists to promote the game. However, brass knuckles are illegal to own in several states. Realizing their mistake, EA requested everyone who received the knuckles return them. On April 9, EA opened a

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

for ''The Godfather II'' on the PlayStation 3's online service PlayStation Home. The space offered users five

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

tables for No Limit

Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fa ...

, with promotional videos and

concept art Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, animation, comic books, or other media before it is put into the final product. Concept art usually refers to world-building artwork used to inspire th ...

available for viewing.

Downloadable content

On April 1, EA revealed details of the first premium DLC, which would be made available on April 23. The "Pentangeli Map Pack" would feature new Cuba and junkyard multiplayer maps. The "Level 4 Weapons Bundle" would feature level four upgrades for all weapons. The "Jack of All Trades Pack" would feature Jimmy Lira, an arsonist/engineer/medic/safecracker equipped with a level two tommy gun. The "Corleone Bundle" would include all of the premium content in one pack. EA shut down their servers for the game on April 13, 2012. Electronic Arts contract for The Godfather license expired in 2014 with all DLC packs being removed from the

PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable conten ...

and

Xbox Games Store Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) is a digital distribution platform used by Microsoft's Xbox Series X, S, Xbox One and Xbox 360 video game consoles. The service allows users to download or purchase video games (including both ...

as well as the games being digitally pulled from sale from Steam.

Reception

''The Godfather II'' received "mixed or average reviews" across all systems; the PC version holds an aggregate score of 63 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, based on twenty-nine reviews; the PlayStation 3 version 67 out of 100, based on fifty-three reviews; the Xbox 360 version 65 out of 100, based on seventy-two reviews. IGN's Jeff Haynes scored the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version 7.7 out of 10, and the PC version 7.6 out of 10, writing "''The Godfather II'' provides a good dose of entertainment, but the lack of difficulty holds the game back from truly becoming a great crime game." Although he praised the mix of action and strategy, he criticized the game as "way too easy" for both action and RTS fans. He also found numerous technical and graphical glitches; "characters will frequently find themselves stuck on objects or within walls ..

shadows A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

which has look horrendous, loads of

texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Surface texture, the texture means smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface characteristics with waves shorter than road roughness * Texture ...

pop-in and rendering issues which stand out like a sore thumb." He concluded "It's still fun and has almost all of the elements of a great game, but until a harder difficulty level is added, ''The Godfather II'' falls a tad short." ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 ...

''s Andrew Reiner scored the PlayStation 3 version 5.5 out of 10, and was critical of the use of the license, especially the frequent use of nudity. He wrote the game "draws more comparisons to the raunchy teen film '' Porky's'' than the masterful gangster story ..The foundation is certainly here for an amusing dating game, but I honestly don't see how this content fits with ''The Godfather''." He too was critical of graphical glitches, citing "two character models occupying the same space," "shooting the bottom crate in a stack, only to see the others float magically in the air," vehicles appearing and disappearing at random, and "bullets blocked by invisible barriers." He praised the strategic elements of the game, but wrote "The problematic gameplay, unfaithful story, and array of graphical glitches create an experience I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy, which is a shame since all of the tasks associated with being the Don of a family are handled nicely."

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

's Justin Calvert scored the game 4.5 out of 10. He too was critical of the license, writing "If ''The Godfather II'' had been a mediocre, mindless action flick, the game of the same name could at least be considered faithful to its source material. As it is, though, Coppola's Mafia-themed masterpiece has been reduced to an uninspired, repetitive open-world action game." He criticized the game as being "released in an unfinished state, riddled with performance issues and bugs," and stated "the problem with almost every aspect of ''The Godfather II'' is simply that it feels unfinished. Dated visuals, voiced lines of dialogue that seemingly play at random and often inappropriate times, dead bodies falling through scenery, a car hovering in the air ..cars and pedestrians that appear and disappear long before they leave your range of vision ..- these are just some of the problems we encountered." He concluded "all you're going to find is repetitive, unsatisfying gameplay in an illogical, inconsistent world."

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the Ga ...

's Allen Rausch scored the game 2 out of 5, calling it "just too bloody easy." He too criticized the design of the gameworld; "''Godfather II'' commits one of the biggest sins of any sandbox-style game: being a boring and ugly sandbox. From an artistic standpoint, New York, Miami and Cuba are ugly, low- poly worlds filled with cookie-cutter design elements ..''The Godfather II''s blah burgs come off looking like test levels the devs put together using an

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

left over from the

PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

era." He concluded by calling the game a missed opportunity; "there's absolutely nothing wrong with the game in concept, and done properly, it would easily have established it as a classic on par with the film on which it's based. Instead we get brilliant concepts ham-handedly executed."

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

's Kristan Reed scored the game 4 out of 10, accusing it of "strangely lacking in soul, and consistently failing to make you care about what you're doing and why." He also found the game too easy; "there's rarely any requirement to play the game skillfully. You just charge in all-guns-blazing, snap between targets with the hugely generous auto-aim facility and blitz one obliging enemy after another. At the core there remains an enjoyably precise combat system, but EA has predictably pandered to the mysterious demands of the audience of players who want games to be played for them and want zero challenge ..the sight of you and your AI buddies charging around getting raked with gunfire and sprinting away unharmed is a pathetic sight, and smacks of game designers not even bothering to try anymore." He concluded "this is a stark return to the EA of old, where a treasured licence is butchered irredeemably. Lacking both a challenge and soul, and failing to even engage on a narrative level, what you're left with is an overly forgiving shooter with weak strategy elements."

Sales and cancelled sequel

The game was a commercial failure. In North America, by the end of April, the Xbox 360 version had sold 155,000 units, and the PlayStation 3 version 91,000. After the poor critical and commercial reception of the game, EA announced they had abandoned plans to adapt the third film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfather 2, The (Video Game) 2009 video games Action-adventure games Cultural depictions of the Mafia Electronic Arts games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Open-world video games Organized crime video games PlayStation 3 games Third-person shooters Video game sequels Video games about the illegal drug trade Video games based on films Video games based on novels Video games based on adaptations Video games scored by Christopher Lennertz Video games set in Cuba Video games set in Florida Video games set in Miami Video games set in New York City Video games set in New York (state) Video games set in the United States Video games set in the 1950s Visceral Games Windows games Xbox 360 games Works based on The Godfather Video games developed in the United States