While the Godfather name may help Godfather II sell a few more copies, it doesn't help the overall player experience. The original installment took criticism for attaching itself too deeply to the movie's plot, resulting in a story that felt too convenient. While The Godfather II features a mostly original plot, placing you as a Don in the Corleone crime family under Michael, it still crosses over into the movie's plot. While not as contrived as the original, the plot still gets too close to the original source material; despite never appearing the movie, you still feel like your character is the sole driving force in the entire epic. Players who aren't familiar with the movie won't mind; those who are will hate it, particularly since the game manages to take a well-developed, deeply engaging story and turn it into another shoot 'em up GTA clone - and not a particularly good one at that.

The Godfather II attempts to present a stylized version of the 50's - 60's and, for the most part, succeeds. Although the gameplay doesn't actively encourage exploration, there's a lot to see in each of the game's three locations. However, the stylized, hemmed-in look gives each area the feeling that you're in a play set rather than a bustling city. The best of the three is a post-revolution Cuba, though it is also one of the areas with the least amount of space to explore. There are nagging issues, like cars that seem too stylized to exist for the time, but generally speaking things look good. Several characters from the movie pop up at various times. Michael still looks more like Gabriel Byrne than Al Pacino, but hey... its licensing, so what are you going to do? The only original actor reprising a role in the game is Robert Duvall, who does a good job as Tom Hagen even if some lines feel a bit phoned in.

Ignoring GTA IV and Saints Row 2, The Godfather II feels like a scaled-back game even when compared to The Godfather. Cool features like the Respect system, where you unlocked character abilities and perks based on your standing in the family, have been watered down. You still earn ranks within the family, but it is controlled by story events rather than your actions. Upon arriving in Miami, I was able to take over most of the businesses in the area before my first meeting with Hyman Roth, yet I had to wait for the story to tell me I had power.

Missions take you between bite-sized versions of New York, Miami and Havana. The smaller versions of each area are understandable; I'd probably find myself complaining if they were too big. However, the smaller sections aren't very interesting and feel too much like levels. The businesses you take over are plotted out so precisely that there's little room for tactical variety. Even if there's a perfectly serviceable door or easily scalable fence, if the area deems that you need to cut the fence to get into the level, you have to cut the fence. This is reasonable when you're trying to storm the area, but when you own it, all logic dictates that all doors should be open to you.

As you increase your power -base, you're able to recruit followers called "Made Men." Similar to goons in the first game, Made Men will follow you around on missions and offer back-up. Each Made Man comes with a skill (or skills) that make missions easier, like safe-cracking or demolitions. Eventually you can promote the Men to Capo and Underboss, giving them more abilities. Alternately, you can also put contracts out on them if you want to replace them. Like all of The Godfather II's systems, the Made Men system leaves much to be desired. It's one of the few game systems that encourages exploration since you can find some really skilled guys out there, but in the end, they're not much more useful than poke' mon. They're handy in a fight, but you really just need them for their ability to knock down walls or fences.

Made Men also play into the online features. You can take a Made Man online and compete in co-op and competitive missions and earn honors. Earn enough honors and your Made Men can increase their rank, allowing them to use more powerful weapons in the single-player campaign.

Though the Respect system has been removed, many of the perks are still around, only watered down. You can still upgrade your character's abilities, though these are purchased rather than earned. It isn't incredibly hard to fully upgrade your character; downed thugs drop fortunes on the ground and once you acquire the services of a good safe-cracker, you can have your way with any safe or bank in the game. Other perks are doled out by corrupt officials. Do a favor for them and they'll help you out when you need it. Need to get the cops off your back or get a business up and running quickly? Call in a favor. The system is neat, but throws off the game balance too much.

The same goes for perks earned for taking over rackets. Once you get the bulletproof vest and incendiary rounds, rivals fall way too quickly. Rivals can earn the same perks, but all it takes is one bombed business to remove them. And, since rivals are less-than-aggressive against your businesses... well, don't count on losing bonuses unless the story determines that you have to.

Don's View is one of the few new ideas The Godfather II brings to the table. As in the first game, a large chunk of your playtime is concentrated on taking over and running rackets. While the original limited gang wars to families blowing up each other's businesses, The Godfather II gives families the ability to re-take stolen businesses. It's a great feature - especially when watching the tutorial video - but in practice, it's a non-feature.

Taking over businesses is far too easy and rival families rarely go on the offensive, instead shrinking their forces back to other properties, awaiting your eventual attack. Certain functions, like the ability to send goons out to take over businesses, are present, but there isn't much of a point when you can easily do it yourself. The only time I actually used the "command" function was to send someone to defend a business that was under attack. However, this was usually done because I hated to see a good Capo go to waste, not because he needed to be there. Most of the time, the defenders I left behind were more than capable of aggressive negotiations with rival families.

Don's View does have its uses, though mainly as a map and way to keep track of your businesses. If you aren't trying to find a specific location or seeing how many businesses you need before you have full control over the racket, there's little incentive to use it. The problem is that so much of The Godfather II is built around Don's View that the rest of the game's faults are magnified. If the management systems worked, The Godfather II would be a unique spin on open-world crime games. But it doesn't, and the game is worse off because of it.

Considering the game's many flaws, I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have fun with the game. Despite everything, I managed to waste an entire weekend playing through the game. However, my motivation to play through the game probably had more to do with a compulsive need to collect Achievements than anything the gameplay had to offer. If you often find yourself in the same boat, The Godfather II should at least make for a good weekend rental. Other than that, skip it and watch the movie.