An offer I couldn't refuse...

In a cheery mood today so treated myself to The Godfather video game (it appears to be an informal rule of mine only to buy games based on movie or TV licenses. How did I end up with that shitty duty?) Pleasantly surprising, a half-way competent GTA clone with a nice period feel, though it does rather cheapen the memory of The Fourth Greatest Film Of All Time. Still, nice to hear James Caan and Robert Duvall reprise their respective roles - while Sonny Corleone sounds considerably more grizzled, Duvall appears spookily not to have aged at all. As for the game itself, it fits the GTA system into a tighter package and has a close-combat system that's considerably more fun to use. Shooting's also well executed, with an aiming system similar to 24 - a general target lock on that then allows you to micro-aim at particular areas. Knee-capping a mafia thug with a tommy gun was especially satisfying. Sounds are good, they don't scrimp on the Godfather theme, while graphics are pretty tasty and you can kit out your gangster in all sorts of natty 1940's threads. May well get frustrated with the unforgiving difficulty level - you can be put down with a single shotgun blast if especially unlucky, but a good laugh nonetheless.

Incidentally, what's the deal with Computer Exchange's pricing policy? First they sell 2nd hand PSPs for more than retail price, now I find The Godfather game for 29.99GBP in HMV, yet it's 30 quid in CEX. Doesn'y make any sense, especially as I'd hoped to pick up a copy of the game for a bargain price. Darn.