In Godfather, the thrills are savage and stylish
In 1972, a thrilling, tawdry novel about gangsters was transformed into a cinematic tragedy that ranks among the best of all American films. Three decades later, the video game designers at Electronic Arts have shifted the process into reverse with a game based on ''The Godfather" that is much less grand and profound than the film that inspired them.
One can't blame them. There's never been a tragic computer game, and there never will be. In tragedy, people are brought low by forces beyond their control, and where's the fun in that? One popular series of computer games is called Command and Conquer, a perfect summation of the gamers' ethos.
Despite the remarkably elegant visual style of The Godfather: The Game and the vocal contributions of original cast members Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and James Caan, it's still a game about the grimy joys of thug life.
Luckily for EA, the hunger for those vicarious thrills is always there. Even as moviegoers shuddered at the moral squalor of Don Vito Corleone and his bloody family, we envied them their stylish savagery. Who of us hasn't wanted to shoot an enemy in the throat or leave a severed horse's head in our boss's bed?
Well, there's no time like the present, especially since EA is selling the Godfather game at $39.95 for the
They probably will. For one thing, the game's gorgeous, almost as impressive to behold as the somber, elegant films. The game's video-cut scenes, with their depth of perspective and precision of character motion, look as if they emerged from a movie camera, not a computer. The facial rendering isn't state of the art. In the case of Michael Corleone, Al Pacino refused to contribute either his likeness or voice to the film. But Abe Vigoda saves the day by re-enacting his role as the traitorous Tessio.
The digitally re-created characters aren't the only things in The Godfather that will look familiar to savvy gamers. The producers could have called this game Grand Theft Vito -- that's how much it owes to the nonlinear gaming revolution pioneered by those amoral geniuses at Rockstar Games. You can play out the plot of the film, with yourself as a Corleone family enforcer, but you can also get plenty of action on the side -- extorting protection money from local businesses, robbing banks, the occasional freelance assassination.
And yet, for all its merry savagery, ''The Godfather" is at least a half-step away from the moral abyss. After all, this is the Corleone family, old-school mobsters who considered themselves men of honor. No drugs allowed -- after all, it's the Don's refusal to sell dope that launches the gang war in the movie. As for assaulting prostitutes, as in Grand Theft Auto -- unthinkable. Since the family runs the local whorehouses, that would be bad for business.
''I'm not saying we're on some moral high ground," said David De Martini, the game's executive producer. ''It is an M-rated game." But, De Martini adds, ''we tried to put consequences to your actions."
Those consequences showed up early on for me when I tried to muscle in on a local bakery owned by a rival mob family. When I opened fire on the goons guarding the place, I cut down some innocent passersby as well. Suddenly, I was taking fire not only from the enemy gangsters, but several cops magically appeared as well. I got slaughtered, partly because I'd violated the game's code of conduct. In the world of The Godfather, said De Martini. ''being violent to innocent people is bad for business."
Perhaps that's why the moral qualms that have always prevented me from enjoying the Grand Theft Auto games don't seem to trouble me as I blast my way through the New York underworld. Or perhaps I'm saddled with a double standard that accepts the courtly Old World viciousness of the fictional Corleones but reviles the hip-hop-tinged brutality of the Grand Theft Auto universe.
Or maybe I'm just a sucker for those ''Godfather" movies and eager to experience them once again, this time as a participant. Granted, all the deeper moral resonance of the film is stripped away, but that's not a total loss. Sometimes when ''The Godfather" is playing on TV you'll stop to watch a bit -- the murder of Paulie Gatto, say -- just because the scene is so cool. With The Godfather: The Game, that shallow violent thrill is all that's left. But then, that's all it needs.
