Electronic Arts is quite possibly the most arrogant company in this business but it has every right to be. When you sell millions of games, gobble up smaller companies, and post a consistently high-priced stock year in and year out you earn the right to boast. But I have a bad feeling that the multimillion dollar company may have finally approached the proverbial brick wall, and spray painted across it in huge white letters is the word Godfather. The fact that its busy working on transforming one of the greatest works of fiction into a videogame is a huge deal, and the company's money and pull in the entertainment industry has netted it some of the necessary pieces (even a voice from the grave) to make it one of the greatest games ever made, but that's the problem. Just about every game has the potential to become one of the greatest ever, but lots of them, even from EA, have failed to become a member of this elite club. But for now, The Godfather: The Game looks alright and sounds fairly interesting, so I'm willing to give its developers the benefit of the doubt.

If anything, the game at the very least sounds appealing. Similar to Grand Theft Auto, The Godfather is an open-ended game that, despite featuring a story that incorporates moments from the film, doesn't force the player to stick to any specific task. You basically create a character from scratch and then go to work for the Corleone family, running various errands and most importantly intimidating people, the goal being to rise up through the mafia network and become Don. You'll rob banks, perform drive bys, jump into gun fights (or start them), and play your hand at a little extortion. And this all takes place in New York City, circa 1945-1955. Plus, EA has managed to acquire the vocal talents of Robert Duvall and James Caan, who've reprised their famous movie personas Tom Hagen and Sonny Corleone respectively. They even have Brando in the game performing Don Vito Corleone.

Borrowing a page from BioWare's RPG book, EA has created a persistent environment that's always changing depending on your decisions. Regardless of what actions you take, whether passive or aggressive, the NPCs will remember how you treated them and respond in kind, though seeing as how the goal is to basically take over NYC and make it mafia central, there's going to be times when being nice just isn't enough. A large part of this game involves persuasion by any means necessary, so some people are going to submit to your immense power and grant you anything that you'd like, while others are going to need a little, how shall I say this, convincing. You can just walk into a store and just bust up the joint, the goal being to scare the living sh*t out of the owner, and if destroying his property isn't enough, you can just walk over and interrogate the SOB by beating his face in, giving him some knee lifts, and kicking the sucker when he's down. Delivering just enough pain (and showing some mercy in the process), should in theory force the poor bastard to see things your way, and if he does, he'll be under your wing.

Unfortunately, not everyone's easy to break. The cops don't take to kindly to mafia influence and have this nasty habit of trying to shoot you, so bringing them into the fold isn't going to be a cakewalk but it is doable. The same goes for just about everyone else in the game save mafia families, Cuneo, Stracci, Tattaglia, and Barzini. Just like you, they're trying to control all of NYC, but I'm not sure whether you can persuade them to work for you. Chances are good that they'll just try to murder your ass.

Quite a few videos have surfaced that show the game's visuals and character animation, and it's much more impressive than most forum dwellers will have you believe. EA's done a wonderful job animating the characters, the voice acting (from what I've heard) is impressive, and the game definitely has a 1950s feel to it. I'm not exactly sure how accurate EA's NYC is, but from the looks of things, the scenic and old school looking locales set the mood.

Despite its gameplay sounding a bit too familiar (think KOTOR + The Punisher + Mafia), I'm looking forward to The Godfather not because I want to shoot people but because I'm curious about the presentation. EA is apparently sparing no expense to ensure that this game isn't a flop, and I want to see what happens when the company really flexes its muscles with such a highly anticipated title. Come March 30, all secrets will be revealed.

For more information about The Godfather videogame, visit EA's Official Website.