Early on in The Godfather: Mob Wars there’s a mission that sees you beat the trust fund out of two college boys. The first one takes his beating as he should but the second refuses to give up the smallest bit of green from his energy bar despite the unspeakable violence you’re dishing out. Then, just as you start to wonder whether EA has really screwed the licence by including immortal students, it becomes clear that you have to bash his head on the side of a grave before he can start to suffer. As great as it is to greet skull with stone, it’s annoying having to do exactly as you’re told for something as simple as hitting someone.

Of course, it’s not always like this when it comes to assaulting folk, but it does set the tone for the rest of the game. You’re constantly ordered about with directions flashing up so often it’s a wonder the game doesn’t come with an epilepsy warning. This leaves very little room for the sort of freeroaming that we so love to do, the game instead becoming a series of repetitive tasks that involve extortion, respect points and an overly complicated combat system. And though the car sections in the PlayStation 2 version were heavily criticized, their absence only serves to make the game’s cyclical structure even more noticeable.

EA has tried to make up for the lack of vehicles with a sub game, from which the PSP version of the licence gets its suffix, but this is far too thin an experience to genuinely add anything to the main game. Essentially the bastard son of Dynasty Warriors’ conflict map and a shoddy card game, the Mob Wars element offers nothing but an interruption to an otherwise bearable adventure.

Another real problem is EA’s unwillingness to veer too far away from the licence. It’s not enough just to be ordered about by the Corleone family, your missions have to tie in with the narrative of the films, which only ever adds to the horrible linearity of it all.

However, that’s not to say that EA’s treatment of the licence isn’t without value. The use of likenesses and score immerses you into the Forties environment extremely effectively, something that’s helped by the game’s tremendous overall look, and the manner in which the cutscenes segue into the gameplay is constantly impressive. In fact there are even moments when The Godfather becomes thoroughly enjoyable – usually when you’re stamping on someone’s head – but ultimately these are far too fleeting for us to recommend a purchase.

Aaron Asadi