Diary of A Sane Man

Note: The Template for this blog FUBAR’d some of the pictures; they don’t look this poor in real life.

A few weekends ago a new addition to the family entered the house. It is a wellspring of joy and fulfillment, and brought Val and I even closer together. The cats don’t know what to make of it, it probably keeps the neighbors up and we had to really shift things around in the apartment to give it a place of its own.

What? A baby? Screw that! We’re talking about a Nintendo Wii! We got the last one at the store after being laughed at at five other stores. The Wii comes with the sweet sports game, but golfing and bowling with the controller gets old fast. In order to combat such a thing from ever happening, we nabbed Super Paper Mario and The Godfather: Black Hand Edition. Here’s the kicker – I already own The Godfather on the PS2. Why would I waste one of my only Wii purchases on a game I already own? Har har. Stand back, heathen, and be enlightened!

What follows is a list of the features the Nintendo Wii version has over the PS2 version. Perhaps you’ll understand the edge these give over the older version that I already own and you’ll understand why I would upgrade. Perhaps you’ll understand that the PS2 version was like regular radio and the Wii version is like satellite radio… a little bit more expensive, but worlds beyond what you had to made do with. This list is more for people who have already played the PS2 version since its a comparative blog rather than a real review, but even if you haven’t played the older version you might still learn something.

1. The Wii Controller: When I purchased the game I was afraid that the game was going to be just another port, one that didn’t utilize the abilities of the Wii. I was way wrong. This game uses the Wii remote to its fullest potential. When you beat the crap out of people, strangle people, garrote ‘em or toss ‘em out of a window, you use the Wii “nunchuck” in an appropriate fashion that mimics the move. Aiming the gun is much easier too. In both versions you can shoot people in certain areas of their bodies to get a certain response. For example, shooting a person in the arm might get their to drop their gun, while shooting them in the head is an instant kill. The PS2 controller was a little sketchy when it came to performing precise aiming like this, but the Wii-mote is spot on.

2. There’s More To The City: The original game felt rushed out the door in a lot of ways and the city suffered in that regard. The PS2 version had every single type of store stuck with the same exact layout; every butchers shop was the same interior, every bar was the same interior, every warehouse was the same interior, etc.. It felt cheap. The Wii version doesn’t have that problem. Each building is unique inside and it makes a big difference. Hell, there’s even outdoor markets scattered around the city (this little detail made it seem more like the time period it’s supposed to be). Another thing that bothered me in the PS2 version was that each crime family lived in a perfect clone of the Corleone Family compound. The Wii version fixed that glaring “cheat”. Now the families live in unique compounds with their own style of architecture and layouts. Now storming a compound is a helluva lot more fun since you don’t automatically know the layout.

   And there’s some rooftop action stuff. No, really. Throwing a mobster to a 40-story death is rather satisfying. Hell, in one mission you can go outside and see his body splattered on a car that was passing by. Mmmm.

   

3. There’s New Skill-Trees: Instead of one skill tree there’s now two, basically giving you two “character classes” (Enforcer and Operator) with the ability to cross-train. Unlike the PS2 version there’s also abilities to unlock in each of the two “classes”. After putting 15 skill points into a class and then 30 skill points you unlock a class ability. For example, the Enforcer gets unlimited ammunition after you place 30 skill points in the class. I thought these abilities were nice incentives to focus in one of the careers over the other. The new skills are pretty sweet too: they’re more specialized at each dot and there’s new things to get that the PS2 version didn’t have. I wish I hadn’t scattered my skill points between the two careers though… I’ll never get to the level 30 ability in either at this rate. Meh, there’s always next time.

   

4. New Game Play (esp. Favors): There’s a lot of new game play on the Wii. Some of them are new Hit Contracts and these new ones have more style and story to them than the originals; they’re also a bit more complicated. Then there’s Favors. Certain events unlock Favor Missions, little side quests that people need done. Sometimes you can’t muscle into a business without doing a Favor for the owner (usually to prove that you can protect them, since that’s what you’re “selling”: protection). I’ve also witnessed a few scripted events that I hadn’t seen in the PS2 version, but since they’re meant to be fun little surprises I’ll keep my mouth shut.

5. More Things to Break: There’s a few new cars and civilian skins, some neighborhood specific, to add some flavor to the city. I see them as new things to break with your fist or shoot with your Street Sweeper shotgun. There’s also some more breakables in buildings too.

6. Weather: Finally, some weather. If I remember correctly, it didn’t rain or storm in the PS2 version. I might be wrong as I haven’t played the PS2 version since getting the Wii version.

7. Henchmen: You’re no longer a lone wolf in the Black Hand Edition. Now you feel like a member of a criminal organization instead of some solo street thug that occasionally meets up with other people. You have two options for backup in this game and both have their uses: Crew and Hit Squads. You can go to certain places in the neighborhoods, sometimes a bar, sometimes a warehouse, whatever, and hire some henchmen to come travel with you. This type of hireling can shoot out of car windows (you alternate which side by hitting the + or – buttons on the Wii-mote) which is really nice on some missions (and a Bonus on one Hit Contract). As you get more and more powerful throughout the game you can hire better and better henchmen like this. The more powerful ones can really help in a fight.

   

   The second type involves a meter at the top of the screen that slowly fills up. When it is full you can choose to call in some real muscle – you whistle and wave and a mean Corleone Hit Squad shows up and sticks with you until they’re dead or you dismiss them. The Hit Squad meter fills slowly so I use it sparingly, but the level 30 Ability for the Operator doubles the speed. The Operator also has some skills that make your Crew

8. Cleaned Up Graphics: The game just looks better. Building interiors look less generic/blocky and more realistic and flavorful. The city has more

9. It’s On The Wii: Niiiiiice.

   
   

The game isn’t perfect though. I’ve run into some Draw Distance problems but the PS2 version had them too. I can’t tell which has them worse. The Wii fluctuates: sometimes the Draw Distance isn’t bad and then other times it is really noticeable. There’s also a severe lack of lighting effects in the game, but I suppose that was a sacrafice made for having such a huge city with NO load times. Still, those are my only real beefs with the Wii Godfather game. I recommend it to anyone that has a Wii and is old enough to play M-rated games, even if you already own it on the PS2. Actually, I recommend it especially if you have the PS2 version, and you’ll fully appreciate the changes to the game then. The Godfather on the PS2 isn’t a finished game. I’d even go so far as to say it is only half baked. The Wii version is the complete game – and it’s awesome.

-=Grim=-

I… I can’t stop. I borrowed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess from my friend Kyle and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played. Ever. And I’ve played a lot of video games (my first system was the Odyssey 2, but I was down with my homies Ataris before that), but man this one takes the cake. The Wii-mote is what makes it the experience that it is; sure the gameplay is friggin’ outstanding, but swinging my sword for real is always a bonus as far as immersion goes. The game is HUGE and there’s so much to do. The “meaningless” dungeon crawls made me feel like I was playing Hackmaster and the bug collecting reminded me of Animal Crossing – with death involved. Overlaying it all is a fantastic plot and beautiful graphics.

Whenever I need a break from Zelda I play The Godfather: Black Hand Edition on the Wii. Or Super Paper Mario. I have to steer clear of Wii Sports a lot of the time because of my nerve pain. That’s the only real strike against the Wii in my opinion: sometimes it hurts to play if you’re already in some form of pain. I’ve also been playing Hotel Dusk: Room 215 on my Nintendo DS. Thus far it’s been pretty awesome: nice graphics, great dialogue and a deep, mysterious plot. It plays out like a detective novel (you even hold the DS sideways like a paperback book) and uses the stylus for everything.

And last but not least, Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube rounds out the video games I’ve been playing. I hate that game. I mean, I love it… but I hate it. It scared the shit out of me quite a few times and ARGH! It reminds me a lot of the movie Dagon, only there’s no Deep Ones (I hope).

-=Grim=-