At it's core, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition for the Wii is another GTA clone. You have your running, gunning, car stealing, and cop chasing - but you also have a well done movie tie-in and just enough unique features to make it a fun stand out.
Man Behind the Scenes
The game follows the first movie in the Godfather trilogy. However, you won't be playing as Michael, Sonny, Don Vito, or any other character that you'd reckognize. Instead, you'll be playing yourself - or at least a character you name and create from the ground up. Don't worry though, you'll still take part in most of the major scenes in the movie, you'll just be extra number three that nobody ever noticed.
For instance (minor spoilers here if you've never seen the movie), you're the one who drives Don Vito to the hospital, you're the one you chases down Sonny's assassins, and you're the one who plants the gun for Michael. It's an incredibly ingenious way for the player to be involved in the story while also preserving the facts that we already know. Of course, there are definitely some liberties taken with the story to allow you to have more of an impact, but it works well enough.
Protection Ain't Free
Perhaps the biggest feature added to the game to separate itself from GTA is the business extortion/takeover scenarios. Throughout the cities, you're able to takeover rival businesses by "shaking down" the business owners. The catch is that each owner has a different weakspot and breaking point that you must exploit to get a maximum payout. Some owners might fear property damage so you'll have to start breaking bottles and cash registers to win them over. Others might fear your gun, or fist fights, or even threatening innocents.
The variety in ways to takeover businesses keeps the game fresh and exciting, especially when you're trying to take over a new business with bullets from rival families flying at you.
A Mobster's Gotta Make a Living
Besides taking over businesses, you'll be earning cash by robbing banks, stealing delivery trucks, and completing missions and hit contracts. The missions and hit contracts are the most fun by far, though they usually boil down to either killing somebody a certain way, taking over a business, or protecting somebody. You're going to want to find ways to keep your bankroll up though because upgrading your weapons and buying safehouses ain't cheap.
Depth in Control
With so many different actions available, the control scheme had to be near flawless to work. Luckily, the developers nailed it. Running around and aiming your weapons works beautifully with a comination of the nunchuk for movement and pointing the Wii remote for aim. You're able to lock onto enemies with the Z button and then aim at specific areas by pointing. This mechanic makes running and gunning both easy and fun.
Of course, you'll need to master a lot more than shooting to advance through the game. Choking, throwing, punching, and other physical actions are all done via related motion controls. You want to jab with your left hand? Push the nunchuck forward. Looking to intimidate a storekeeper by strangling them? Make a choking motion with both hands. The controls respond surprisingly well, thus adding to the level of immersion.
Great Movie, Good Game
While everything in the game works fairly well, the main problem comes with the repetitiveness that comes about after a few hours. Once you've intimidated a dozen or so business owners, you've pretty much intimidated them all. Once you've robbed a bank once or twice, it loses it's appeal to do it again. Same with mob wars, hit contracts, and pretty much everything else. You'll also quickly notice the lack of variety in the character models and building layouts.
In the end, the game ends up being a good game based on a great movie. If you're a fan of the movies, like GTA style free-roaming action games, or if you're just looking for an action game in general that takes great advantage of the Wii's unique control methods - this game will likely be worth a look.