Based upon the 1972 film The Godfather, the game follows a non-canon character, Aldo Trapani, who is recruited into the Corleone family and works his way up its ranks while seeking revenge against his father's killers.

The story of the game intersects with the film on numerous occasions, depicting major events from Aldo's perspective, or showing him perform actions that happened off-screen; for example, he avenges Bonasera's daughter, kills Luca Brasi's assassin, drives Vito Corleone to the hospital after he is shot, plants the gun for Michael Corleone to kill Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, and places the horse's head in Jack Woltz's bed.

Although the game was condemned by Francis Ford Coppola, who claimed Paramount never told him about its development or asked for his input, it does feature voice acting from several stars of the film, including James Caan as Sonny Corleone, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen and Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio.

[9] The Godfather is an open world action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective, in which the player controls protagonist Aldo Trapani as he ascends through the ranks of the Corleone family, with his rise intersecting with the narrative of the film on numerous occasions.

[11] Much of the game is based around third-person shooting, with the player able to wield a .38 snub nose, a pistol, a magnum, a Tommy gun, and a shotgun, as well as projectiles such as Molotov cocktails and dynamite.

Respect can be earned by numerous means, such as completing missions, extorting businesses, taking over rackets, blowing up safes, bribing police officers, robbing banks, successfully flirting with women, entering new areas, carrying out execution maneuvers, or performing hits and favors.

Aldo helps Gatto and Corleone associate Marty "Monk" Malone (Jason Schombing) take revenge on two men who attacked the daughter of the local undertaker Bonasera, a friend of Vito's.

He later goes with Brasi to meet Virgil Sollozzo (Richard Newman), a Tattaglia family-backed drug baron who seeks revenge against Vito for refusing to enter the cocaine trade.

At the Corleone compound, Aldo meets caporegimes Peter Clemenza (Doug Abrahams) and Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda) and consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall).

Aldo and Michael are then threatened by corrupt police officers led by Captain Marc McCluskey (Doug Abrahams), who is on Sollozzo's payroll, but Tom arrives and claims that they are private detectives legally employed to guard Vito.

While Michael attends the ceremony, Aldo carries out each hit with the help of Clemenza, Rocco, Willi Cicci (Gavin Hammon), and Al Neri (Terence McGovern), finally avenging his father's death at Barzini's hands.

He stated that although the game itself was only 15% complete, the narrative was finalized; players would control an original character who begins as a small-time member of the Corleone family, and must work his way up through the ranks.

Executive producer David De Martini stated "We are incredibly excited and honored to have the opportunity to bring the fiction of The Godfather to life in a video game.

"[39] The game officially premiered on February 10, in a red carpet event held in Little Italy, with James Caan, Robert Duvall and Johnny Martino (who played Paulie Gatto in the film) in attendance.

He revealed the developers had worked closely with Mark Winegardner, author of The Godfather Returns, to ensure the storyline stayed within the canon of the narrative, and maintained the correct tone.

[43] Speaking to GameSpot in June, David De Martini stated the original idea for the project was Paramount's, who first approached EA about a game adaptation of the film in early 2003.

After numerous meetings, the concept was decided upon; a "dual-story" game that would feature a character moving through an open world and rising through the ranks of the Corleone family, whilst at the same time, following the plot of the film.

The article claimed that Brando's ailing health meant he could only breathe with the aid of an oxygen tank, the noise of which was picked up on the audio recordings, making them unusable in the game.

"[47][48] In January 2006, speaking to GameSpot, De Martini said of the delay, "When you are dealing with a property like The Godfather, you have to take special care in making sure your work meets the level fans have come to expect from the franchise.

The court filing stated, "In material breach of the audio-visual products agreement, Paramount has failed and refused to pay the Puzo Estate the sums due it in respect of the Godfather game.

The "Mob Wars" mode replaces the open world element from the other versions of the game and is played from a top down view in which the player moves units in a turn-based strategy fashion, attempting to capture space owned by the rival families.

"[49] "The graphics enhancements to the Xbox 360 really serve two functions: to add visual variety to support the added gameplay; and to better immerse the gamer in the Godfather universe of New York City circa 1950.

[69][70] In an interview with IGN, art manager Mark Lohff stated We've added dynamic terrain shadowing and character self-shadowing, which help to place the player firmly in the environment as well as to give the world a more "living" quality.

[68]Creative director Michael Perry stated The Xbox 360 gave us a lot of power to amp up the Godfather experience to make a true HD Living World.

Between the sunsets and sunrises, the demographics of the game change, with nightlife clubbers coming out at night in Midtown, and some dangerous characters walking the streets of Hell's Kitchen.

In a statement, EA said the Don's Edition would "take full advantage" of the Sixaxis controller's motion sensor, and would also feature added gameplay in the form of "The Corleone Expansion Pack".

[126] Perry praised the concept of placing a new character in the existing narrative; "Much of the story is carefully untarnished, so when you see pivotal scenes, they will be left relatively untouched.

"[104] Eurogamer's Kristan Reed scored the Xbox version 6 out of 10, calling it "way too short, far too easy, too damned repetitive and far too in awe of Grand Theft Auto to be held up as anything other than a rather lightweight copycat offering."

He argued the game "offers a decent amount of fun, with great combat, occasionally inspired set-pieces, but sub-par driving and a half-baked story mode with barely enough variety to fill a long evening".

Applying cement shoes to the experience, [EA have] stripped all of the open world gameplay from this version, leaving nothing but the lame missions and a putrid Risk-like minigame.