Q&A – EA’s The Godfather

February 10, 2006

Q&A – EA’s The Godfather

World Designer for The Godfather describes New
Jersey’s role in the upcoming game

EA has released a Q&A with World Designer Steven
Smith for their upcoming licensed game, The Godfather. Based on the classic film
franchise’s universe, The Godfather will take players across many of the real
locations from the movies, including the topic of the Q&A, New Jersey.



The Godfather PC screenshots
Click here for more The Godfather screenshots.

What makes New Jersey unique in the world of
The Godfather?

New Jersey is the only neighborhood in the
Godfather world which has a different environmental feel to it. It’s patterned
after a traditional small American town, particularly of the type found in the
outer regions of Manhattan. Though most of the buildings are made of brick they
are lower in height, typically two or three floors. Many of the city blocks are
not populated with tenement buildings but instead they are occupied with
detached houses usually with corner businesses at the end of such blocks. The
most noted feature of New Jersey is the town square park located in the middle
of the neighborhood, complete with a band shell structure and community type
venues located around it such as a bank and a church.

New Jersey is considered by many to be the
‘armpit of the Northeast’. Does that show at all in The Godfather version of
Jersey?

In the Godfather world New Jersey is a
neighborhood that conveys an industrial ambiance. Through no fault of its own
that’s the nature of such communities circa 1945 that were located along water
way transit points. It’s an outlying residential community located along the
waterfront of the Hudson River, and so it’s going to have warehouses, power
plants and rail yards.

What type of research went into re-creating
1945-1955 New Jersey?

The starting point for research was to look at
aerial photographs of New Jersey along the Hudson River region. Much of the area
appears grid like and uniform, so little things such as city parks, angled
streets relative to the grid layout, and rail yards in urban areas tend to stand
out and identify an area that can represent a symbolic New Jersey town for the
Godfather world. These elements along with the locations of the Lincoln and
Holland Tunnel toll plazas to the north and south respectively really identified
the general location for the New Jersey neighborhood. Other research pertains to
looking at the types of buildings which are representative of many of the
outlying neighborhoods of Manhattan such as the two story brick storefront and
detached housing typologies.

The Stracci’s are considered the Butchers of
Jersey because of their ruthless ‘business’ methods. What type of trouble might
you find in Jersey if you snoop around in the wrong areas?

Well for one thing most nearly all the business
venues in New Jersey begin as Stracci owned locations. Thus when the player
begins to take over a couple of these venues and gets the attention of the
Stracci’s, the player – if injured – will need to take care when trying to get
to a safe house or clinic. The Stracci’s will be highly visible on many of the
jersey streets. Also, snooping around the main rail yard can yield some
interesting if not altogether dangerous results. 

What’s your favorite area in Jersey and why?

I like the area around the Stracci compound and
the rail yard. I find the Stracci compound to be an interesting challenge
because the entry to the compound can be approached from three directions and so
the player has some choices on an attack approach. The rail yard is a big open
area where it might be possible to lose or neutralize a pursuing vehicle, and
its one of the approaches to the Stracci compound.

About the Godfather

Gamers will create their own mob
character in the game, putting themselves into the action while reliving classic
moments from the fiction and experiencing original missions alongside memorable
characters from the film.  After a life of small-time jobs and petty thefts the
player will be accepted into the Corleone family, America’s most famous criminal
organization. It will be up to the player to carry out orders, earn respect and
make New York City their own. Featuring non-linear action-adventure gameplay,
The Godfather will offer gamers countless choices for solving the family’s
problems with brutal violence, skillful diplomacy, or a cunning mixture of both.
From mob hits and bank heists to drive-bys and extortion, step deep inside the
world of The Godfather where intimidation and negotiation are your tickets to
the top. Players will use their powers of loyalty and fear to earn respect
through interactions with characters in the world. Decisions made by the player
in the game will have lasting consequences, just as it was in the mob underworld
featured in The Godfather fiction.