Godfather OL is a role-playing game that places you in the midst of a criminal syndicate where you battle your way up the ladder to eventually become the top dog — the Godfather.
This RPG isn't big on action and relies more on your strategy to build up your character's abilities for success. The Windows Phone game does have a social aspect with chat rooms and messaging between players, along with the option to join or create guilds.
Godfather OL does come across as an entertaining, if possibly niche, game. It reminds me of the classic tabletop role-playing games where you rolled the dice and imagined your characters actions. The game has a lot of substance, just not a lot of flash.
Your first order of business when you launch Godfather OL is to create an online account. You can choose to play the free trial and an anonymous account will be generated. It's a nice touch to let you try things out before you create another gaming account to keep track of.
Once you create an account, your next task is to choose a character class. There are three classes to choose from: Thug, Assassin and Gunner. You will also have the option to choose your character's gender.
Each class will have key attributes such as strength for the Thug and agility for the Assassin. You can choose your own character name and title or let the game generate a random name for your player. After you have selected a character, Godfather OL will take you through an extensive tutorial that covers the basics of gameplay. You will be shown how to equip items, battle and manage your character.
Gameplay centers around a city map that has several navigation buttons lining the bottom and several highlighted areas on the map for key activities. These activities include an Arena, Workshop, Shop, Guild, and Team Fight area. These activities will progressively become unlocked as your character advances in experience and additional tutorials will appear to detail these activities. You will have immediate access to the Shop and Workshop areas where you can buy gear and forge together extra gear you may have to stronger items.
Should you need to visit your profile or the help screen, respective buttons for these areas can be found at the top of the City Map screen. The navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen deal with your character management and social communications. These navigational buttons include:
- Fight Club: Here is where you can view your characters combat activities. He or she will roam the streets looking for fights or you can direct them to key areas to battle bosses or just wreak havoc in these locations.
- Equipment: This is where you outfit your character with weapons and armor. There are ten slots for equipping items that cover your character from head to toe. Your character's abilities will be displayed at the top of the screen.
- Backpack: This is where you will find any unused gear or items.
- Skills: As your character advances in experience they will have the opportunity to learn special skills. This is where you learn and manage those skills.
You also have a button to visit a Mercenary page where you can hire muscle to help with your criminal activities. The social menu is collapsed and to view the options, just tap the spray paint can in the bottom corner of the screen.
Gameplay mostly consists of your character picking fights, looting and building up experience. Combat is displayed in blow-by-blow text fashion. You will need to manage your character to ensure they are fitted with the best armor possible (either by purchasing new, upgrading existing or equipping stolen gear) and that their skills are current.
Entertaining game but maybe not for everyone
If you are looking for a deeply-involved RPG with impressive graphics and non-stop action, then Godfather OL is likely not the game you are looking for. Battles are reported as text and your character image don't update to reflect the gear you're wearing and carrying.
The early stages of the game will have you concentrating on building up your character in random fights. New activities become available once you reach level 15, but again, these activities are automated and rely on your skills at managing a character. This can feel a little cumbersome and the game needs a little pop to keep you interested while the automated battles endlessly continue. Maybe the option to choose your combat moves or animated graphics detailing the fight? Something, anything.
I can see Godfather OL having appeal to some gamers, but it comes across more of a niche game for those who prefer more strategy than action with their RPG games. Personally, it just isn't my cup of tea. Fortunately, it is a free Windows Phone game (with in-app purchases available) where you can try things out without too much of an investment.
If you've given Godfather OL a try, let us know what you think in the comments below.
Download Godfather OL for Windows Phone
