The Sopranos: Road to Respect
At least there’s no cinematics of Tony at the shrink’s office.
Tags: The Sopranos Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Dec 7th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sopranos (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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While the HBO show “The Sopranos” displays the softer side of being a mobster (marital affairs, neuroses, and dealing with the kids), the PS2 game “The Sopranos: Road to Respect” doesn’t. This is the stuff goodfellas are made of, broken arms, shakedowns, and giving the boss his due. This is certainly not canon, but for fans of the show, there’s enough here. What’s most impressive is that this is what a license is all about, the original talent and writers. This is no GTA clone either; instead there is more of a mission-based system at work. One does not have to plow right through the missions as they come; there are a few distractions to be found however. There are lap dances from strippers, and a Texas Hold ‘Em game with the bosses. While the lap dances are worth a laugh, the poker does offer some distraction. It’s a light work up of the game, but if the missions are too frustrating you can waste a half-hour or so, no problem.
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The player takes the role of Joey LaRocca, the illegitimate son of Big Pussy. Again the game is not canon, but for you die-hards out there, this should place it between the 5th and 6th seasons. Tony Soprano finds Joey stealing a purse from a car, and offers him a chance to do some work. Joey thrilled finds himself at the Bada-Bing working for Paulie. Not knowing that Paulie and Tony killed his old man, Joey goes to work. Most of the missions involve beating someone into a bloody pulp. There are only a few places in this game where you can fire your gun without getting a one way boat trip with Tony.
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The fighting system is complex and well detailed. It is almost too ambitious. There are a variety of moves, and the specials are very cinematic. If your aren’t into graphic depictions of violence this is not the game for you. Then again, if you aren’t into graphic violence, you probably aren’t into “The Sopranos” either. The specials are the highlight of the game. Ranging from smashing someone’s face into the ground, to grabbing someone by the testicles and twisting. There are moves based around the environment. Nothing is as satisfying as putting someone’s face into a table saw.
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While these are fun, there is always an additional button to be pushed after you start the move, and the action stops for a moment, and it’s displayed tutorial style. This does add some to the difficulty and detracts from the immersion. They could have just made you have to execute these with special timing or when the opponent is about to die, instead they chose the route that hurts the game overall. It maybe that the target audience are older people who may have the console in the house for a kids, and they’ll pick this game up on a whim, and this is meant for the non-gamers. There is a lot of tutorial advice in the game, all the way through to the final stages. It seems that the developers became trapped by the fighting system they created. While it allows for some very cinematic action, it’s far too complex to memorize. So instead of scaling back the combat, they just have the game be one long tutorial.
There is another glaring problem with this game; right when the story seems to pick up some real tension, it is over. The beginning of the game is a mish mash of various missions, and when there is a cohesive story line developed, it’s resolved as quickly as it started. While this a great game, it feels like it’s only the beginning, having only about 5-6 hours of gameplay. This is a late night with a six pack’s worth of material. Again this may be a function of the target audience, but I have a feeling even they would have been disappointed with how quickly everything is resolved.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Great fighting + Awesome graphical detail + Voice acting |
6.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Too Short - Too many tutorial messages |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| “The Sopranos: Road to Respect” could have been one of the best games this year. It was very engaging, but just when it seems to hit it’s stride, you run out of game. | |
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Tags: The Sopranos
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Dec 7th, 2006 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
