Robert Duvall is a fine actor, and doesn't need an uncredentialed drama lecture from me or anyone else. But watching him read off his lines in Godfather II ... I'm not feeling it.
In this video, Duvall gives a little insight on how he understood Tom Hagen, the iconic consigliere of the Corleone family. He's the only character voiced by his original actor in this game. But frankly, the Hagen impersonator in the first Godfather video game Duvall sounded like he had a little more heft as Hagen in the first game. Here, I'm not hearing Hagen's icy pragmatism as the family's fixer and advocate. Even when the character issued direct orders, they sounded more like advice. Extremely threatening advice, but you could still take it or leave it. His dialogue with Sen. Geary has none of the menace of the original encounter.
(Edit: Terrible mistake. Duvall did in fact voice Hagen in the original. I still stand by my observation that he's not putting much oomph into it this time, though.)
EA, masters of the sequelized IP, know that there are guys like me who'll buy or play anything in a certain franchise regardless of how warmed-over it may look. I still have high hopes for the Godfather; I'll still play it; I may even beat it. But I'm not exactly fired up.
Developer Diary: Robert Duvall [Gametrailers]