In The Sopranos: Road to Respect, you play Joey LaRocca, the bastard son of Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. This third-person action game for the PlayStaion 2 begins with a chance meeting between you (as Joey) and boss Tony Soprano. Feeling anger and compassion toward you (as he catches you stealing a purse), "Uncle" Tony offers you a "job"...a way in, to "this thing of ours".

As you progress, you will attempt to prove yourself, all the while "paying up" to Paulie "Walnuts". Slip up, you'll lose respect, and end up like your old man. But do it right, and you may just get "made".

Video - 70%
The graphics tend to be muddled, even for a PlayStation 2 game, yet the characters are quite recognizable to any fan of the show. Character modeling, while not perfect, was done well, yet does not live up to the game's cut scenes (which do not utilize the game engine). But each of the game's characters was unique, right down to their mannerisms; Vito's waddle, Paulie's double finger point, and Christopher's arms-crossed defensive stance are among the most memorable.

The Bada Bing, Satriale's Pork Store, and Nuovo Vesuvio are the three locations "borrowed" from the series - carefully recreated, even if they were a bit bland and lacking much detail. The remaining locales were created for the game.

***SPOILER ALERT***
The end of the game (if successful), culminates in a cut scene emulating the oath of omertà ceremony. Fans of the show will immediately recognize this from the episode in which Christopher enters into Cosa Nostra.

Audio - 85%
Audio was good - many of the show's actors reprised their "voice roles" for the game. Kudos to James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti), and Tony Sirico (Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri) who give outstanding performances and made a smooth transition to voice acting, a feat seldom achieved by screen actors.

In addition, the soundtrack of the game boasts nearly 40 songs, including the series theme song, "Woke Up This Morning". The music, which plays throughout most of the game, is often used successfully to set the mood.

Controls/Interface - 60%
The controls are basic: L1 draws your pistol, R1 fires it. The X, square buttons are most commonly used as they are the light and heavy attack buttons, respectively. Scuffles tend to be a button-mashing affair, but after sometime, the player may find techniques for priming his enemy for any number of special attacks (initiated with the triangle button, and selected with the directional pad). In addition, the player can wield a number of environmental items as a weapon, but can only do so once a non-player character (NPC) has made the first move.

The interface is straight forward: a health and enemy health bar, a money counter, and an ammunition counter. In addition, a three star-respect meter is on-screen. Explained in the manual as "how much Respect you'll lose if you don't play it cool", it is a nearly useless mechanism. You'll seldom drop too dangerously low in respect during a mission, and afterwards, you can simply "pay Paulie tribute" to buy back your respect.

Gameplay - 25%
The game has two major faults: linearity and length. Ninety-five percent of the game is spent beating up NPCs, a task that begins to bore one quickly. Even the introduction of new "special" attacks can't save the repetitive gameplay. After defeating one set of enemies, you will move on to the next. The introduction of a delivery mission that involved more stealth may have proved a welcome change.

With regard to length, the game is entirely too short. There is not more than 5 hours of game play contained within, even for the most novice of players. With so much subject matter, the developer could have easily fleshed the game out with more characters, environments and missions to bring the length to a more acceptable level.

Summary - 60%
The graphics and controls are tolerable and the audio is "spot-on", but lackluster gameplay leaves The Sopranos: Road to Respect flat. Combine this gameplay with minimal content, and you end up with a short, boring game only a fan of the show could love.