The game is based upon the 1972 film The Godfather and tells the story of a non-canon character, Aldo Trapani, whose rise through the ranks of the Corleone family intersects with the plot of the film on numerous occasions. His actions in the game often take the form of events that happened off screen in the film; for example, he avenges Bonasera's daughter, drives Vito Corleone to the hospital after he is shot, plants the gun for Michael Corleone to kill Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, and places the horse's head in Jack Woltz's bed. Although the game was condemned by Francis Ford Coppola, who claimed Paramount never told him about its development or asked for his input, it does feature voice acting from several stars of the film, including James Caan as Sonny Corleone, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen and Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio. Marlon Brando also recorded dialogue for Vito Corleone, in what would be his final acting job, but his ill health made most of his recordings unusable.