Write-Up
Write-Up:
Wow what a week. I had the distinct pleasure to play through 2K Czech and 2K Games new title for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, Mafia II. Not since probably Mass Effect 2 have I been this immersed into a game. The story is truly amazing, allowing you to take part in the rise and fall of a young up-and-coming Italian mobster in the 40s and 50s and if you’re like me, you’re going to love every minute of it. Having recently played through the mediocrity of Kane & Lynch 2, it was a blessing to get to participate in such a wonderful adventure, so if you’re up for some great action, an epic story, and an all around great game-play experience, let’s check out Mafia II.
The story told in Mafia II is absolutely amazing, and the way it’s told is as if you’re watching a movie for your entire gaming experience. What’s great is that pretty much all of the events that you’ll partake in are the same types of shit you’re used to seeing in The Godfather and The Sopranos. Note that you don’t need to have played the first game to understand what is going on here, it is a completely different tale.
You play as Vito Scalleta, an Italian born in Sicily who moved to America as a child. He grew up in poverty and was arrested in his late teens for shoplifting, and instead of being sent to jail, was shipped off to the war, as he spoke Italian and could help on the assault in Italy. The game opens here as you play through one of his adventures where he witnesses the true power of the Italian mafia and the mob bosses massive influence not only over the people, but even the soldiers.
Upon returning home from the war, Vito finds his family is in some trouble with a local loan shark as their father had borrowed some money and then passed away before paying it off. So right away you’re going to get yourself into some trouble to try to earn it back. Vito’s life-long friend Joe Barbaro shows up offering Vito shelter and a way to earn a bunch of quick money for his family, by getting involved with the Italian mafia. The early adventures take place in the 40s until an event happens that skips you ahead to the early 50s.
Throughout the game, you’ll experience everything that you’d expect including money, cars, women, drugs, informants, thefts, extortion, murder, burying dead bodies, lies, deception and dealing with the inner workings of multiple mob families, the Chinese, the Irish and some Greasers. There is just a LOT going on and you really have to pay attention to understand it all. I’ve heard some people saying that the ending of the game is bullshit, but I thought it was perfect for the story. It really exemplifies the life of a made man in the mafia and really hits you emotionally. Bravo.
From start to finish, Mafia II took me 12 hours to complete the game’s 15 chapters on the medium difficulty. The entire game is single player and you can only have one instance of the story going at once, but you do have the option to go back and replay any of the previous missions. The PS3 version of the game actually comes with an exclusive bonus content called “The Betrayal of Jimmy” that gives you an additional game-play mode that puts you in the shows of a mob-man named Jimmy where you play short missions and try to score the most points by doing mob-like activities similar to those in the story mode. Basically it’s just some extra things to do once you complete the game, but the other platforms don’t have this.
Now, the game comes with a mature rating with good reason, as it’s chuck full of profanity and violence; but what I found the coolest was the hidden collectible Playboy pictures, artwork and pinups. These items are scattered throughout the levels and let you look at authentic Playboy pictures from that era. While not necessary to the game, I think it really encompasses the life-style of these guys in the past, so it’s neat to be able to unlock these as you play.
There is an auto-save system built in, but to me, the checkpoints were too spread out, as sometimes if you died, you’d be set back up to 10 minutes or so which may not seem all that bad until you die over and over on some of the harder levels towards the end of the game. That replay time really starts to add up! While playing through this title though, the game actually froze up my machine 3 times forcing me to restart it, which just added to the auto-save frustration.
Mafia 2’s semi-sandbox game-play offers a wide variety of mechanics that should keep you entertained throughout your entire adventure. You’re allowed to get creative and venture off outside of the primary story per chapter, but you aren’t in control of the order of events, nor the quests that you can tackle, as there are no side quests. Each chapter typically opens with you receiving a phone call to meet someone somewhere and each chapter ends with you going to bed at your place. That’s actually something I didn’t care for because the chapters feel concluded once you complete all of the objectives, but then you have to drive all the way across town to move on to the next one. I would have preferred the chapters just concluded upon completing the objectives.
One of the primary complaints about the first Mafia game was that the cars felt sluggish and unresponsive. Well the driving mechanics have had a complete overhaul and the vehicles perform wonderfully, and there is even a simulation mode you can enable in the options to make the cars act more realistically. There are tons of different cars that you can drive, and each may be upgraded at a shop to change out the license plates, rims, paint job and even tune it up and supercharge it so you can get away from cops more easily.
A fist-fighting system was implemented as well and it’s quite entertaining and used many times throughout the game. Combine that with the lock picking mechanic and this title really reminded me a lot of Prison Break but significantly more fun.
One of my big complaints with Kane & Lynch 2 was that the cover system felt awkward and that the guns were inaccurate which in turn caused the cover battles to last significantly longer than they should have. Well the cover system in Mafia 2 was implemented very well and felt natural like it should. You also have a wide variety of guns including hand guns, shotguns and of course Tommy guns. I felt like a badass walking up a hallway with the Tommy gun out blasting away every bad guy that came running at me. On top of all of this, the partner AI actually works! Most of the missions involve one or more partners accompanying you, and they actually kill just about as many enemies as you do!
Finally, something that kind of bothered me was that there are so freaking many police everywhere you go! There are more cops in this game than I’ve ever seen around my city in all my damned life! They are freaking EVERYWHERE! If the cops see you doing something illegal they’ll jump on your ass and call in the entire force to chase you down, so you better have a fast ride or a Tommy gun! Once they start after you, both your person and your vehicle can become wanted, at which point you’ll have to either get a new outfit, get a new ride, or change the paint job or license plates to avoid being detected again.
The overall presentation was just as good as the story and game-play. Right away you’ll notice the amazing authentic soundtrack filled with real songs from the era. The voice acting is top notch as well, which is obviously important considering how involved the story is. These two items alone make the game completely immersive, even within the first few minutes. No big name voice actors were used, though they sure sound like it… These guys are DAMN good! I attended a conference call with the developers of the game and they stated that they did not use big name actors because that removes some of the immersion because you visualize the actor and not the character. Good point!
There are no pre-rendered cut-scenes, as everything is rendered in real time, so whatever outfit your character is wearing is reflected in the cut-scenes, which is pretty neat. The graphics in the PS3 version are not the best I’ve ever seen by any means, but they are pretty good by today’s console standards. What’s cool is that the town actually changes between the 40s and the 50s. You’ll see new buildings, clothing styles, music, vehicles, everything! Basically, the presentation was spot on.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I played through Mafia 2. The deep story drew me in immediately and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Everything really reminded me of all the time I spent watching The Sopranos and makes me want to go back and watch through the series again! All in all, the game-play for this title was amazingly addictive and extremely entertaining. Sometimes the driving can get a little repetitive because you do it so often, but overall, this was a good experience. If you aren’t really into the Mafia scene you probably won’t enjoy this game, but I’d absolutely recommend it if you are! I know a lot of you have already played through this, so what were your thoughts? What about you who haven’t? What looks good or bad to you? Leave your questions and comments below!
Developer: 2K Czech
Publisher: 2k Games
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Price: $59.99
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**This title was provided to me free of charge from the publisher to review for you.
great review. While I felt it started off a little slow by 1/2 way in I am totally immersed in this world and these characters and the more I look around the more impressed I am with the att 2 detail. While its not a true sandbox game it is a great period piece driving sim, Ive takin 2 spending some time just drivin round lookn 4 posters and such and theres so many little things 2 suck u in, like the way people on the street will react 2 u if u get 2 close 2 them, bump in2 them and such, theres sights and sounds of the era everywhere. And I think thres alot of layers 2 the police interactions, like the diff between u being wantd & the car being wantd and if its u then they wont notice u in a car unless u give em a few secs and if its the car u can dump the car around a corner and walk rt by em. Anyways aftr wht seemd like a slow start this has turnd out 2b everything I’d hoped 4 AND MORE !!
spoke 2 soon. I think Im at the 14th chapter, just left Johnie at the doctor, went 2 pay off the money we owed, went in2 the back door, watched the cut scene were the guy says he’s the 1 tht lent Vitos father the money too, scene ends and it starts loading and the record just keeps spinning and spinning and spinning. I had 2 dashboard it, reloaded it, started at the doctors again, drove over 2 pay again and the same thing happened again, turned off the xbox, started all over and the same result, the disc is perfect, tried it w/ the game installed and w/out…. same result. If uv gotta clue bout whats up w/ that please reply here.. THANX !!