Customer Reviews

Mafia II

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Opinions on this game have certainly proven to be as divisive as the initial reaction to the original Mafia in 2002, right down to the 4/10 Eurogamer review. It's understandable because while Mafia 2 does far more right than it does wrong, the wrongs are difficult to ignore.

Mafia 2 is a linear story-driven game set in the 1940s-1950s with an open world city as a backdrop for immersion purposes. This game is not a GTA4 clone and has never advertised itself to be one, any expectations for it to be so are entirely the fault of uninformed gamers. The city is about 10 square miles in size and highly detailed, it's a beautiful recreation of the time period and the devs use it effectively during certain story segments to give the impression of a city evolving with time. There are gas stations, clothing stores, diners, gun shops, body shops and a scrap yard/docking area to interact with throughout the game, along with different living residences depending on where you are during the storyline and locations that only open for missions. You will not find GTA-like mini games like throwing darts or anything like that, but that doesn't mean the open city is devoid of things to do. You can steal cars in multiple ways (breaking the window, picking the lock, or even shooting the lock) then take them to a body shop to change the plates and paint color to legalize it, then customize it further through engine upgrades for better handling and changing the tires for looks. You can pick fights with the various gangs that have established holds on various parts of the city, rob stores, or anger the police to see how long you can hold out. Just like the original Mafia, the city is all about creating immersion and giving opportunity for the player to create their own experiences rather than fill it with mini-games.

Mafia 2's story runs anywhere from 8-15 hours of game time, depending on difficulty level and how quickly you move through it. You play as Vito and are often accompanied by his childhood friend Joe, and spend most of the game in some state of proving yourself to one of the Mafia families in Empire Bay. My initial impression of the story wasn't a good one, but after playing it again it finally hit me what the story was about and my opinion changed drastically. Unlike Mafia 1, this is not a rags to riches story and this is not about the fall of an honorable man. Vito is not Tommy and he's not meant to be. Vito is a guy that is entirely driven by not becoming a loser dockworker like his father: he wants money, cars, women, the nice house, and the nice clothes. To him everything hinges on possessions and thus everything and everyone becomes possessions to him. It's the story of a destructive, selfish man who goes out and takes what he wants and how that devastates everyone around him. I really, really enjoyed the story, including the ending I originally found abrupt, once I realized that.

There has been some criticism leveled at Mafia 2 for racism and sexism, but most of it is not being looked at properly. Yes, the main characters are racist and sexist and there isn't anybody there to tell them off for it...because this takes place in the '40s and early '50s, from largely uneducated, ignorant, poor characters involved with the Mafia. Their attitudes were normal for the time period, social circles, and social stature. And as already said, Vito views women the same way he views cars and money; they are things to be obtained, not people to establish relationships with.

Yes, there are vintage Playboy covers/centerfolds as optional collectibles in-game and feature the nudity you'd expect from them. These have earned quite a bit of ire and are used as support for the game being sexist, but I -- as a female gamer -- don't agree with it. For one, they are completely optional and very easy to miss even if you're looking for them. They don't float above the ground and spin and glow and have a "CLICK ME!" sign above them like collectibles in other games. Instead, they're stashed on desks or half-under beds and other places you'd expect someone to leave them. They blend in perfectly with the environment and look only slightly different from other decorations...they're practically pixel hunts. They don't offer any kind of tangible reward outside of an achievement and completion percentage that would force you to collect them if you didn't want to. They also tie in perfectly with Vito's attitude...he's *exactly* the type of guy that'd grab some poor late night security guard's dirty magazine while robbing the place, and reflects his view of everything being possessions. It's just like the other collectible, the Wanted Posters. Vito would be just as inclined to yank down Wanted Posters as he would steal Playboy mags, there's nothing random or out of place about them. If they were required to unlock guns or cars or something from a gameplay point of view, I'd understand the furor over them, but as is I have no problem with their implementation.

For better or worse the difficulty is nowhere near the original's occasionally punishing level, and veterans of the first will want to skip right to the Hard level to avoid falling asleep. I honestly can't imagine who they tuned the Easy/Normal difficulties for, as I am nowhere near an amazing third person shooter player but even I blazed through Normal as if nothing was even shooting back before turning it up. On Hard if you don't make use of the cover system you'll end up very dead very fast, usually within three shots from a typical pistol. The cover system is standard fare nowadays, if you've played Mass Effect 2 or Gears of War you'll be right at home. The shooting missions all take place in unique areas of the city that you normally don't have access to and the set pieces are great, but just like Mafia 1 you will spend a significant amount of time driving to and from locations, doing escort missions, drop off missions, and so on.

The amount of time spent in the car is both a blessing and a curse, as the city and music is all a fantastic experience, but it also means you get a lot of opportunities to see the quirky AI at work and some people are going to be annoyed at having to obey the speed limit or risk the police. Yes, while they've removed the requirement to stop at red lights, police will still come after you if they catch you speeding. They've added a kind of cruise control to keep your speed under control this time around if needed though. Some of the AI for the other motorists can be very strange. I had one civilian car randomly decide to slam into me on a bridge and send me plummeting to my demise, while another didn't acknowledge my existence and slammed into me and caused the police to chase me for a hit and run. On the other hand, there have been some pretty fantastic moments just watching the AI interact. One occurred while I was stopped at a red light (habit), and one car rear ended another. The victim jumped out of his car to drag the offending driver out to start pummeling him...not noticing the police car that witnessed the entire thing, who also jumped out to break up the fight and issue fines/arrests. Yes, the AI has flaws, but it's worth putting up with it's quirks to have completely unscripted moments like this occur.

So that's been a lot of praise, what went wrong?

It's mostly down to what seems to be cut or just plain held back content. The story is pretty short and there is no option for an after-the-story free roam, so you have to load up previous chapters and ignore current mission objectives to do so, which causes problems with the saving mechanics (more on that soon). Not having a free roam available is pretty hard to forgive, as this was in the original and worked great.

There is also a complete lack of side quests in Empire Bay...but the introductions and NPCs for them are suspiciously still present, and even tell you to come back later for more jobs that don't actually exist. These side missions were either outright cut due to time or held back to release as DLC packs. There are at least four NPCs that are prime candidates for future DLC that the game desperately needed to begin with, and it doesn't stop there. There are shockingly few available cars to steal and clothes to buy in game, so that makes it hard to see all of the pre-order exclusives held back. It's even to the point that one of the car models (the Hot-Rod in the Greaser pack) appears once in-game, and there is no possible way for you to store that car in your garage...even if you go to pains to get both the mission related car and it's variant out into the open world by using one car to push the other out of the mission zone. It's perfectly drivable, upgradeable, and everything else, but if you don't have the pre-order pack, too bad. Which is a real shame and feels like a really cheap move by 2K.

They also cut public transportation and melee weapons, along with all sorts of little touches (sitting down on benches or chairs, newspapers, all kinds of interactive stuff). The melee weapons are especially missed, as the fist-fights often feel very anemic and simple without them.

The save/check point system is also problematic. It's pretty much the mirror image of Mafia 1, but this is something that was a negative back then, too. They didn't need to implement quick saves, but a more thorough auto-save feature would have been a huge bonus. As it is, one of the AI drivers randomly sending you off a bridge can result in a lot of lost progress. In addition to the auto saves being sparse, which can make trying to do a free roam game difficult all by itself, reloading a previous chapter wipes your current progress. There are no save slots, so you either continue from your last auto-save, load up a previously played chapter (thus replacing the auto save), or start a new game (also replacing the auto save). This, quite frankly, sucks. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a free-roam mode unlocked after finishing the story, but add that to the skimpy amount of auto save points and no free roam mode and it's a major oversight.

I also really dislike the health regen mechanic. I realize that this was mostly a change made to try and appeal to the Halo-generation, but in a lot of ways it makes the diners almost useless. Between the regen, the free food at your home, and the auto-healing between chapters, it's very rare that you need to use the diners or food stands unless you're doing some free roam mischief. And (yes, I am harping about it) since there is no free roam mode, this is pretty glaring.

As a side note, Mafia 2 does use Steamworks as it's DRM, so there is no getting around attaching it to the Steam client even if you buy retail and negates whatever used market that still exists for PC games. Steamworks enables some very comprehensive stat tracking (including an amusing stat for time spent looking at Playboys), a smooth DLC store experience (even though you'll likely end up angry at what ends up there), and achievements for the OCD to collect. I do realize that it'll be a dealbreaker for some even if it doesn't bother me at all, but that is something everybody needs to decide for themselves. If you're unsure or have never used Steam before, you can try the demo and see how it works...just make sure to delete your progress on the demo before starting a new game on the full version, as there's a progress-related bug with the save data.

Despite some (pretty major) complaints, I still enjoyed the heck out of this game and recommend it if you enjoyed the first or are just a fan of single player story-based games. I'd actually put the star rating at a 3.5 if possible, but rounded up due to genuinely enjoying the story and game despite the flaws.

Fun story but that's exactly what it is a playable story. Linear with no story line branches.
Graphics are great. Sound and immersion factor are good. Controls are so so.
No option to use a racing wheel for driving. Over all still work a play through.
I highly recommend "The Saboteur" Same era with just about as good graphics but
many more options, free play, etc.

SHORT REVIEW:
I've been waiting for Mafia 2 since a couple years ago when I first heard of it. I'm not a shooting games guy, but I played the first Mafia several years ago and it's still one of my favorite games. Mafia II uses a very similar formula to the first one overall and, although they took away some things from the first game that I liked a lot, they added some other and it's a freaking game!!! They put a lot of attention to details all over the place. Still, I understand why some people might not like it, there's a lot of driving, and sometimes you have to do not-so-exciting stuff like loading crates on a truck. If you're on the fence I'd suggest you to download the demo and try it out or keep reading, I'll go into more detail without giving any of the story away.

LONG REVIEW (Read the short one first):
The driving is amazing, the cars get smashed, parts of them fly out, the trunk and hood unlatch when you hit'em, etc. They even get dirty!!! The other thing I love is that you're not invincible inside the car, you're vulnerable to gunshots and crashes, you can actually get killed in one crash if it's hard enough. I read some reviewers who don't like this and prefer the style of GTA and other games where you can flip around, jump and crash and nothing happens to your health. I respect that but to me, the risk of getting killed or shot raises the stakes and makes it more exciting. It's way more exciting to know that if you crash at high speed you can die than to just drive around smashing everything off the way with no consequences, this is especially true in car chases. The only thing I don't like about the driving in Mafia II is that they simplified it from the first one. There's no clutch or manual transmission, and I miss to be able to shoot out of the window while driving, it was hard to manage but i'm sure that shooting while driving in real life is not easy either :)

I'll start with fist fighting, it's fast and fun, the dodging could be more difficult but it's pretty good.
As I said before, i'm not a big shooter game fan, but the gunfights are exciting, the cover system works great, if you're taking cover but you're too close to the edge, you can still get hurt. The guns feel pretty robust and heavy. The enemies are smart sometimes and dumb other times, overall it works pretty good though, they'll flank you if you stay in cover for too long so it's not just shooting as they get out of cover all the time. The music of course is amazing and it makes it feel like you're in an action movie. I would like however if you could hide the HUD so you can't know where the bad guys are all the time (like in the first one) --(UPDATE: If you set the level to hard the baddies won't appear in your HUD (the cops will though))--.

The feeling of being in Empire Bay is astonishing, there's detail everywhere. They did a great job of putting it together, the sound, the people, the cars. Everything is done in great detail, if people have a car accident they'll get out of the car and yell at each other, when it's snowy you can see some people slipping and falling on the ground, there's some people waiting for the bus or the train, people on the phones, etc. You can almost smell the city. I know some people would like to have some side missions but I enjoy and appreciate the more focused approach of this one, (although I will try Jimmy's Vendetta pack which is supposed to be more open missions).

To compare it to the first Mafia game, this one is way better in terms of the city feeling (which of course has a lot to do with the technical limitations of 8 years ago). I must say though, I liked to use the public transportation on the first Mafia and in this one you can't do that, but it's a little detail in the middle of the great job they did with all the other details.


They do a good job in making the missions different, there's stealthy missions, shootouts, bombs, etc. They're really fun. The cut scenes are very well done which, being a film buff myself, I appreciate. The whole game feels like a big movie you're part of. Yes, there's a lot of driving and some parts that are not so exciting, but all that adds realism and flavor to the whole experience. I found myself playing several hours before realizing it was 3am. If you liked the first one you're gonna like this one, if you didn't play it or didn't like it download the demo, here's the official link: [...]
Hope it helps.

In short, this game was fun. It has several problems - its gameplay isn't as tight as GTA, its story is VERY cliche - but if you can get it cheap it's a lot of fun. The mission structure is dumb - I understand they made it that way to tell the story, but its structure is more like a linear shooter pretending to be an open world game. In the end, the game was nothing special, but fun nonetheless.

A great plus: no matter where and how you buy it (download or disk, Amazon or Wal-Mart) you can register the CD key on Steam; this allows you to add it to your Steam library, earn Steam achievements, and re-download it from Steam as many times as you like.

I bought this game due to being huge fan of the Mafia The city of lost heaven. So far this game is huge disappointment. Beside the advancement due to 8 years of technological progress, faster cards, better graphic and physics engine everything else is below average.
Basically they're selling half finished game for a price of a full game, just Google mafia removed content, and you'll get the idea of what has been cut. The main story is so short that you can finish it in several hours, there is no free ride mode and the missions that should be part of the main story were being sold as some silly DLCs trying to squeeze every penny of those who were to foolish to buy the game and for some masochistic reasons haven't resell it yet. The 2k is a text book example how NOT to treat your customers denying everything, from cut content to removed features and repeating itself that the whole team is very satisfied with the game, since the mastermind behind mafia franchise Daniel Vavra already left, and if you check the Czech sites you'll find 2k Czech team rebutting those words feeling unsatisfied with the product, you could wonder how stupid does 2k think that people are.
For those that haven't played the first Mafia, Mafia franchise fallows a linear story which is in the spirit of the franchise, more like an playable movie then as a sandbox game. The problem with this installment beside the lack of free ride that added depth to the story is the lack of character development. There is an excellent review of the story here [..]so I don't feel that I need to repeat it. Basically nothing that you can do doesn't makes much sense or quite fits in the mood.

Pros
- Nice cutscenes
- Fun driving except in high speed
- Great graphic
- Behind the cover combat system

Cons
- Unlikeable main character
- Story full of holes
- No free ride (Jimmy's Vendetta DLC is waste of money)
- console steering of character
- Mediocre for its time
- Save system from the dark ages
- Unfitting map
- No public transport
- City feels empty
- Too much character model reuse
- Stolen side missions and sold as DLC to unfamiliar character

In Mafia 2, you play Vito Scaletta, a first generation italian immigrant as he goes on his adventures (and misadventures) with his childhood friend Joe Barbaro through 40s/50s mob-land (New York City renamed "Empire Bay"). Although this game shares a publisher (Take Two) with the "other" open-world gangster game series (a little game called GTA by a little outfit called Rockstar), it is a Czech production (2K Czech). This dichotomy really shows, Mafia 2 offers up top shelf voice-acting, and licensed music, and above average graphics; yet it somehow falls short of greatness. The 15 missions (which you have to accept from your safehouse) are short and simplistic, and there is only a single story arc. And once you complete the game, you are effectively locked out of the sandbox mode! The incessant racial slurs and explicit violence seemed overtly sensationalistic and detracted from the experience (chances are there will be a racial slur hurled at your ethnicity haltingly delivered by a half-embarrassed voice actor). These unfortunate design and writing missteps mar this otherwise enjoyable period piece. Che peccato.

This game is fantastic as long as you come into the game realizing that this game is no GTA. Not every game with an open city is GTA folks, this game is centered around it's characters and story. You follow Vito an ex Army soldier draftee turned mobster from his rise from lowly gangster to made-man. If you enjoy a good wise-guy story then this game is for you. The mission types are your standard run of the mill 3rd person shooter and the brawling is fun though it can get a little repetitive. The gameplay is just enough to keep you entertained throughout and the story keeps you interested along the way. The visuals on the game are outstanding especially on PC. You see a lot of detail throughout the city. I give it around say a 8.5 out of 10, really solid experience as long as you have the proper expectations going into the game. Those expectations are as follows...

THIS IS NOT A GTA GAME NOR SHOULD IT BE...IT IS STORY DRIVEN NOT GAMEPLAY DRIVEN. Go into the game with that mindset and I think you'll have yourself a good time.

Great game, but too little story. You get about 12 hours of play and not any real abilities to do anything on your own. Little to no action with the general public (except for fist fights). The story ends and well...it ends. Hopefully, they will continue the story line so we know what happens to Vito's best friend and please try to base in on the original Mafia story which gave the players much more control.

This is similar to the original Mafia. For those that don't know, the gameplay is similar to Grand Theft Auto in the sense that you follow missions and it's a linear story, but it does not have any of the side missions available in the GTA auto series. If you enjoy story based quest games, this is enjoyable, but the lack of options for taking side-missions/quests does limit the enjoyment - sometimes you want to take a break from taking out your next mark and just want to play taxi driver for a while, but you don't have those options unfortunately. I do enjoy the game.

This is a great game that captures the feel of the 40s and 50s, between the beautiful city and nostalgic soundtrack to the great story. It's a great follow up to the original Mafia. Unfortunately, it's surprisingly linear and fairly short, but for those ~15 hours, you'll have a blast.