We will do our best to avoid mafia and Italian related puns, we promise! Now for those of you who don’t remember we previewed Mafia II a few weeks back and we brought various different little bits and pieces about the game to the front so we could have a proper look at how it was shaping up. Since then we’ve gotten our sticky fingers on a copy of the game and it hasn’t been ejected once from our Xbox 360 since we got it. Mafia II is as close to a perfect game as you can get, it combines elements from some of our favourite games and has found its way into our top three summer games of 2010. Don’t just take our word for it keep reading and soon it will become pretty clear why we think this game has set the bar for all future releases for 2K…no pressure guys!
Plot
You are Vito Scaletta, a bratty Italian-American just home from the War in Europe. Having been arrested for theft, Vito accepted time in the military over a prison sentence. Once he gets home he soon finds out that before his father passed away he borrowed two grand from a loan shark. Seeking out his old friend Joe Barbaro, Vito begins a journey that will see him turn from a small time crook to one of the most well known and feared men in the city of Empire Bay.
Spanning fifteen chapters set over a course of 10 years, Vito and his criminal buddies face a deadly and ruthless climb up the ladders of the families and with friends willing to sell you out and the cops chasing your tail, there is no time to look over your shoulder.
The developers and writers for Mafia II have done a fantastic job on drawing the player into the world of Vito Scaletta, from tracing his early childhood up to his time served in the war and his deeds when he returns – it is almost impossible to not become immersed and absorbed into the world Vito and Empire Bay.
Gameplay
We thought we were in love with ‘Red Dead Redemption’ but Mafia II has since pushed the cowboy game off the top spot and we no longer want to play cowboys and Indians and have our little gamer hearts set on cops and robbers.
Simply put, Mafia II is a 3rd person shooter, it follows the same line as ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and ‘Red Dead Redemption’ but there is something a lot smoother and intelligent about the system in Mafia II. It isn’t about strolling in with a machine gun and blowing away fifteen or twenty bad guys. To quote Daniel Vávra, lead designer for Mafia II:
“A high body count is still promised in this tale set in a fictional city ‘inspired by’ New York of the 1940s and ’50s, but those casualties will come the hard way – through small-scale operations rather than mass firefights.”
As in all 3rd person shooters, a wide array of weapons are once again available for you to use including your fists. Some of the fights you have one on one are difficult and definitely get you worked up over knocking some guys’ lights out.
Progressing through the chapters will see you take on various different types of jobs, from stealing cars and goods, collecting money and even turning on former allies and cohorts and as you progress the difficulty rises.
The real heart of the game lies not in your actions or the controls but in the city of Empire Bay itself. The work invested in creating a fictitious city has paid off as every block of the metropolis feels like it belongs on some map somewhere. The cars, the people, the radio stations everything about the world of Mafia II is used to draw you only further into the game. While it might look polished and wholesome on the surface beneath this city lays a seedy underbelly, run by criminals.
Verdict
‘Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven’ was meant as a dedication to the gangster movies we have all seen and own and while there were definitely references to these movies, it’s sequel has gone way beyond it. Mafia II has done more than just be inspired by the Godfather, Goodfellas and Scarface – it has found its place among these classic movies, creating a world that could actually exist, characters that probably drew breath and a story that surpasses some of the great movies of our time. Mafia II has shown that with work, a dedicated team and some fantastic writing, that a great game can be more than flashy graphics and realistic characters – an entire world can be created to draw us in and keep us their well after we’ve completed the story.
If you are a fan of your 3rd person shooters, gangster movies or you are looking for something to keep you interested longer than twenty minutes, Mafia II is a game that you need to go out and get.
2K games…you’ve outdone yourselves …and we wait anxiously for your next release!
Good Points
Everything about this game is as about as perfect as a game can get!
Bad Points
We haven’t found any yet!
Gold Stars
8/10
