Mafia II
Available Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Game Developer: 2KCzech
Game Publisher: 2K Games
Release Date: August 24, 2010 (North America)
Official Website: mafia2game.com
Game summary:
Mafia II offers an engrossing storyline, packed in highly detailed visuals. The open-world gameplay manages to deliver a seamless story. Backed by a classic soundtrack, Mafia II is a game worth paying the price of admission.
Rating: 4.75 out of 5
Mafia II review
Open-world games are filled with great opportunities to tell engaging stories that can span multiple environments. With Mafia II, 2K Czech has pretty much nailed the open-world design as a storytelling tool. As Italian immigrant Vito Scaletta, players develop from barely surviving in poverty and running with the wrong crowds to being a major player in the mob. The story development and focus is reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid in its depth. Multiple different story arcs run alongside the main story and yet everything feels as though it ties together as events would in real life. Although the story is superb, some elements do seem to be missing compared to other open-world games. In any case, the Mafia II‘s presentation and gameplay mechanics are fantastic in their own right.
Mafia II starts off with Vito being sent to fight in World War II in exchange for being spared jail time for burglary. Right off the bat I noticed that this third-person game has a fantastic cover system. Similarly to Gears of War, the A button is reserved for going in and out of cover. Systems like these in games seem easy to do but hard to get right and Mafia II truly excels. I never felt that I died needlessly in a shoot out because the cover system was tuned improperly. In fact, the cover reacted to commands better than Gears of War in some cases. If you add in the fact that enemy bullets kill almost immediately, then it is obvious that a good cover is simply essential. I also noticed some bullet penetration and destructible cover effects at work. One of the “wow” moments came from a shoot out after a botched assassination. While enemies tried holding my player back with a few spurts from their Tommy guns, Vito was shielding his face from the exploding concrete next to him. Details like that add tons to the experience.
The driving mechanics in the game range from solid to passable. Players have the option to choose from normal or simulation driving controls, the difference being that simulation driving seems to less more friction. I actually found myself switching from normal to sim and back again simply because simulation driving makes the car handle on the slippery side. The difference was more noticeable toward the beginning of the game when Empire Bay was covered in snow. Escaping from cops then was nearly impossible and I found myself in “pinball” mode when driving. When the snow melts the handling is still more “slippery”, but I found that the effect was at a more realistic and tolerable level. Unfortunately, the main negative in the gameplay is that aside from driving and walking there isn’t much else to do. There is no boating to speak of, no TV and no other side forms of interaction. Mafia II is simply built to support the story.
The presentation alone in Mafia II is worth the price of admission. The story is a superbly written drama, where families get in with the wrong people, friends turn out to be more trouble than they’re worth and people only associate with their own race. It was a heck of a thing to be truly moved when a character learned of their family member’s death while in jail. The game definitely doesn’t glorify organized crime – but presents it realistically. Vito does end up profiting immensely from being a mafia rising star, but at the cost of all other intangibles in life. 2K Czech should give their writers a bonus for this one.
The game’s graphics are also awesome – not surprising since the game’s engine was created from the ground up. Textures looked crisp and I never once saw any low-res trickery. Characters are a stand-out feature of the game and I was delighted at how well faces were done. The graphics were all created without the use of pre-rendering. In my opinion, characters are twice as detailed as those in GTA IV and are comparable to other smaller scaled games. Even the lighting in the game is phenomenal and I found myself consciously appreciating the detail. To top it all off, the voice acting in Mafia II is incredible. Obviously the impact of the story hinged on this fact since I’ve never been moved by lines delivered like a roller coaster operator. Finally, the game is loaded with an authentic 40′s and 50′s soundtrack. Music ranges from obscure instrumental pieces to songs that even I knew the words to. Mixed in with the music is a radio announcer delivering the top news of the times, adding the final cherry to the audio sundae.
Mafia II is a great game. Even if it is lacking multiplayer or the ability to drive boats and helicopters, the game is spectacular. The entire package essentially revolves around delivering a powerful story and the execution is nearly flawless. Helping the story along are the crisp high-powered visuals and engrossing audio. Even if you have no intentions of ever buying this game, at the very least rent it out. On the other hand, if you are thinking about getting your hands on Mafia II, you should do it ASAP. It’s that good.
