2K Games first released Mafia 2 on August 24th, 2010 on Xbox 360, PS3 & PC. From 2K Czech (formerly Illusion Softworks), comes a 3rd person shooter, action-adventure sequel that chronicles the rise of Vito Scaletta who must join the Falcone crime family and become a made man, along with his best friend Joe Barbaro.
System: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Third-person shooter, action, adventure
Release dates: August 24, 2010 (America), August 26, 2010 (Australia), August 27, 2010 (Europe)
Players: 1
Developer: 2K Czech
Publisher: 2K Games
Origin: Czech Republic
Rating: ESRB: M, PEGI: 18, BBFC: 18, OFLC: MA15+
Mafia 2 provides a beautifully crafted look into the dark and unforgiving world of the Mob. Expanding upon the original hit, the game takes you deeper into the Mafia with a mature and compelling narrative that will immerse you like never before.
A quick look through the Collector’s Edition of Mafia 2 for 3 minutes and then a review. Hope y’all enjoy!
Agree/disagree with my thoughts? Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you think!
Music from the game used in the review:
All the tracks playing in the background are from the official Mafia 2 soundtrack purchased from iTunes.co.uk.
1. Straighten Up and Fly Right – The Andrews Sisters
2. Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
3. Hot Rod – Mafia II OST
4. Trials and Tribulations – Mafia II OST
5. Main Theme – Mafia II OST
6. Smokestack Lightnin’ – Howlin’ Wolf
As a conclusion let’s see how much fun the game is on a scale from 1 to 10:
Story
I really liked the characters. There weren’t very sympathetic, but I don’t think a character has to be sympathetic to be likable. Vito especially did what was necessary to defend his family. Overall, I think the story and the characters were perfect for the theme the developers were creating.
Gameplay
The gameplay mainly revolves around third-person shooter mechanics and travel, lots and lots of travel. But it also has an odd mixture of stealth, brawling, and other kind of criminal activities such as lock-picking and legalizing your car.
I thought the balance between everything else and driving was really good up until 3/4th of the way through the game, where suddenly the distance you had to travel just tripled. But generally fist fighting, shooting and all of those things were very simple and straightforward, which creates a very smooth gameplay experience. Although I would like to have seen more side-missions, I don’t know about the rest of you, but there are points in the game where you’re left to your own devices. There are gaps in the gameplay where you have to go meet Joe or Eddie at the Maltese Falcon and it’s there where you can wander around the city, but once you do there’s not really much to do.
There’s also art works and mock posters to unlock. You can pick two things up during gameplay, Playboy magazines and Wanted posters, that is if you can be bothered to collect them all. Also, Playboy wasn’t around yet back then, so why they couldn’t have stuck with the classic pin-up girls I’m not sure.
Overall, I didn’t have any major problems with the gameplay, but I just don’t think they took it as far as they could have.
Graphics
The graphics look really great. Specifically, they really paid a lot of attention to detail in the character models. I remember with Vito, that he’s got this scar on his jaw that’s barely visible, but it’s still there. And in some cutscenes you can see shaving nicks on Joe’s neck. It’s small things like that, that really add a lot of realism and I thought that was really great that they paid that sort of attention to it.
For all the great character models, the textures, and the realism, the same civilian will still pass you by three or four times on the street. That some parts feel that generic is a little disappointing. That said, Empire Bay and the characters live and breathe visually as the story progresses. I think that’s really powerful.
Audio
The score is perfection. It really captures the essence of the theme the developers were trying to create with Mafia 2. You have some real wise-guy sounding tracks like “Enemy of the State”, “Hot Rod”, and “Cleaning Up”. Countered with some somber sounding melodies like the “Main Theme” — which is my personal favorite linked below — and “For Better, For Worse”.
So overall, the score is a great accompaniment to the visuals and the story and just in general really. The soundtrack is given to you through three Empire Bay radio stations, which play songs like “Smokestack Lightning” by Howling Wolf, “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, and “Straighten Up and Fly Right” by The Andrews Sisters. I’m British, so I’m almost obligated to choose the latter. 🙂
While some of the songs weren’t released yet in the time the game’s set, the music does do its job during set-pieces and in creating the time period.
OVERALL FUN-FACTOR — 9
Overall, I’m really impressed with Mafia 2. I’ve played it over and over again more-so for the story. I’m a big fan of Goodfellas, I love the Godfather trilogy and those kinds of movies, and like Red Dead Redemption this game puts me in its setting.
I think it’s a good experience, but for all the good points, they’ve tainted it with something that doesn’t quite fit. I wanna give it a 8.5 but leaning more towards a 9, as it’s a really enjoyable game. The story and the overall Mafia experience outweighs the bad points.
Please leave your thoughts and feelings below. Thank you for watching; I always love to hear what you guys have to say!
For help with the game, check out our Mafia 2 walkthrough.