MAFIA 2 REVIEW
Until it's release in August 2010, Mafia 2 had been in the making for 6 years following on from the original Mafia. I never played the original Mafia but my understanding is there is no story related connection between both games. It also rests much of it's credibility on being both story driven and open world, with much of it dedicated to being a third person shooter. So did I like Mafia 2?, read the review to find out.
STORY
The story of Mafia 2 follows Vito Scaletta, who as a young boy emigrated with his family from Sicily to Empire Bay in America. The first chapter takes place at the time of the Second World War, with Vito assigned to Operation 'Husky'. After returning home injured he returns to his family who themselves are having some 'problems', after your poor farther took out a large amount of money before he died from a loan shark and failed to pay it back. Your initial mission is to get your sister and mother out of debt, but you soon become entangled in Empire bay's seedy Mafia underworld. The Clemente, Falcone and Vinci family control the Mafia in Empire Bay, and the story progresses in a struggle of betrayal and back stabbing as you rise through their ranks. The lead Vito Scaletta has been largely criticised for being bland and robotic, but infact his generic persona makes him more relate able as a person. Supporting characters such as Joe are really very convincing playing the role as the confident, but yet accident prone friend of Vito. The lead will also encounter Henry, who has long term experience in the Mafia, this is probably the worst character, because although convincing, as one of the protagonists he isn't very likeable. The 'twist' at the end is a little subtle and rushed with the final cutscene lasting a matter of seconds, but it still really delivers genuine emotion and almost seems perfect for the nature of the game. Overall, the story is the greatest part of the game and one of the best in a video game to date and it's guaranteed to draw most people's attention throughout the game. 9.5
GAMEPLAY
It's a shame that as the most important section, that this is probably the weakest part of the game. Although the driving mechanics are solid and definitely aren't broken, saying they're overused is an understatement. It's not the fact you have to drive all the way back to your home at the end of the mission, it's just the sheer amount of it in the game overall. I'm pretty convinced I spent well over about 30% of the game actually in a car driving. The thing is there's no thrill to driving so having it used so often really is just frankly boring, and felt like filler to lengthen the game. When you get into the action of the game and the shooting sections, the game starts to warm up. The shooting in the first few chapters is mediocre, but once you get your hands on the automatic weapons, things really do spring into life. The shooting feels very familiar but also very polished. It doesn't provide the biggest challenge even on hard difficulty but it remains very satisfying. A stealth mechanic is included but feels almost useless, used only twice in the whole game. In addition to the 'action' elements of gameplay, there's also the 'RPG' elements. You are free to explore the entire open world as soon as your in it. Unfortunately, there isn't much 'exploring' to speak of. Over 100 shops may sound reasonably good, but when there are only seven types of shops it leaves a lot to be desired from the open world. The only real RPG feature I was really impressed with was the 'Body Shop'. Far from original but about as far the game goes with customization, allowing you to repaint, repair and fine tune your car. 7.0
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
There's a lot to be said about the graphical difference between the PS3 and X360 versions of this game. The PS3's lack of lush grass, pools of blood and clothing animation are all disappointing but far from fatal. The game still presents a nice open world which looks like it nails the 1940's and 50's era with authentic (and actually quite funny) radio commentary and music. The biggest problems probably arise from screen tearing and jaggedness that are present, particularly when objects are seen from a long distance. These troubles are counteracted by the excellent CGI cutscenes that make the player evermore see Mafia 2's story as they would see a movie. The voice acting is excellent, with Vito, Henry and Joe all sounding believable. Allow for a few questionable lines from Joe in particular, but for the most part the writing is solid. Overall, the graphics are great. Just don't expect to hop over a fence into one of the areas of the game that didn't receive much 'love', and find lush growing grass. 8.0
REPLAY VALUE
It took me around fourteen hours to complete Mafia 2 on hard difficulty, and your length will really come down to how much time you devote the open world. After completing I cleaned up all the trophies (apart from a few posters) and clocked in around 20 hours of gameplay. Reasonable? Yes, because it delivers such a great experience from the start that even though it lacks replay value, it still holds up pretty well. No multiplayer component or grinding trophies will ensure you don't spent too long with Mafia 2, add with an open world competent that gives little added time also. Most of your extended time will be spent with 'The Betrayal of Jimmy' which arrives as free, day one, DLC, providing you bought the game new and on Playstation 3. Further DLC is promised on 7 September with 'Jimmy's Vendetta', featuring the same arcade gun-play as the first DLC for under $10 (I think). If you don't have time for DLC, then you'll be trading this game in within a week most likely. If your looking for an epic size open world game try Red Dead Redemption or GTA IV, or Fallout 3. For an open world game, Mafia 2 delivers quality over quantity. 6.5
TROPHIES
I won't give a numerical value for Trophies, as they're entirely subjective most of the time. In my opinion, this is a good trophy list which possibly could have been a bit harder. A nice idea, are the mission specific ones that reward you for producing the best possible scenario. A bad idea, is making almost all of them mission specific. Collecting all the Wanted Posters, you will likely leave until last, as it is one of the boring trophies possible, with 159 to collect. In particular one on a roof makes this just about the only trophy causing me problems. Some nice trophy images with a good art style also boost this effort, but releasing DLC trophies on to the actual list before the DLC is out, stopping everyone from 100%, really 2k?, Really?
Score: 8.0
Recommendation: Buy
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