Mafia II Review (Move over stupid Facebook app. The real Mafia game is here)

Last night Mafia II was vanquished. Thus, I have opinions to write about. I believe these things are called reviews. I suppose I should just get on with it.

I'm not going to lie. I've never been more excited for a game with an awful predecessor. Maybe it's because I love Mafia related things. Maybe it's because I love the time period (1940's-1950's) for video games. Maybe it's because the game started looking great as more and more came out about it. In any case, I will tell you right now, it is.

Let us get the usual stuff out of the way shall we? The core mechanics simply work. There was never a time when the controls screwed me over. I cannot say that for the original. Cover is tight and moving around it is simple. I know that's not a complete rarity these days, but I honestly never had one issue with it. Enemy AI is intelligent. If you overextend yourself, you will get rushed, and they will kill you. Trust me... It happened more than once. Driving is fun and cars handle differently. You can even tune them for better performance and fix an engine on the road if you crash too much. That comes in handy for car chases. Oh, and speaking of cars, you are given handy lock picks that make stealing them a bit more discreet. Are there cops around that would make smashing the window a bad idea? Just use a lockpick. they won't notice. And on the topic of cops, the old system is back. Basically this means you can be punished in different ways. Do something reckless, you will get a ticket. Do something violent, you will be arrested (which you can resist). However, if you do something something horrible, you will be shot on sight. Oh and yes, speeding is an offense. I wan't ever pulled over for running a red light though, although passengers chastised me for doing so.

The escape system is also a bit interesting, although it makes getting away a bit too easy sometimes. It is the 40's and 50's, though. They didn't have police choppers and advanced ways of keeping tabs on you. You can be wanted in two different ways. One is based on appearance. The other is based on your license plate. You become wanted differently depending on whether you are on foot or in a car when you do something illegal. If the cops get a good look at you in your car, they'll report your appearance. Also, if you are wanted based on appearance and you are in an unknown vehicle, you can pretty much get around just fine, unless you drive next to a cop for too long. Getting rid of these marks is simple enough. Either change clothes, change cars unseen, or drive to an auto shop and get your plates changed.

Now on to some things I absolutely adored. The details in the game were incredible. Everything from subtle nuances to cinematic moments were terrific. I suppose we should start with subtle and move our way up.

While running at normal speed in combat with a gun drawn felt a bit stiff due to lack of Euphoria, other things made up for it. When you sprint the camera shakes slightly giving that added feeling of weight. Vito's animations in combat also caught my notice. If he is near the edge of cover and a stray bullet hits the edge he rears back. It looks something like this:

A similar thing happens when you run from one point to another under fire. Vito ducks a little and puts his hands up as if his reflex is to get lower and protect his face. It makes him feel more real. Just as you don't want to have to replay a segment, he doesn't want to get shot and die. I also have a lot of love for the reloading animations and gunshot sounds. Anyone who has seen the Dirty Harry movies will love how the Magnum sounds. The destructibility that I mentioned in the demo impressions is also here. Having a shootout definitely takes its toll on a location with pillars chipping and doors falling apart. The best example of this is when you shoot up a gang hideout from the outside in classic fashion. This scene is pictured below:

Seriously... There isn't much left of this place when you get finished with it.


This next opinion seems to go against the grain of most other reviews, but here is goes anyway. A lot of reviewers seem the think that the city isn't what it could have been. Some have even said that, based on how linearly the game plays, it wasn't even necessary. I disagree. I believe the city serves it's purpose by just giving you a place to travel in. It's populated enough to give the appearance that it is living ( I really liked the newspaper vendors yelling your recent escepades to the puplic) and I feel like it's just big enough to not feel underwhelming. No, it isn't Liberty City and it doesn't have the awesome dynamic event system that Red Dead had, but I feel like the city has its merits in the way that it was handled. For one, it allows for cinematic moments that you can watch or interact with. In the return home at the beggining, you can help a woman fix her car for example. Yes, it will only happen this once, but it makes it more meaningful because it won't get repetative and it doesn't just happen with random people. You can also converse with an old shopkeeper you knew that is being forced to shut his business down. On the way up the stairs you can see a cat jump out a window and at later points in the game you'll even see police knocking on the doors of your neighbors. It is in these moments that I feel the city comes to life.

Are there better open world games? Yes. But they are all made by a little company called Rockstar. Do not let that fool you, though. It is still an extremely engaging game with great characters and a terrific story. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

9 out of 10 shell casings.