Mafia II is 2K Games’ latest sandbox-styled “open-world” title and follows from 2002’s Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. The game has been building a heap of anticipation ever since it was first announced at the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention. It tells the tale of a young and upcoming ambitious mafioso in the 1940s and early 1950s, a story studded with a load of truisms about the hush-hush life of organized crime at the time. The first game had clearer and crisper graphics than its contemporary competitors, and this iteration in the series delivers in terms of graphical output.
The game mechanic is much like in the first with quite a few revamps and upgrades. A superb cover system makes its way into the series, allowing players to get into the heat of a gun battle. In fact the cover system is so deeply infused into gameplay that you’ll rarely be able to come out of a gun fight with your life if you don’t employ a clever mix of dodging in and out of cover and switching locations strategically. There is even a stealth system, which commands you not to go in all guns blazing. At times you’ll need to sneak around obstacles and make-shift mobsters delivering a silent yet fatal blow. A partially regenerating health meter also helps when the Mafia throws everything at you.
What the game doesn’t do though, is give the player a feeling of a truly open world. There is very little to do besides the series of seemingly single-minded missions. You can’t do odd jobs and side missions in between the game’s story missions, besides taking cars to the crusher’s and robbing stores, and this is one aspect which takes away from an otherwise marvelous experience.
If you are anything like the core gamers of old, you won’t be satisfied with just one play-through and you’ll probably revisit the cityscape to try and find all of the game’s many collectibles. They are hard to come by and you really have to be on the lookout, especially in back alleys and run down locales. Doing mission after mission may take away from the brilliance of an open-world title and roaming about in between Mafia “hits” may be the sensible thing to do.
Character progression in Mafia II is something of a delight. Practically no other video game has as deep a progression of its protagonist as Mafia II does. What the main character, Vito, goes through in the early part of the game is not only interesting, compelling and wholly refreshing, but also provides the base for a solid personality which serves as a sort of strong back story. The later part of the game however, deals much with having to face the consequences of “decisions” made in the beginning and doesn’t really give you a whole lot, in terms of progression. What the story in Mafia II does fantastically though, is merge part of itself with a point in the first game; just a small part. This is something that those who’ve played through the first will definitely love.
The police force in Mafia II is certainly one of the game’s huge positives. The cops really give you a run for your money, and the heat will be back on you if they spot you even long after you’ve lost the few pursuing officers. On the other hand, the developers have chosen to exclude a few things about law enforcement that you’d expect after playing through the first. Running red lights and stop signs in the presence of police officers counts for nothing, and Mafia II doesn’t feature any stepped up form of enforcing the laws even on the hardest difficulty setting.
The game’s extensive use of the cover system interspersed with heated pursuits makes for a great playing experience. Couple that with a good enough driving-force and great character progression, and you have all the makings of a fantastic title. But Mafia II does have more than a few shortcomings. The rather linear storyline and the inability to go out into a vibrant world make it a little frustrating.
Mafia II is comprised of marvelous sections, brilliantly carved environs, some fantastic cars, and a little bit of that 50s magic, all with brilliant graphics and sensible enough AI, but fails to really go that extra mile overall. Ultimately it proves slightly less than the sum of its parts, but still makes for a captivating and an extremely engaging video game experience.
The Final Word: Character progression in Mafia II is amazing. Coupled with the game’s captivating storyline, the depth you get to is something few other titles can boast of. The game’s storyline though can be criticised for being too straight-forward and you get the cramped feeling of being shoved into a corner for a rather linear experience in a beautiful open world environment. A to-die-for hand-combat system which takes root in the early part of the title also ups the ante when the game needs to stand up and be counted amongst its competitors.
Graphics: 9/10.
Gameplay: 8.5/10.
Environments: 9.5/10.
Sound: 8.5/10.
Story: 8.0/10.
Replay Value: 9/10.
Overall (not an average): 8.6/10.