Mafia II anyone?

[Grandpa Troll]

Just seeing if anyone has played this game?

(Preferrably on PC)

Thanks one and all!

Grandpa Troll

[DrSpike]

It got pretty weak reviews - wasn't planning on looking at it.

[Snotty]

Sandbox game, now with collectibles youre going to want to collect.

I played the demo, failed to run over any pedestrians, but shot a few people in the face.

Having a more dynamic environment (opening windows, etc) seemed like a big step in the right direction. However I often found the most compelling parts of sandbox games were the things that went on in the world outside of the story missions. Bowling, buying houses, picking up hookers etc

[duke o' york]

It got pretty weak reviews - wasn't planning on looking at it.

That's a very generous description of the reviews I've read.

As far as sandbox is concerned, there seems to be almost nothing to do beyond the missions. I've heard of players spending all evening in the GTA casino, and at least with GTA you can drive round the city respecting all the laws and just enjoying the radio stations if shooting passers-by or finishing missions isn't your cup of tea that time around.

[Al B. Sure!]

I'm intrigued by it because I played the demo and the setting is fantastic... the 50's architecture, clothing, classic cars, music... but I don't really like sandbox games.

[Ninot]

I still haven't found a bootleg copy of it here. I'm not really willing to pay full price for it, but I'd buy it if I saw it cheap

[jillyronald]

I played its demo version. Not too much interesting. There are no different between first and third version, about the second level, that it is little bit difficult to finish it.

[heavyrain]

Yes I played Mafia 2 . It is a nice action game. I play this game and I like the concept of the games as well as the graphics of the game .I like the stages also .

[Al B. Sure!]

I'm playing it.

it's actually NOT a sandbox game. Yeah, you can wander around and enjoy the sights, the cars, and the music, but there's no side missions or anything to do besides sticking up gas station attendants and newspaper stands. Only the main story-line. The game is very linear but that allows them to tell the story better and without repetitive missions.

I do wonder if they were rushed into releasing the game because certain things make me wonder if they were originally planning to have side missions. There's a guy at the docks who says he'll have jobs for you and there's a guy at a salvage place who also says he will have jobs for you to pick up certain cars from time to time but neither of them have any work when you go there. I'm thinking they couldn't get those missions in before a deadline. Not to say the game isn't complete, though. The main story is fleshed out.

But it is definitely NOT an open-world sandbox game and is NOT the same type of game as Grand Theft Auto though it may look like it. It's more of a linear-story Gears of War-like cover shooter (hell, the first chapter is in WW2) that lets you wander around between the set pieces.

If you check the reviews, they're not weak. Just extremely mixed. Some reviewers (like Gamespot) praised the game while others (IGN) hated it. I think a lot of it came down to expectations. If you were expecting GTA set in the 40's and 50's, you'd be disappointed but if you were looking for a shooter and a story, Mafia II delivers. The reviews pretty much confirm this fact. All the negative ones compare it to a bad GTA but say it's boring with nothing to do whereas the positive reviews talk about how good the story is. Funny how expectations can completely color the attitude toward a game.

This one review I saw sums the controversy up and the reason for the mixed reviews:

The main complaint about this game that I've seen is that it's not Grand Theft Auto. This game is HIGHLY story-based. It is a campaign game set in an open world. The purpose of the open world is to create the incredible atmosphere for the player to experience the story in. Grand Theft Auto on the other hand was created as a playground for the player, in which they could pick up a bunch of stuff to do in the playground. That is the difference.

[Al B. Sure!]

I've played it a bit more. It's pretty good. The story is engrossing enough and the cinematics/voice acting is among the best in video games (I'd say the voice acting here is better than Mass Effect 2) that you would want to keep playing just to see what happens but it is the usual Mafia fare... nothing ground-breaking here in terms of story because it's the Godfather, Goodfellas, and whatever else all wrapped into one. Their presentation in a video game is pretty good, though. In some ways, this is like an interactive movie.

One thing that's cool that is making me wonder about previous missions is there's a part where, not to get too much into the story, you have to warn a friend about another friend who is coming to hit him and you're trying to quietly get out of the house with the friend without being seen. I was surprised to see different cinematics depending on whether you hide under the bed, in the closet, in the shower, or if you actually figure out the way out of the house. Nice touch that I think most people would never notice through a single play-through. Overall though, the linearity of the game doesn't lend itself to a second play-through, judging from my experience about 2/3rds of the way in.


Here's a tip for Grandpa Troll and anyone else wondering about games in general. I watch youtube videos of a walkthrough of the game. Not the whole thing but a level or two. Yes, it spoils things when I actually play the game but it's a great way to get a sense of what the game is about, how it plays, etc.