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If there is any story topic that feels like it is completely saturated by popular culture it is the story of the Mob. It seems like we have had the past century filled with these stories, including what some regard to be the best stories of all time. Likewise, though on a shorter timeframe, open world games have exploded in the past decade—an aesthetic that also includes what some regard to be the best games of all time. It leaves Mafia II in an awkward spot, as an open world game about the Mob.
Mafia II (360, PC, PS3)
Developer: 2K Czech
Publisher: 2K Games
Released: August 24, 2010
The game world, a faux-New York City, is wonderfully intricate. The interiors of buildings have functioning properties like light switches, fans, faucets, showers, and toilets. Outside, there is a similar level of fidelity. People will have conversations with each other, they will react appropriately to actions like carrying a gun or speeding down the street. It can feel like a living city when walking through it, only the game never really encourages that. The narrative is spread all across the city and when driving from point to point, many of the intricacies are glossed over.
Over the first third to half of the game, the narrative is serviceable but extremely trite. The first thing after coming home from World War II is that Vito, the main character, finds out his father was in deep debt (after mentioning he was a drunk) and thus Vito has to earn money to pay back a loan shark. Not exactly the most original opening set up. Later on, there are a few leaps of logic and moments where characters are far too credulous. It begins to rely on narrative contrivances to fill rooms with fodder to shoot.
Mafia II’s more understated mix of activities are also front loaded and it falters as it becomes a more straightforward shooter in the second half. The aiming feels more like controlling a disembodied cursor than a character. This awkward disconnect makes it harder to get a feel for the controls. Checkpoints don’t come frequently enough, requiring tedious replaying of long portions of sections if you die. It is an infuriating confluence that makes combat not enjoyable on even the most basic of levels.
But the biggest misstep of all is the Playboy collectibles. There are magazines laying around the world as an item to pick up which contain a photograph of a nude female. It is terribly off-putting and disappointing. These collectibles are representative of the insular cycle that commercial video game development seems to be happily stuck in: middle aged males making video games for younger males, who then grow up and make the same damn video game again—forgoing diversity.
When the rest of the game brings so few things of note, there is absolutely no reason to support that.
Score: 32
(30-39%: Poor - Very few redeeming qualities in this title)
Comments
14 years, 2 months ago
In this day and age, it's no longer enough to just make an open world game; it has to have something else to distinguish it from the rest of the pack. Mafia II doesn't seem to have that something.
14 years, 2 months ago
I liked the game. It isn't a GTA IV where there is a ton of stuff to do in the open world, but Mafia never was that. It was all about the story and the atmosphere and I don't understand why the developers have even put it in an open world. And yes the shooting is not the greatest and the checkpoint are horrible. But the atmosphere is just great. I really enjoyed the first half of the game, snow everywhere and Christmas songs in the background. And I think that's the reason besides the story why I overlooked all of it's flaws. Rent it and see if can get invested into the story because when you do, it's worth your while.
14 years, 2 months ago
Eh, i agree with many points. But i loved it.
Of course, i have never seen a mafia movie, so the story seemed like gold. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.
And the fact that i wanted to know what happened next really made me think about grand theft auto in terms of comparing. Sure, gta iv has the better physics and playground. But i'm never going to finish that game because of the sheer amount of padding it has. At least Mafia 2 is more to the point.
14 years, 2 months ago
If they had scaled back in size I think they would have had a better shot at getting a well liked game. Instead of roaming a city, just be able to walk freely in a building for a specific mission. Would have extra resources to put towards making really detailed rooms instead of having bland looking rooms because so much space is being taken up by city that isn't really being used.
GTA works because you usually have options. I'm going to take this guys mission instead of that guys mission. Mafia is just a straight line, go here, then here, then here, in this order. If they would just focus on their strengths, story and polish, they could make a good game.
14 years, 2 months ago
oh no! nude females! whatever shall we do?
14 years, 2 months ago
I honestly did not understand the hype for this game at all after playing the demo. It was the definition of average
14 years, 2 months ago
Mafia2 is one of the biggest disappointments in the history of video games.
The first Mafia was awesome. I can't believe they managed to fuck up the sequel this badly. It's almost impressive.
14 years, 2 months ago
The one thing that bugged me most about the demo for this game was that ALL THE ITALIANS LOOKED THE SAME. I swear they used the same character models for all of them.