Review - Mafia 2

Mafia 2 is a sandbox environment type of game, pretty much like Grand Theft Auto. The game is set during the 1940’s -1950’s in a fictional city called “Empire State.” You control Vito Scaletta, an immigrant from Italy who grew up in poverty which resulted to him leading a life full of crime and eventually in the world of the Mafia.

General Information

Developer: 2k Czech

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Genre: Third-person Shooter, Action-Adventure

Release Date: 24 August 2010 (NA)

Rating: ESRB - M

Story

First off, the story of Mafia 2 is in nowhere related to Mafia 1 so don’t worry if you haven’t played the first. The game starts off with Vito telling his childhood story then progresses to his adult life in which you get control of him. Mafia 2’s story line is divided into chapters; each of them is pretty much straight through and will take you to different places in Empire State. The story has so many twist and elements in it that I personally played it because of the story. The game does a great job in building up the characters which in turn urges you to find out what happened to them.

Gameplay

The controls are pretty much similar to any third-person shooter; you just need to know how to aim, shoot, and use cover in order to survive this game. I played in my PC so the mouse and keyboard is a perfect match to a third person shooter; you just need to map the keys accordingly.

The only real annoying part is that this game is very much realistic and if you’re careless you might die instantly. For example; if you’re driving a car at a very high speed and hits a mere pole or tree, you’re dead, unlike GTA where you take no damage at all. So with this in mind, it is better to follow the speed limit in some missions rather than go full throttle, and this game contains a lot of driving scenes. (Fun fact: If you have a companion and drive at top speed or run through a speed light, he will voice his concerns regarding obeying traffic rules.)

The Empire State has a lot of hidden roads and alleyways which can prove useful when evading Cops. It will be very useful because the police at Mafia 2 are annoying and surprisingly strict; if they catch you doing something “unlawful” they will immediately give chase. Also; if they catch you stealing a car, the car will be wanted by the police so will be you. In order to get rid of the wanted status you must change your clothes and/or change the color/plate number of the car.

Gun fights are easy in this game, just find the right cover and pick off your targets. Always be careful though, the AI will try to flank your position and if they have a good enough weapon your dead in one shot. Speaking of weapons; you have 4 basic types: Melee, Small Arms, Machine Gun, and Rifles. The most effective in my opinion are the M1 Garand and the Thompson SMG or commonly known as “Tommy Gun.”

Verdict

The game altogether was nice although I will admit that the chapters may get repetitive. What pushed me to finish the game is the story line; the story telling was exceptional and the character build-up was superb and will make you play through the game because you will want to know what happened next.

After finishing it, I found out that there were DLC’s released: Jimmy’s Vendetta, Joe’s Adventures, and a PlayStation 3 exclusive The Betrayal of Jimmy (which unfortunately for me I have no PS3).

My final verdict: Gameplay is at 70/100 because the game is pretty much straight forward, no side quest, and may get repetitive. However, story is 100/100 which compensates for the gameplay.

Score: 85 / 100

Pros:

+Compelling Storyline

+Sandbox Environment

+Upgraded cars re-spawn at garage

+Fun driving experience

+Lots of gunfights

+DLC packs are available

+Multiplayer is now available (www.mafia2multiplayer.com)

Cons

-No side-missions only main story

-Cops are annoying

-Money has no value because everything is sold at low price

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Q3MZC-34o]