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| Mafia II Review; My $0.02 on this game | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 1 2010, 02:44 PM (243 Views) | |
| browland1 | Nov 1 2010, 02:44 PM Post #1 |
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It's almost impossible to mention Mafia II without the GTA IV comparison coming up, so to get this out of the way, I'll say that I'm not a fan of GTA IV and one would think that this cancels out Mafia II altogether. Not quite. I've just played through the game and I can say that it's a fun, albeit short and linear action title that throws every mob movie cliche at you. Set first in the 1940's and later in the 1950's, you play as Vito Scalleta, a decorated war hero who returns to Empire City (a fictional take on New York) and decides the life of organized crime is for him. The story takes the predictable turns where the character starts small and works his way up the mob ladder, with a few bumps and stumbles along the way. The story reminded me a lot of Goodfellas, though these mob movies all start to feel the same after a while. The characters are the colorful Italian stereotypes you would expect, but some of their dialogue delivered in cut scenes and driving missions is downright hilarious and riddled with Italian slang and plenty of four letter words to keep you amused. There are few surprises and even fewer dramatic twists, so don't go into this game expecting a deep story. But within the context of the game, the story works and keeps you entertained until the end. Gameplay follows the standard GTA formula; drive somewhere, do something/kill someone and then drive back. You make money from doing jobs for various bosses, which can be used to upgrade your cars and acquire new clothes. Some missions are harder than others, while some are timed and require you to be a good driver. The combat is broken down into melee and shooting, though the selection of guns is rather limited. Melee combat is rather on the simple side, with three buttons doing the work and a limited number of combos and finishing moves you can perform. As far as combat systems go, they are fairly standard for sandbox action games, so those familiar with other titles can jump right in without too much of a learning curve. The 40's and 50's look of the game is surprisingly effective, with period cars all over the place and licensed music from that era playing on the radio. Mixed with the music are news broadcasts which sound distinctly period. For example, you hear news broadcasts about the war overseas during the 40's portion of the game. Graphically, the city looks fantastic and is a joy to drive through, however the character animation and facial capture animation is rough around the edges and often comically out of sync. The missions also tend to be on the easy side, but I didn't find them to be boring thanks to the voice acting and some hilarious dialogue between the characters. The negative points of Mafia II are mainly due to some missed potential. I've always complained that GTA-style games have TOO MUCH to do, with an abundance of pointless side-objectives that drag the game out. But in Mafia II, there is a total dearth of anything to do outside of the missions. You can sell stolen cars, buy clothes, eat and drink in bars and restaurants and buy upgrades for your car. That's it - no side missions to speak of. With a city as big as Empire City, you'd think there would be more to do. The game also has it's fair share of glitches and bugs, ranging from small graphical hiccups to getting stuck and having to restart from my last checkpoint. It's easier to think of Mafia II as a story-driven action game instead of a sandbox title, since it offers little outside the short single-player campaign. For this reason, it's hard to recommend at full retail price. Having said that, I had a lot of fun with this title while it lasted and I think you will too, provided that you can move past the GTA IV comparisons and appreciate the game on it's own merits. |
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1:43 PM Jul 11