Read this for the real truth behind Mafia 2..
The story of Mafia 2 is not very unique. It is the tale of a poor Italian immigrant named Vito who works for Mafia families to rise above his economic problems. There are many twists along the way in the story. The Thing that makes the story really great is the way it is narrated by a large number of good looking cut scenes and excellent voice acting. Apart from the story, the great looking city, the realistic car handling mechanics and the responsive controls give Mafia 2 the edge over other games.
The game extends upto 20 hours of gameplay and the missions are varied between driving,shooting, stealth and Hand to Hand combat sections. The shooting and stealth work really well providing a correct amount of challenge and form the best parts of the tale. The Hand to Hand combat is fairly good and the driving sections are filled with realistic car mechanics which may appeal to some and seem awful to others.
The real problem of the game is that there is no content apart from the story which leads to a large good looking city with practically nothing to do in it. There is no multiplayer and after you finish the game, you can play it again with a different difficulty or just collect Playboy magazines that are hidden in the game.
But even thought the content of the game doesn't extend beyond the story, the campaign itself is so entertaining and well executed that the game can be forgiven for not providing any extras. Yes, this singleplayer campaign is probably one of the best told and perfectly layed out campaigns in an open world shooter game.
Let us now discuss the pros and cons of the game:
The Good:
- Great story told with great looking cut scenes and pretty good voice acting
- Solid gameplay in shooting and stealth sections. The moving in and out of cover is better than GTA 4 and the lack of lock on targets makes the gameplay realistic.
- The city of Empire bay looks great at all times and the interiors locations in the game look even better.
- Stays true to the first game, meaning that anyone who has played the first game will definitely enjoy this one.
The Bad:
- There is virtually nothing to do once the story gets over. No multiplayer.
- The city of Empire bay has not been put to good use.
Conclusion :
I just finished playing Mafia 2 and i'm satisfied to say the least. Although i would have liked it even more if there were some side missions and some form of multiplayer. But when you've finished the game and you think about the experience,it's hard not to show appreciation to the guys at 2K czeck because Mafia 2 is one of the best open world single player experiences that you can play.
If you like storytelling and solid gameplay then buy this game. If you dont, then atleast rent it out because if you've read most of the reviews and neglected this game then you're definitely missing something.
The Gamespot Rating 8.5 is fair to the game but IGN's 7 rating is highly unfair and doesn't do justice to the developers. So, just try playing this game because the great gameplay and the well told story will take you on a journey into the life of a gangster in the 1940s and 1950s in a unique way just like the first game did.