This violent open world game delivers a gritty and realistic mob drama, but offers nothing to do outside of the story
Contains: Very Strong Language and Strong Bloody Violence
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Mafia 2 is third-person open world game set over a time period of 6 years, and is set in a fictional city that is based on New York, with other influences from Chicago and Detroit.
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STORY - 3/5
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Set between 1945 and 1951, Mafia 2 is a dark and gritty mob drama which chronicles the rise of World War II veteran Vito Scaletta, the son of Sicilian immigrants, as he makes his way up into the crime families with his buddy Joe Barbaro, to eventually become a 'made man'. The compelling narrative is unfortunately short, and lacks any side missions to make exploring the big open world worthwhile, with only 15 chapters in the game integrated into one storyline, but the chapters are always varied to avoid repetition and usually provide there fair share of entertainment. The story itself is well made, but it doesn't offer up much surprises as you undertake small scale operations for the 3 different families that you come to work with.
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CHARACTERS - 5/5
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What makes the decent story more compelling, is the introduction of many cold-hearted, humorous and often interesting characters. Since you'll be indulging in mafia affairs, you'll realise how every character kills with confidence, and certainly with no remorse for their wrongdoing. Vito Scaletta (a wonderfully tough and confident protagonist) will have to undertake a variety of things to 'take care of' in order to rise up the respect ladder and prove himself trustworthy to eventually become accepted into the family, and the many characters that you work for or kill are all perfectly voiced to make each cutscene convincing. Mafia bosses, if betrayed, will show no regret in hunting down the traitor responsible, and the cold-hearted nature of each character is perfectly portrayed to provide you with a realistic insight into a dark and gritty reality where no-one is untouchable.
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GAMEPLAY - 3/5
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Not as much shooting occurs as you'd likely expect during the missions, but when it happens its often brutal and bloody, climaxing with point blank deaths that certainly live up to the mafia name. Gunplay is decent, not completely fulfilling, but still packs a respectable punch to the action. Hit detection is spot on, and the physics of dead bodies slumping to the ground is always random, and realistic, enhancing the realism exhibited throughout the story. A range of weapons associated with that period feature during the game, ranging from handguns to Tommy guns, and even bolt-action rifles, and most feel good to shoot when used appropriately. The range on these weapons is limited realistically aswell, so that machine guns spray bullets all over the place from distance, and not even short bursts of fire will prove effective, and so resorting to the correct weapon for each enemy is crucial to succeeding. Gameplay is shockingly difficult from time to time though, thanks to the terrible lacking of well spaced checkpoints and the unforgiving health system, even on easy difficulty, which can force you to have to repeat certain activities all over again because you popped out of cover at the wrong time and took a bullet to the head. This makes taking cover essential, and the cover system is alright, but most importantly, there's lots of it to help prevent unnecessary deaths. Mafia 2 does feature a very strong and likeable hand-to-hand combat system, and the different counterattacks you can perform all look great, and are well presented in slow motion when you inflict the final blow to an opponent.
Mafia 2 is an open world game, but you are unable to gain complete freedom due to the fact that every time you use your bed at the end of a mission you automatically start the next chapter. There's no mission markers to start a mission, and all the time you are free roaming you always feel you need to go to the destination displayed on the map. But more often than not, you'll want to go to that marker because of the severe lack of things to do in such a big world. There is the opportunity to change clothes in various shops and go to diners for a bite to eat, but other than a few minutes spent in those places, there isn't much to be doing that are well worth your time. No side missions at all (despite a recent DLC release which consists of all side mission type objectives which would have been well suited and appreciated in the main game), and while you can sell cars to a couple of people to make money for all your ammo at gun shops, the fictional New York setting is extremely limited, which is a real shame.
But the 15 chapters to take part in are still great, and always well varied, with car chases, gunfights, and even a stealth mission to take part in.
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GRAPHICS - 3/5
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The open world city itself looks impressive, and because of the time period of 6 years, you'll get to witness two complete opposite weather seasons expand and envelope the city - one being the wintery weather, and the car takes affect with the slippery road surface, and the detail all over is just sublime; and then there's the summer time, where all the surfaces are uncovered from blankets of snow and the bright colours beneath are revealed to illuminate the fine atmosphere.
On a downside, the graphics are noticeably weaker inside buildings, where everything looks less sharper, and a heavy amount of screen tearing is evident when you move and look around. Cutscenes are created by the game engine, in real-time, rather than pre-rendered cutscenes, and so whatever vehicle you are driving or clothes you're wearing, they'll be exactly the same in the cutscene, and even the vehicle damage will be visible.
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SOUND - 4/5
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Voice acting makes the mafia ordeals throughout this violent drama very realistic, and you can expect plenty of swearing and cold-hearted attitudes directed towards individuals to make it just as convincing as a movie. When you're driving around the city, 3 radio stations are available, each containing licensed songs, news, and commercials of the era, and the genres of music range from Jazz, Rock and roll and Rhythm and Blues, including popular artists of the time such as The Everly Brothers, Muddy Waters and Bing Crosby. Weapons also have a presence that you can associate with that era, and sound distinctly exact to what they should sound like, further enhancing a solid atmosphere.
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CONTROLS - 3/5
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The control layout of aim and shoot will no doubt be familiar to most people, and the cover system is also neatly arranged on the configurations so that taking cover can be done quickly and easily when tapping X. Unlike most games though, Mafia 2 requires you to press the cover button again in order to move away from a pillar, brick wall or other objects able to take cover behind, meaning you are constantly attached to the surface even if you try pulling Vito away with the analog stick, which usually detaches the character like in other games. Its not a major problem, but getting used to this sticky cover system will take some getting used to. All the buttons are responsive however, and so no issues occur during gameplay which could hinder the action and make scenes problematic.
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ATMOSPHERE - 4/5
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In a such a great looking open world comes many opportunities to liven up the streets with various pedestrian actions. In winter you'll see people in their correct weather gear to survive the bitter wind, and umbrellas are up to protect from the snow. In summer you'll see the opposite, and more people will be out and about doing regular tasks and dressed suitably. But the highlight of Mafia 2 that compliments the era is the licensed music and the old fashioned cars from the 40's and 50's. Driving around in such vehicles will develop that atmosphere to make the player feel like they're in that period of the timeline, and with the clothes and other familiar traits of the era, you'll soon become immersed with being that far back in time.
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ENEMY AI - 4/5
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During the game, you'll soon become better acquainted with the police force who'll be up your backside a fair bit of the time if you don't follow the road rules, or unholster your firearm in public. There are 4 different stars that become increasingly difficult as you become more violent in a rampage. 1 star is for committing a minor offence such as bumping into an officer or speeding, 2 stars is where the police will attempt to arrest you for something like dangerous driving, 3 stars is for committing a major offence such as road kill or shooting a civilian, and finally 4 stars is for shooting a police officer, or lots of police officers. These stars stack each other, and so if you become wanted for a minor offence, committing a major offence will automatically increase the police chasing you. The police can become a pain from time to time, especially as a cop is seemingly placed down every road along with a police vehicle patrolling, but it's the police response and animations that are really good. If you are wanted for speeding at a 1 star, then the police will follow you until you stop the car. They'll get out and want a fine, where they talk to you about the fine, and you give them the money in order to get them off your back. At 2 stars they'll attempt an arrest on you, and when caught you are given the opportunity the bribe them or resist arrest. Resisting an arrest will result in a 3 star wanted level and they'll shoot on sight. Once you're heavily wanted, and you are seen a little icon indicates they know what you look like and will be on the look out for you until you change your clothes. If you are noticed in a vehicle, a number plate icon indicates they know what vehicle to look out for. His makes it very difficult to drive around, and you'll be constantly evading the police until you change vehicle or replace the number plate with a new one at a garage. The police are well organised, even if it appears that they spawn on the map as you so happen to be going down that road.
During missions, the enemies will have plenty of firepower in the hopes to eliminate you, and because of the unforgiving health system they don't have to try too hard to achieve that. Given that you have a similar amount of health as your opponents, they'll take cover frequently as it proves just as crucial to them as it does to you. The smooth animations are well implemented and give the physics a bit more recognisable realism, as shooting enemies in the leg causes them to react differently each time. All in all the enemy forces throughout Mafia 2 are tough and plentiful making a short campaign a rather challenging one aswell.
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LENGTH - 2/5
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Mafia 2 is a disappointingly short open world game where there is just simply nothing to do in 10 miles squared of influenced rural and urban American land. There are no restrictions to where you can go from the start of the game, but because of no side quest activities to indulge in, the core aspect of being an open world notably falls short on high expectation. Mafia 2 will last about 9 hours, which is average length of game time for many games, but for an open-ended game with so much detail, there's no reason to wander around and witness it, and ultimately these type of games need at least 20 hours of solid gameplay time to prove a respectable length to attract someone back.
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REPLAY VALUE - 2/5
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Because of the short length, lack of activities and no moral decisions, Mafia 2 is a game you'll likely play once, and that single playthrough will prove satisfactory enough. Upon completing the game you aren't thrown back into the fictional world either, the credits ascend on your screen, and then you are taken back to the main menu screen. However, during the missions, there are playboy magazines scattered around which are well worth collecting, and wanted posters pasted on walls all other the city, so if you're someone who wants 100% completion these are good, worthwhile collectibles. Mafia 2 is short, and it will come as a surprise, but the violent action and compelling mafia drama with excellent characters are aspects that make this challenging open world game well worth recommending.
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OVERALL SUMMARY - 7.5/10
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Good Points: Strong cast of tough characters, Well varied missions, Nice soundtrack and atmosphere compliments the era, Open world is greatly detailed, Satisfying melee combat.
Bad Points: Lots of screen tearing in tight areas, Poorly spaced checkpoints, No manual save option, Huge open world but nothing to do, Unforgiving health system makes certain sections frustrating.