Come on wise guy, think you can make it in the Mafia?
Mafia II is developed by 2K Czech (formally known as Illusion Softworks), it's an action adventure, third person shooter. The game takes place between 1943 to 1951, a great time period that rarely gets used in the game shows it. You'll be in Empire Bay, you'll control Vito Scaletta a charming character that at times can be down right ruthless. At the start it will reveal you as a young boy, with your family in Sicily moving to the USA to make a better living. Being poor they though a better life would be waiting in Empire Bay, but to no surprise your still poor, and aren't no better off. Growing up Vito starts to hang out with the wrong crowd and eventually runs into and becomes friends with Joe Barbaro. Over time Vito and Joe eventually become best friends, over time you two start doing petty theft until Vito gets caught. You end up having two different choices jail or army, army it is, and you find yourself in battle.
Gameplay is very much like any other open world game, nothing that hasn't really been seen before. But what's there is fun and never gets boring. Instead of having a few different worlds or maps your only on one big one this time, it's a pretty good size and will take a bit to reach the other end. The driving controls are good, a lot of the cars have there own fill. Some will be lose and you'll wipe out easy others fill tight, some are really slow while others are fast. You'll be able to upgrade cars to make them faster and add a few other things on them but that's it. The shooting is easy to do, at first aiming seemed kind of hard to do, it takes time. But once your used to it you'll be shooting like a true gangster, it want be no run and gun either. Getting behind cover is crucial especially on hard, one good hit can be the end of it, especially with a shotgun.
To get the most fun out of the game you'll want to play it on hard, even on hard it's easy. The game itself never gives you any challenge. And the biggest problem the game has is side quest to do after it's all done with. Like other open world games you'll usually have plenty of things to do, Mafia II offers one of that except some collectables. These you'll have two different kind of collectables wanted posters exactly 159 of them. And playboy posters 50 to be exact, after this there is absolutely nothing left to do. You can rob some stores, steal cars and still them, but all that gets boring after awhile. It may also be interesting to some that you'll need to get gas for your car, yep just like in real life. This is simply the games biggest draw back, playing through the story can only keep one interested for so long until they get bored. Which I may add you will have a chapter select in the main menu, there is also DLC is your willing to spend the cash.
The graphics are good, could have been touched up in a few spots, sometimes things seem like there missing a little detail. Things look good for the time period and fell like your really there, the cut-scenes are in real time. If you've crashed your car, you'll notice the damage in the cut-scene, which is nice to see considering other games don't do that. The voice acting is great, I enjoyed every scene and listening to them talk. One of the bigger things that might jump out at a lot of people is the music, usually you'll have a lot of radio stations with songs that you like. This time you'll be listening to music most likely your parents or there parents listened to. Over time as your progress with the game and things start changing you'll notice so does the music on the radio.
In the end Mafia II offers a fantastic story, with a enjoyable world, and some lovable characters. Not to mention a few twist here and there. If your where a fan of the first game you should be able to enjoy everything this one has to offer. Like any game it has it's ups and downs, but once your done with it you're defiantly left wanting more.