A great addition to the Mafioso legacy

User Rating: 9 | Mafia II PC
1. Gameplay - The gameplay of Mafia 2 isn't all that different from its predecessor. You have a standard set of guns, a standard set of cars. Along with that you get the money factor. Unlike the previous game, you'll have to actively collect cash if you want something good. The health bar is now replaced by a health-shock bar, which replenishes over time. However, you cannot replenish your full health this way and hence you must heal yourself if you want your full health. You can do this by eating or drinking(from malt whiskeys to coffee, anything will do). Another important feature is a safe house, which you can call your own. In the first part of the game, you spend your time in your friend Joe's apartment, though later on you get your own apartment. You can either visit your safe house and grab something from the refrigerator or you can go to a restaurant and buy some food. There are auto repair stations all through out the city, and you can get your car repaired or even fine tuned by giving an adequate amount of dough. Then there are gas stations and car wash stations. Besides that there is also tailoring shops all over the city, allowing you to buy suits and other clothes. Along with that there is the gun shops which allows you to buy ammo for weapons. All these things that can be bought from the shops can also be stolen. This allows you to rob the store of cash money in the register as well as get your desired object for free. However, be prepared that after this, you'll probably be embroiled in a gunfight with the police and any mobster in the vicinity. This will also make you wanted. However, a quick change of clothes will make the wanted reward on your head vanish. Besides these shops, you have 2 special shops - one is Harry's arm shop from where you can buy guns, and the other is Giuseppe's Shop, from where you can buy your lock-pick instrument. With that you can pick the lock of any car allowing you to steal it. Once you activate the lock pick, it will initiate a mini game; completing it will get you to steal the car. However, if you are in a hurry you can simply smash the window and get into the car. The latter will likely draw the attention of any police in the vicinity, while if you are careful, the former will allow you to steal a car with a police nearby as long as they are not looking at what you are doing. However, if they catch you, they will likely put a wanted notice on the car. Getting a car repaint or changing the license plate at an auto repair shop will loose the cops off your tail. Furthermore, there are 2 places in the city where you can earn money. One is Mike's Junkyard, where you can crush any car into scrap metal for a fee of around $400, and other is Derek's dock. The latter accepts only classy quality car, without so much as a scratch mark. However, their pay for such a car is nearly $2000 as compared to Mike's $400. So basically you have to get around 5 cars to Mike to get the same pay as Derek. A quick way to make money is to however exploit a bug in Mike's Junkyard. Take any car and crush it. You'll get a car in the vicinity. Get into the car, drive it around a bit, and put it in the crusher, you get money for another car is waiting. Thus, you'll save a lot of time to search for cars for Derek by following this. Take this approach and within around 15 mins you'll be a millionaire. Talking about cars, the good old map is now replaced by a GPS system while driving. This allows you to see which is the shortest route to your objective onscreen at all times. And if you happen to miss a turn, probably trying to get the cops of your tail, the route will automatically change to show you the next best route you can take from that point. The cop system is also improved. Now they fire on anyone firing a gun, so you can simply get some bad guys to chase you into a joint crawling with cops, and see what happens when they shoot on you. You can also get into a bare handed fight with someone without worrying about the cops. If they see you, they will come and chide you and tell you to get on your way. Also if you are fined you have to pay 50 bucks from your pockets. If you are wanted for arrest by the cops you can bribe them to let you go although that is more costly. However, if you don't have the money to pay for the fine or the bribe, or simply if you don't want to, then they will take a more strict action. If you were fined and you refused to pay, you will be wanted for arrest. At this point you can bribe the officer, however that again costs much more than the actual fine. And in case you don't want to bribe the officer, you can simply make a mad dash for it, which will cause him to fire upon you. The only way to save yourself is to run away and hide or shoot him. Another interesting feature is posters. All throughout the city, wanted posters can be found. Collect all of them. Along with that every mission has a certain number of playboy magazines to be collected. Collect all the magazines throughout the game. A warning should be given that they contain certain content not suitable for all ages. An additional feature in the combat system is the cover technique.
Thus when needed you can take cover and fire from the cover. Also in most of your clashes you will be accompanied by your buddy Joe, and the AI playing him is commnedable as he indeed does help you out to a large extent. Because of all these additional features, Mafia 2 is a much richer experience as compared to its predecessor.

2. Story - The game chronicles the story of Vito Scalleta. Vito was a small time thug from Empire Bay who was caught robbing with his friend Joe. Joe escaped, but Vito was caught. Vito got sent to the prison where he was given a choice to spend time in jail or fight at the front in Sicily against the Italian Invasion (the game takes place during World War II). Vito chooses the latter and ends up in Sicily, his hometown. After recieving a bullet wound in his leg, Vito gets sent back home to Empire Bay on leave. His friend Joe manages to get him dispatched from the army with a false medical report. He soon learns that his family is in a massive debt and as a result, in hope of making big money, Vito, along with Joe, starts working for Henry Tomasino, an employee of crime boss Alberto Clemente. Vito makes a lot of money working for Clemente although he is soon arrested and sentenced to 10 years in a federal penitentiary. Once there, he meets up with Leo Galante, consigliere for another Crime Boss, Frank Vinci. Vito does a few odd jobs for Leo and his sentence is reduced. Once out, he meets up with Joe who is now working for Carlo Falcone, the last of the triad of Crime Bosses in Empire Bay. Working through the ranks of the family, Vito manages to become one of the most trusted and important members of the Carlo Falcone Mob. The rest of the game chronicles his life as it spirals into the dark waters of the Mafia, and how realises a bit too late that his life has spiraled out of his hands. Play the game to find out what happens to Vito.

3. Graphics - The graphics of the game are a welcome improvement over its predecessor. A lot more clear graphics allows for a more enjoyable settings. Also the great visual design of Empire Bay is reminiscent of a mix of New York, Chicago, LA, Detroit and San Fransisco. The details of each character and object in the world is done superbly.

4. Music and Sound - The primary music in the game is that of old-time songs from the World War II period. However they seem to perfectly fit the atmosphere. The sound acting in the game is great and even the sound effects are absolutely perfect.

The game is easily one of the best games released this year. A must have for anyone.