‘Mafia II’ offers a fun, if generic, mafia story with great characters and locations.  However, there is little more to do in this open world game than shoot those who shoot at you.

In ‘Mafia II’ you play as Vito Scaletta, a young man in the 1940’s and 50’s ready to make it big in the world of organized crime.  The story follows Vito and his best friend Joe as they complete missions (“jobs”) for the 3 main mafia families of Empire Bay in order to become “made men.” The narrative is at times clichéd and generic but there are a few surprises along the way. The characters help flesh out the world of Empire Bay and the dark underbelly of the crime syndicates that run the city. ‘Mafia II’s’ characters and superb voice acting is what will keep you engaged enough to see the story through to the end (however I should note that the game uses racial stereotypes for a number of its characters, which can be disconcerting).

Duck and Cover
Vito spends most of his time shooting his way through Empire Bay. The game offers a standard 3rd person cover based shooting system. The cover system works great although I found there were few times where it appeared as though Vito was in full cover only to be killed by a gunshot, however these moments did not happen often. The level design is also well done and offers strategic play in a variety of locations. Vito will shoot his way through a slaughterhouse, a hotel, a building under construction, as well as engage in car chases through the downtown core with Joe hanging out the window firing his Tommy Gun. The weapons in the game are from the period and follow the usual variety of different pistols, machine guns, rifles/shotguns, and grenades but I found myself using the iconic Tommy Gun for most of the game.

Floor it!
Driving in ‘Mafia II’ has two modes 'normal' and 'simulation.' 'Normal mode' offers a more arcade style of driving while 'simulation' gives a more realistic representation of the weight and performance of each vehicle. For the most part driving is mainly to get from mission to mission and to get a look at Empire Bay. The only times driving really becomes fun is when Vito and Joe have to take down other enemies in cars in a fast and furious car chase. Also if the police chase Vito he can pull into a repair shop and have the license plates changed to get the police off his back. These repair shops scattered throughout the city also offer some basic customization of cars like changing the colour, rims, and engine performance.  However, changing the license plate is the most useful aspect of customization. Vito can also steal cars by either smashing in car windows, which is a bit obvious, or he can more stealthily pick the car door’s lock.

Sucker Punch
At times Vito will have to rough some people up. To physically fight someone Vito basically gets into a boxing match with his opponent. The melee is deeper than most open world games but it is still relatively simple.  Hold “A” to dodge and Vito’s opponent with never land a punch. “Y” offers a slow strong attack while “B” offers weaker but faster jabs. Eventually Vito learns the ability to counter attack, which adds some much needed depth to the melee combat.  The hand-to-hand fighting also offers a break from the constant shooting.

“You Have the Right to Remain Silent…”
The final major element of gameplay is stealth. Vito can enter a crouched position to move silently past enemies or to take them out from behind for a stealth insta-kill. However there are very few missions that require stealth so the stealth gameplay feels like a missed opportunity to add more variety to missions.

“Stop!  This is the Police”
Perhaps the most imbalanced part of the game is the police.  At times it seems the police are willing to let Vito get away with all manner of traffic violations and crimes.  But if you speed the Police will chase you, smash into your car, and generally try to destroy you until you either get away or pay a fine.  In other extreme cases, like murdering someone in public, the police will try to arrest Vito and he can either pay a bride or flee.   Sometimes I found it incredibly easy to get away from police while at other times it seemed the police had heightened senses and could follow my every turn.  However, by the end of the game I discovered that driving a car that is much faster than the police cars can almost always guarantee an easy escape.

“Hi, is This City Open or Closed for Business Today?”
‘Mafia II’ is, in theory, an open world game. However do not expect a “GTA style” city with Empire Bay. There is almost nothing to do in Empire Bay but follow Vito’s story. Vito can buy new clothes, which can also get police off his back if they know what he looks like, he can wreck cars for cash, steal cars, and rob stores. That’s pretty much it, which is a shame because Empire Bay is actually a great setting (at night I found the city particularly wonderful to look at and drive through). Essentially Empire Bay acts like an overworld map that gets Vito from mission to mission and level to level.

When Vito’s home neighborhood in Empire Bay is first introduced there are great moments where characters will recognize Vito and talk to him, there is a group of men yelling to another man’s wife to allow their friend to come out and drink, and there is an argument in an apartment that results in something thrown through a window.  These wonderful moments at the start of the game make the city feel alive. However these moments only last for a few minutes before the city is reduced to pedestrians walking along the side of the road. Still, the vintage clothing and cars, the classic music, the news snippets on the radio, and even the circumstances of some missions help to immerse you in a 1940’s and 50’s America.

Reading “Articles”
‘Mafia II’ also has collectibles for you to find. The main collectibles are vintage playboy magazines from the 40’s and 50’s.  These offer some eye candy but also help keep the game in the time period. Other collectibles include wanted posters and pin-ups (if you play the game on hard).  There are also unlocks that are mainly artworks you can view if you so choose.

‘Mafia II’ is an inconsistent game where small details can bring the world to life (like snow piling on top of car that slowly blows away as Vito drives) and at other times the world can feel lifeless (such as when oddly blank facial animations make the characters seems like dead polygons). The voice acting is superb across the game brining multiple and varied characters to life, whereas the city itself can seem little more than a map to get from level to level. The shooting mechanics and driving work well, but having police chase you down because you speed can be annoying when simply trying to get from mission to mission. If you enjoy a good mafia story with some fun characters that will last you 10-14 hours then pick up the game. However, with no multiplayer, and few incentives to replay, the story is all that drives this game from beginning to end.

Reviewed by James Farrington | 08.30.10