Mafia II

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Description

Vito Scaletta is an Italian immigrant in the United States. Born into a poor family from Sicily, he grows up in the city of Empire Bay and soon becomes best friends with Joe Barbaro, who convinces him that crime is just a way to get easy money. After having attempted a robbery, Vito is arrested and offered a choice by the authorities: go to jail or join the army. Choosing the latter, he is drafted and sent to Italy to fight Mussolini and his followers. After being injured and discharged, he returns to Empire Bay and learns that his deceased father owed a large amount of money. Willing to protect his family from debt collectors, Vito contacts Joe, and the two gradually begin to steer their lives towards organized crime, unaware of the price they will have to pay for that.

Mafia II shares the theme and the basic gameplay concept with Mafia; though it takes place at a later time and follows the life story of a different protagonist, the game's plot has a few connections with that of the predecessor. The game's story begins in the 1940's and extends into the 1950's. The story follows a linear path and is divided into chapters, each telling a separate episode in Vito's life and his trials and tribulations after getting involved with the mafia.

Like its predecessor, the game combines free-roaming driving with third-person shooting stages, focusing on the latter. Though the player is free to explore the city (driving a car or on foot), most of the driving gameplay is confined to the missions, which involves getting to the destination, stopping to buy items, hijacking different cars, etc. There are noticeably less chases or violent encounters during the driving sections than in the previous game. Police may arrest Vito for speeding or violent behavior; the player has the option to bribe officers in exchange for freedom.

The third-person shooting mechanics have been overhauled, featuring a cover-based system similar to that of Gears of War. Vito's health regenerates over a short period of time and cannot be restored by other means. He can be easily killed when running in the open; therefore, taking cover and periodically shooting is the prevalent tactic. In addition to firearms from the previous game (Colt 1911, tommy gun, pump-action shotgun, etc.), there are World War II-era weapons in the game, such as the MP 40 and M3 submachine guns. Vito is sometimes assisted by Joe or other characters during the shooting stages.

One portion of the game, which takes place inside of a prison, has melee-focused brawls. Players can explore interiors to find collectibles, more specifically vintage Playboy magazines to unlock the erotic photos within. The PlayStation 3 version of the game includes exclusive access to the DLC, The Betrayal of Jimmy. It is available for free only to those who purchase the base game.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Part of the Following Groups

• Censored Japanese releases
• Gameplay feature: Lock picking
• Genre: Open world / Free-roaming / Sandbox action and driving
• Mafia series
• Middleware: FaceFX
• Middleware: Kynapse
• Middleware: Nvidia 3D Vision
• Physics Engine: PhysX
• PlayStation 3 Essentials Range releases
• PlayStation 3 Platinum Range releases
• Protagonist: Gangster
• Setting: 1950s
• Xbox 360 Classics releases
• Xbox 360 Platinum Hits releases

User Reviews

Retro style meets modern lack of substance	Windows	Unicorn Lynx (181614)
Mafia II is a sad example of how an undeniable masterpiece can be turned into a total disaster.	Windows	Kaddy B. (796)
The storyline saves this from getting the hit.	Windows	dreamstealer (146)
Wins the award for best presentation	Xbox 360	Asinine (1006)

Critic Reviews

Game Informer Magazine	Windows	Aug 20, 2010	9 out of 10	90
Fragland.net	Xbox 360	Oct 31, 2010	86 out of 100	86
GameSpot	Windows	Aug 23, 2010	8.5 out of 10	85
Gameplay (Benelux)	Windows	Aug 27, 2010	80 out of 100	80
Brash Games	Xbox 360	Oct 28, 2010	8 out of 10	80
411mania.com	Xbox 360	Sep 06, 2010	7.3 out of 10	73
newbreview.com	Windows	Sep 15, 2010	3.5 out of 5	70
Gamer.nl	Windows	Aug 23, 2010	7 out of 10	70
Level (Sweden)	PlayStation 3	Sep, 2010	7 out of 10	70
Absolute Games (AG.ru)	Windows	Aug 30, 2010	54 out of 100	54

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Gah.	9	Rola (8294) Apr 21, 2011
Main storyline ending	8	Indra was here (20905) Jan 28, 2011

Trivia

Japanese version

In the Japanese version, the collectible Playmate photographs were censored with black bars over breasts and bottom.

References: Mafia

While the game isn't a direct sequel to the original Mafia, there are a few nods to the original game:

• Excerpts from Tommy Angelo's testimony against Ennio Salieri appear in the loading screens;
• The music playing in the restaurant at the beginning of Chapter 5 is from the original game;
• One of the trucks has "Lost Heaven, Brno, Empire Bay" written on the side (the city from the original game, the home of 2K Czech, and Mafia II's city respectively).

References to the game

Mafia 2 was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 11/2010.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2010 – Best Localisation of the Year

Related Web Sites

• IGCD Internet Game Cars Database (Game page on IGCD, a database that tries to archive vehicles found in video games.)
• Official site (Mafia II's official site.)
• Wikipedia: Mafia II (article in the open encyclopedia)
• X360A achievement guide (X360A's achievement guide for Mafia II)