Mafia II

The Good
As I mentioned in the title of this review, the presentation is nothing less than stunning; The city and the people that live in it give the impression that it's all real, the music on the radio fits the 40's and 50's very well and people who know a bit about history will notice the huge amount of details in this game. All i can say is: "wow".

The story is very interesting to follow and it's very well written. Unlike most storey-based games it didn't lose my interest and I never stopped playing the game because I was getting bored either.

Once you actually get to use your guns the cover-based shooting works, it is nothing original, but at least it works.

The Bad
The city may be huge, but there is barely anything to do in it and the things you can do fail to be worth your time. Even if you buy all the clothes in the games, fill your garage with beautiful cars and still have a few million dollars in your pocket the story may decide you lose it all.

The story also demands that some missions have no action at all. I lost count of how many missions had me drive people to a building just to watch a cutscene before driving them back to their home.

The story is well written, but it does become pretty obvious that all you are doing is trying to gather enough money to pay people back. The way Vito just keeps losing other people's money is a display of admirable stupidity.

The Bottom Line
The game has an amazing story, but it sacrifices way too much gameplay for it, but that aside this is a pretty cool game. A little love for the Godfather-style is a requirement. The presentation is beyond what we (used to) consider good and the game is very immersive. I do recommend renting this game for a week or two because replay value is nowhere to be found.