it's been a long wait but mafia two is
upon us set in the 40s and 50s this 2k
title puts the Tommy gun in your hands
if you become Vito Scaletta an
italian-american nobody who's ready to
become a wiseguy somebody you'll shoot
punch and speed through 15 chapters of
organized crime but in the end this is a
game that never truly reaches made man's
status thanks to a few issues you're
gonna be sorry
what mafia two nails is setting you in
Vito's shoes the radio blares classical
the voice work is excellent in the story
is cool I was always excited to get to
the next cutscene to find out what was
happening in Vito's life and because the
segment's are produced so well they have
a cinematic feel that's perfect for this
gangster story
one more word you're gonna need a new
set of teeth outside of those segments
though things can feel a bit flat mafia
2 struggles with Pacey
it'll make you perform the mundane task
of driving across town just so you can
go to bed you'll watch Vito's stare at
the wall like a robot while answering
the phone hello and there's a fair
amount of screen tearing and lackluster
textures on the graphics side Empire Bay
is a pretty city but it's also a
lifeless one don't get me wrong there
are cars and pedestrians all over the
place they gave off that 40s 50s feel
but there isn't much interaction
although there are times when you can
roam the map at your leisure there's
nothing really to do there aren't going
to be side missions or strangers to help
in this one the stores you can go into
are only there to facilitate the story
missions you're constantly driving
towards there's nothing wrong with
having a linear story based game but the
giant map filled with icons is a bit
misleading and making me drive around it
at length just points out how empty it
really is
mafia two's your typical
middle-of-the-road third-person shooter
again there's nothing wrong with that
but it means that you probably know what
to expect and the game doesn't
particularly excel at anything you're
expected you can take cover pull off
headshots and reload in an instant but
it all feels rather stiff you can't
blind fire even though your enemies cam
the aiming is touchy and the lock-on
assist is hit or miss when you're not
shooting you'll use an incredibly basic
fist-fighting mechanic that is all about
holding the Dodge button until you get
in a lighter heavy punch nothing's
broken but nothing's stellar either
mafia 2 has some really cool story
missions such as disguising yourself as
a window washer to blow up some bad guys
and driving your drunken friends around
to bury a dead body but these are the
exceptions to the rule most of the
gameplay breaks down and cowering behind
cover and waiting to pop up kill a dude
and do it all over again the next I
enjoyed mafia 2 and it is solid but it
just isn't all that inspired or exciting
after finishing the game I looked back
and realized what I liked most was
watching veto story unfold in the
cutscene the missions between those
movies were just a means to an end
oh and the collectable Playboy
centerfolds are a nice touch need more
Mafia 2 info check out ign.com