18 replies to this topic

[Dreakon139]

I figure since the GTA forums are getting enough of my attention, I'll bring this one around to the Mafia fans.

I thought Mafia II was a really good game. I absolutely adored the first Mafia on the PC, and while the second one didn't hit me quite as hard, I thought it was a superb successor to the first one. It even paid tribute to the first on a few occasions (including a biggie if you ever watched the ending of the first game).

The story was solid, the graphics were solid, I thought they captured the atmosphere of the era very well.

It's kind of small, but I really enjoyed the fact that the game took place in multiple seasons. Something about walking and driving through a 40's-50's era cityscape in winter at night was kind of mesmerizing. Something you didn't really get out of GTA and I'd enjoy seeing in more modern(ish) open world games.

Anyways, what are your thoughts? How does Mafia II hold up in your book?

[SteelSammy]

I loved Mafia II. Even though it had less to do and a smaller world than Grand Theft Auto, I still thought it was fun and immersive.

It seems a lot like a stereotypical mob story, though it has it's own unique characteristics and a strong, if surprising, ending.

Guns and cars are varied, accurately named/lifted from real things, and I found very few glitches.

[ARDCOREARNIE]

bloody loved it, actually preferred it to GTA, The last wanted poster was annoying to get though but it just made the platinum more satisfying.

[Deth]

Felt pretty short, but it was a really nice game with a lot of cool cars.

[Sidewinder]

I actually have never played this, or even seen and gameplay for that matter. Would anyone recommend this to me?

[ARDCOREARNIE]

I actually have never played this, or even seen and gameplay for that matter. Would anyone recommend this to me?

Yes i would highly recommend it, would recommend it for the amazing storyline alone. I see ur from uk, its only 6 quid odd in the uk store.

[Dreakon139]

I actually have never played this, or even seen and gameplay for that matter. Would anyone recommend this to me?

If you're interested at all in a GTA style game set in early 40's/50's America, with less focus on free roaming and more on story/guiding you through the plot. Odds are the game won't "wow" you by any stretch (unless you really dig the setting and/or mafia life), but it's a solid game for sure and can be gotten for a good price these days.

The platinum is pretty reasonable to... I got it on another account and if I can get the platinum, you know it isn't that bad.

[ARDCOREARNIE]

hard mode is fairly easy apart from the last 2 chapters, the most annoying trophy is finding all the wanted posters cos one is really difficult to get to.

[Christopher]

I just couldn't get that into this game.
Dunno why it worked out like this, I normally love free roam games. The movement just felt tedious.

[Sidewinder]

Thanks guys - I'll have to watch some gameplay to make my mind up

[TehCro]

I really liked it, but it could do without the open world shit. There was absolutely nothing you could do except rob stores for money you don't even need. Also, the DLC killed it for me.

[ARDCOREARNIE]

i agree either get rid of the open world or make it more accessible with side quests, bars, broffles etc

[bmj14772]

This game was fantastic IMO. I absolutely loved the soundtrack, gameplay, story, graphics.... well, everything I guess. I rented this via GameFly and have been thinking about buying it and grabbing the DLC to continue the fun I remember having.

Also, the trophy list wasn't too bad making this a very achievable

[ScreechingOwl]

I wrote this back in September on another site, might as well post it here:

It was enjoyable, I played through the story twice, but I didn't think the story was good enough for two run throughs, but I had to get the complete the story on hard mode trophy. If you're thinking of getting this game, play it on hard mode first, it isn't that hard as long as you stay in cover, the only difficult thing is that enemies don't appear on your mini-map.
The story itself is alright, nothing special, but a serious flaw in the story stems from it's subject, the Mafia. As the Mafia is a criminal organisation, everything is on a need to know basis, I learnt more about the characters in the game from the loading screen than actually playing the game. It took two play throughs to mostly figure out who everybody was, which family they worked for, friend or foe and so on, however, I said mostly, as someone late in the story is accused of something and this completely turns the story on it's head, it's the M. Night Shyamalan moment of the game, and even after two play throughs I still don't know if the accused was innocent or guilty, it's infuriating.
I have realised that side missions are under valued by myself, as this game has none, it really needed something to take you off the beaten track of the story, as this game is very linear, Final Fantasy XIII felt more open compared to this game. When I was completing the last trophy, collecting 159 wanted posters, following a guide online, I was going places that I had never been to in the main game or DLC, places on the map that I didn't even know you could go to, the city that the game is set in isn't that big, it's just the game hadn't given me a reason to go there. The DLC was more of the same, it opened up some parts of the map, a bit more mission variety, but more or less the same.
Over all I give it a 7/10. Perhaps that is a generous seven, but I like the style and aesthetic of the time, if you don't, or are indifferent, then it's a six at most.

[PSXtreme_]

"The new Greatest Hits version of the game now has all of the previously released DLC included...and at the bargain price of $19.99 at Wal-Mart." After posting that on another website back in Aug, that was the last time I saw the GH version of Mafia 2. Even the local GameStop didn't have it, and Wal-Mart didn't restock it once it sold out. Well, yesterday, I stumbled across an obviously miss-shelved copy, probably 1 that had been left forgotten in the bottom of the display case...whatever. So I had to jump on it, even if the red case will really stand out on the shelves. Obviously, having all the DLC on the disc was the big selling point for me, at the $20 total pricetag.

I've played the original (or tried to) on the PS2, after searching high and low for a complete copy (also hard to come by) but was greatly disappointed with the results. It seemed to fall into the Driver 2 category...too aggressive a game for the hardware and the constant "extended" load times while running around the city just sucked any momentum outta the game. I only got a short way into the game before deciding to dedicate my time to something else. So, just like Driver 2, it remains sitting on my shelves unfinished.

Well, I can say that this issue has mostly been resolved for M2. There are short load times here and there, but so far, you can drive around the city load screen free. I've only got 1/2 way thru the 3rd chapter, so my exposure is limited, but so far I'm enjoying the game. The cutscenes haven't been oppressive (at least yet) and I've been looking forward to them as they progress the story. The main character Vito is likeable and you seem to want to care about his success. Even the gumba-speak seems pretty much on, even though there are quite a few "colorful metaphors" being thrown around. So if you have little ones running around the house, you might want to play this "after" they go to sleep...unless you want to watch your mother-in-law have a heart attack when little Joey repeats his favorite line from the dialog.

The law is out and about in force, however as long as you don't kill somebody or run into another car, they leave you alone (I did get drug outta my car by somebody that I bumped into with my car and the cops jumped in to break up the fist-fight). The AI of the pedestrians isn't top-notch, as they have a habit of just walking out in front of MY cars. The era is well represented. The unlicensed vehicles all have close representation to real-life autos with the customary name changes. The radio stations are decent, but no where as involved as even the PS2 GTA levels. You only have 3 stations to choose from but the musical selection is something unlike I've ever experienced in any video game. I'm loving the big-band/early jazz selections (I normally listen to a similar real-life radio station when I'm here at the house) and most of the tunes are familiar to the casual WWII musical era fan. I'm starting to find it difficult to get outta the car to continue the story because I don't want to turn off the music, something I haven't done since my time with Vice City. Nevertheless, I'd expect MOST gamers to be reaching for the off button as this definitely ain't a soundtrack for the normal video game player.

As I said before, I'm still early in my exposure, but so far the controls have been spot on and tight. No button lag and the controller layout seems decent, but not perfect. I still grab for the wrong button now and again, but I've had that happen less and less as I've gotten more familiar w/ the game. The cars all "feel" authentic, struggling to get up to high speeds, but the inclusion of the "speed limiter" is extremely helpful to keep you under the radar of the local 5-0. Car handling is a bit slick, but that seems to be acceptable as there is snow on the ground (personally I think that was a cop-out because the developers couldn't get the icy feel from the cars).

I still have a way to go, and plenty left to explore before a final rating can be issued. Nevertheless, most of everything at this early stage of involvement has been neutral to good (mostly good). I'm just working thru the game on the easiest difficulty level, so I'll need to see the difference once I "turn up the volume." All in all, it seems like it was worth the price of admission, so far. I'll make sure to post up any final impressions once I get there...hell I've got miles to go before I sleep.

[Robaldinio]

While I agree with most of the post above me, after completing the core game and playing it further still, perhaps I could add a few more pieces of insight. I'll try to avoid spoilers but this is a past tense thread after all, so don't be surprised if you come across the odd one here or there.

MAFIA II had been lingering on my wishlist for quite some time until the other night when I was rather bored with not much to play and so I decided to have a browse of the PS Store. I came across the game for a few pennies less than £20 which was barely any cheaper than the likes of Amazon and Play.com, so I figured I may as well go for it. While I loved the first game of the series immensely, I have been hearing things for a long time about how the second instalment doesn't hold up. I'm extremely pleased to say however, that those people were wrong.

The thing that hits you immediately is the environment. It really does look great and the vehicles feel great too. A lot of the people complain about games like this for weighing in heavily on driving time; well, I think they are playing the wrong games. Anyone who played M1 will know that the protagonist was a taxi driver turned wheelman; it's like complaining about the excessive amount of gunfights in CALL OF DUTY. "GTA NEEDS BIGGER MAPS" ... "OMG I HATE DRIVING ALL THE WAY ACROSS SAN ANDREAS". Blah blah blah. Anyway, enough of my ranting! Back to M2...

The game is visually stunning, the characters are more than adequate and while the story may be a little clichéd, it has some cheeky moments where it leaves the viewer to decide which way they think things went (that's a deliberately blunt description for fear of spoiling anything). The game does have more than its fair share of cut scenes but I enjoyed them all and they can be skipped anyway (in the same way as phone calls) by pausing the game and then hitting X -- I actually really like this over the more usual accident prone method of just pressing any button without pausing. The soundtrack is also fantastic and I quite enjoy the fact that it is limited to just three radio stations. What is especially great about M2 is how the soundtrack and vehicle population transform over the course of the story to replicate that of the real life '40s and '50s. I would highlight another great game to compare with here, but that could be a spoiler in itself.

For anybody wondering about the free roam aspect, or lack thereof, think of GTA IV combined with DRIVER 2 - but without the free roam mode of the latter. I'm comparing these specific titles of their respective series because of the following: M2 is similar to GTA IV in terms of what is available for the player to do as they explore the city, while it is similar to DRIVER 2 in terms of its linear story (more so than D1, as the player can exit their vehicle and walk). While an outright free roam mode does not exist in M2, this does not stop the player from ignoring their current mission objective and freely exploring the city - in fact, it's essential for many of the Trophies. This just begs the question of why such a game mode wasn't included in the first place and I have to say that it is my one and only problem with the game. It's so close to perfection that it almost hurts! The alternative is to use the chapter select to get back into the game to explore from there. The only issue with this is that your status (in terms of money, weapons and saved cars) reverts back to what it was at that point when you last completed that particular chapter. Chapter 14 is arguably the best one to use for the reasons outlined here, although it's always great to take a trip back to the much earlier stages of the game for some night time fun in the snow (there's also a rainy chapter at the end).

Trophy hunters shouldn't have any problems at all. In fact, I quite like the trophy list as it includes a lot of one-time events type trophies, which I love. A couple of them will require some time and effort but as long as you bare them in mind as you're playing through the story, you should be able to wipe out most of the objective for each of those. The vast quantity of collectables may sound a little off-putting at first, but they really weren't a problem for me. The Wanted posters will definitely require a guide but I found a great one on YouTube and it really didn't take me too long to get them all. The only things I actually found difficult were getting five headshots in quick succession and, oddly enough, reaching 135mph. Everything is certainly more than doable though and the Platinum is a very satisfying one.

Overall, I enjoyed this game a lot. It did feel a little short though, even though there are a dozen chapters. I'm toying with the idea of getting the DLC because I just didn't want this game to end, but from what I've read, there are some really horrible trophies in it so I'm not sure. There were a couple of minor things I wish had been different, such as being able to drive into garages instead of the cut scene, likewise with refuelling. Still, I'll definitely have my fingers crossed for another game to complete what should be an awesome trilogy.

[scotty243]

I liked Mafia II but felt it was good until the last few chapter where it went to great. With the ending that was presented though, I was in utter shock and felt myself reflecting back on what just happened. It has to be one of my favorite endings in a game, too. The gameplay is alright but the characters are the strong point in this one. It's worth the $19.99 I paid for it but since the "Ultimate Edition" is on PSN, I'd go for that one because of the extra DLC.

[Milswood]

I loved it and can't wait to get my PS3 back and plat it on this account. The music (even though not always era correct) was great, the story was great, and I found myself growing attached to certain characters, which I must say, is uncommon for me to do.

[finallife5]

The game was really good, I found the story to be one of my favorites.

 

However I have some pet peeves with this game 1)being the horrible dlcs and 2) the amount of driving back in forth through the game.

 

I wouldn't mind buying it again to finish it on the ps3 as i finished it on the xbox.