Mafia II Review – A Tale of Friendship and Betrayal
Mafia 2 is the successor to the brilliant Mafia which was released in 2002 on the PC. It has finally released, amidst a controversy regarding racial issues surrounding it. 2k Czech, the developers, have shown a lot of promise with Mafia 2 which was apparently in development for 6 years but does the game manage to live up to the standards set by its glorious predecessor which carved an identity for itself, separating it from the swashbuckling GTA series?
The game puts you in the shoes of Vito Scaletta, as you are given a dose of the action pretty early  in the game, Brothers in Arms style. It was a memorable moment for me right at the start of the game and along with graphics that exceed that of many games out there, it managed to grab my attention right from the get go. 2k Czech deserves a round of applause for this work. After the “special” mission concludes, you are back in America to reunite with your family. You soon realize that life as an immigrant is not easy.
It is snowing heavily, as you get off a car and go meet your family, awestruck by the gorgeous graphics and a city that feels alive. Mafia 2 managed to capture my heart at that very instant. Debts, problems and dreaming of a costly life style are common in many mob stories and it isn’t any different here. Mafia 2 tells a story about Vito’s rise from rags to riches along with his loudmouth but honest friend Joe. Empire city is so gorgeous that it sucks you into its world; the attention to detail is second to none. I keep mentioning this because it’s one of the main highlights of the game.
The main drawback of 2k Czech’s Empire city is that there isn’t much to do apart from the story missions, you keep driving around and hitting other cars, dodging cops because it takes time to get used to the handling of the vehicles. A free ride mode option would have been good as driving at night while snowing is just a feast for the eyes. Lack of that option is certainly difficult to comprehend. There are a total of 15 chapters, wonderfully told and the story advances pretty well along with brilliant cutscenes and voice acting. Working for Mob bosses doing menial jobs is common as the game picks up around chapter 5. As you play along you will find out that the the prison chapter was one of highlights of 2010.
The PC version offers the best graphical fidelity and is pretty cheap in India (499); it’s a complete steal at that price. Although I mentioned earlier that the game was in development for 6 years, the level of detail is surprising.I would have loved some side missions or opportunities to earn money ( apart from selling cars or robbing shops ) which is way too much generic and boring. You keep driving around completing one chapter after the other with no respite in-between.
The weapons are brilliant and pack a punch although it is disappointing that you can’t shoot while driving yourself ( although the A.I can ).  The weapon choices are the usual standard pistols, shotguns and the gun which all Mafia fans will remember, The Thompson or the “Tommy Gun“. Although, there’s a fair variety of  ”hardware” at your disposal, the only ones you will be using most of the time,  are the shotgun and the Tommy Gun, along with your trusty pistol.
