Mafia 2

Pros

• Massive, immersive, beautifully animated and highly interactive game-world
• Gritty script and dramatic storyline
• Open-world replayability
• Great soundtrack

Cons

• Violent atmosphere
• Realism can be too slow and repetitive for casual, uninterested gamers
• Huge amount of profanity; the f-word is used over 200 times

Mafia 2 is a 2010 third-person, action-adventure game published by 2k Games, the producer of games such as Borderlands and the Bioshock series. Set in the fictional city of Empire Bay in the 1940s and 1950s, the game follows Vito Scaletta, a poor Sicilian immigrant, through his rise and fall in and out of wealth and power in organized crime.

The gameplay has much in common with the Grand Theft Auto series, which also published by 2k Games. The main character has many different weapons to choose from, including the famed Thompson submachine gun and the venerate Colt 1911. There are also several World War II era firearms, such as the German-made MP 40 and the Italian Beretta Model 38. There are more than 30 vehicles, which the player can steal. Three radio stations are available in-game, all of which feature news, commercials, and licensed music from the era. Chick Berry, Dean Martin, Little Richard, The Drifters, Buddy Holly and the Crickets: The list of represented artists continues.

The game's cutscenes are rendered by the game engine in real time. They are part of the gameplay, instead of put-in video clips. During context-sensitive situations, the player can choose to take a standard, low-profile action, such as picking a lock to break into a car, or a violent action, choosing to simply break the window instead.

Mafia 2 features a fully open game-world from the very beginning. Empire City is almost twice as large as the city from the first Mafia game! Empire City is based on the great American cities of the 1940s. There are recognizable aspects from Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. There are restaurants to visit, homes to buy, and policemen to rail against. Mafia 2 is rumored to have one of the most immersive environments available. Computer-controlled characters have their own lives and goals: men have a smoke and read the paper as they wait for bus, and the homeless comb through garbage looking for useful items. There are interactive sink faucets, chairs, radios, and switches throughout the city.

The 700 page script for Mafia 2 was written by Daniel Vavra, who also penned the script for the first. Vavra's gritty writing pairs with authentic characterization to deliver a strong and mature storyline that pulls the player into the world of organized crime in the 1940s, and makes it impossible to escape.

Mafia 2 is a solid game that delivers hours of fun in a beautiful and immersive setting. Fans of mobster films will rejoice in being able to live out the storylines they've seen before.

Pros

• Massive, immersive, beautifully animated and highly interactive game-world
• Gritty script and dramatic storyline
• Open-world replayability
• Great soundtrack

Cons

• Violent atmosphere
• Realism can be too slow and repetitive for casual, uninterested gamers
• Huge amount of profanity; the f-word is used over 200 times