Mafia II

[Tale]

How do you... oh, I see what you did there.

[Raithe]

I guess it's a natural response. They give you a wide open sandbox to play in..but then there's nothing to actually do. The atmosphere is all built into the storyline.. and the story is linear and (from the sounds of it) if you're just rolling from one 'mission' to the next doesn't require you to really roam around.. and if it's all 'go from point A to point B for this mission, then you'll be shooting things up in a building'.....

 

Apart from being 'pretty' in the background, there doesn't seem to be much actual.. purpose to the open world. So either they could have put all that effort into improving other features... or actually put something in there for you to do.

 

<shrugs> But then, the original Mafia was basically the same. So I can't see why people would be that surprised. And the original was damn good with the storyline and the way it played. It just didn't make much sense to spend that much time roaming around.

[Hurlshort]

Personally, I think its brilliant to have this huge pretty city to muck about in without having it chock full of retarded minigames. It's a rock-solid game and if you buy into the smear campaign going on against it, then you're missing out on something really great. They're handing out 6's and 7's to a game that is a clear 9/10

 

I don't need mini-games. Just some collectibles and maybe some point to exploring the far reaches of the town would be enough. I jumped over a freeway in the demo and it was super anticlimactic. I need stats and a pat on the back!

[Kaftan Barlast]

The Assassins Creed games have the same thing, big open world but no minigames or whatever and no one complained about that. And its not empty either, you have very good crowd and traffic systems that really makes you believe you're driving around a real city. Oh, and it looks awesome

[Hurlshort]

Assassins Creed had a ton of exploration quests that had nothing to do with the story. Climbing 8 towers in a district, or defending so many villagers in a town area. They also had those little collectible things, although I guess Mafia 2 has the dirty magazines to fill that desire. Still, it just isn't quite enough.

[Raithe]

Well I finished a run through over the weekend... The story isn't too bad. Although the latter half seems to have a lot more of the mafia cliches then the first.. Fairly enjoyable for that short weekend game. So for the most part the gameplay mechanics are solid, but nothing truly outstanding. (and yes, if you don't take cover a couple of bullets will end your life..)

 

Hm, didn't see the lady with car trouble that's supposed to be somewhere in Chapter 2 (Home Sweet Home)..

 

First thoughts, Vito really isn't as.. sympathetic a character as Tommy was in the first one. And for someone who started off worrying about his family and such.. apart from about 3 specific story moments, there's no mention/interaction with his sister. You can't even go visit her and meet her husband when you get out of jail...

 

The autosave feature..(there's no actual choose to save), it resets to the start of a chapter.. so if you want to try redoing any elements within a chapter.. you have to do _everything_ up until that point. So if you've played halfway through a chapter and then have to exit the game.. you've lost everything for that chapter.

 

The driving's not bad, but when combined with some of the extensive cutscenes.. you can end up with about 5 minutes of cutscene, 6 minutes of driving from point A to point B..and then have 3 minutes of action followed by another short cutscene...

 

And one mission is a shout out to the ending of Mafia... almost makes me want to go back and see it from the original point of view again....

 

The open city is pretty.. but there's just no real reason to explore it beyond "'its pretty" and the cop AI isn't that great.

[Purkake]

So what's the verdict?

 

Is it worth $/

[Kaftan Barlast]

$50 yes, but not

[Raithe]

It's a solid 7.0 / 8.0 game. Depending on things, it'll take you between 10-15 hours to go through the story. It's quite linear, and the "open sandbox" doesn't provide much to actually do. The ending feels a little watered down, almost as if it's waiting for DLC to come along and add to it in the future...

 

If you liked Mafia.. it's probably worth it. If you're just interested in the general "style" of game, I'd wait for the price to drop a bit. I picked it up with the Amazon rate of

[Starwars]

I got the game yesterday while idly browsing the local game-store. Couldn't stop myself.

 

I'm only a few chapters in but I'm a bit torn. The city and the visuals are marvellous. When you first get dropped into the city to walk home I thought it was a real "wow" moment. Stuff like cars still feel great, with real weight behind them.

 

On the other hand, when Mafia came out... Its story and the way it was told felt quite fresh at the time, a more realistic approach to counterbalance other more over-the-top games. But it doesn't feel like that this time around. I'm having trouble connecting with the characters.

Also, for a game that tries so hard to aspire to being a "Godfather of the video-games", I think the writing constantly falls flat on its face. The voiceacting is very over-the-top in many situations which completely undermines the seriousness of the game (and it is a game that takes itself seriously).

 

Not that the original Mafia was amazing in any of these regards either but I think the fact that it was A) fairly fresh and B) it didn't feel like it was overshooting its marks made it a bit more fun to play. Plus, I think the main character in Mafia 1 feels waaay more sympathetic than Vito in Mafia 2.

 

Still, I'm eager to play more so the game is doing something right. But it really hasn't impressed me so far in terms of its story and writing (which is crucial for such a story-driven game). I don't personally have a problem with the lack of sandboxy-ness, and I didn't mind it in the Mafia 1 story either (never used the Freeride mode). Though I hear a lot of neat things have been cut apparently which is a shame.

[Starwars]

I gotta say though... Even though I kinda ragged on the game's acting in the above post, it probably has the best digital drunk acting (character animations and so forth) that I've seen. Really got the mannerisms and the kinda glassy, slightly off-center stare right.

 

That's gotta be worth something!

[WorstUsernameEver]

They've already announced the first DLC anyway.

[Pop]

Mafia II has been Alpha Protocol'd. How long had they been investing in this game anyway? 5, 6 years? That's like 2 hours of gameplay per year invested.

[Purkake]

AP is hardly the first game that failed to make money.

[Tale]

It's not? You, sir, have just shattered my worldview.

[Purkake]

He made a verb out of it.

[Tale]

I noticed.

[Purkake]

So we should make a verb out of the best example available.

[Tale]

I do not necessarilly disagree.

[Purkake]

I concur with your non-point.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Alpha protocol was a substandard game that was way too flawed to ever have a hope of making a profit. Mafia 2 is a friggin' 9/10 solid game.

 

 

...alleged mediocre sales numbers...

 

 

So the author opf the article pretty much pulled that out of his ass. Ive read on IGN that Mafia 2 sold four times as many copies as the original in just the first week.

[Hurlshort]

Alpha protocol was a substandard game that was way too flawed to ever have a hope of making a profit. Mafia 2 is a friggin' 9/10 solid game.

 

Opinions are fun!

[Tale]

Opinions are fun!

Is that your opinion?

Edited September 3, 2010 by Tale

[Starwars]

Yes they are.

 

Especially when they are WRONG!

[Morgoth]

So far I'm in Chapter 11 and the game's pretty good, but not brilliant.

 

I doubt there will be a Mafia 3 though.