Mafia II

Let me start off by noting that I started off on this series from the beginning, which for those who've played the first, may agree with me that the mafia games were off to a rocky start. The original displayed overambitious goals that fell short of what it seemed to hope to achieve which was a realistic and compelling period story in the fashion of the Godfather series. Despite this Mafia II does not disappoint and sets to right these goals and do the family name right. From the second you begin the opening sequence grips you and doesn't let go.

The story centers around two gangsters and their rise to power during the late 40's to early 50's. Each character is exquisitely voice acted and does well to make you believe these characters could exist and at many points feel for them in spite of their often dubious nature.

The game play itself is in the nature of the Grand Theft Auto sandbox style mechanics wherein whatever you see you can get too (without extensive loading screens) and you can interact with a variety of characters and objects in the world at any moment. My one gripe with the city was that the game is broken up by chapter which means in order to complete certain side missions you must reload that chapter and it can break up and take away from some of the freedom and exploration of side missions. I would have liked to see an epilogue chapter where you can run amok after completing the game without having to reload individual chapters, though this is a minor gripe and probably my only one with the game at all aside from lack of multi-player/coop.

I mention the lack of multi-player only in passing given the already enormous scale of the game. It may have been possible to add a coop given the 2 main characters often sharing missions, though alternate missions seem like they may have been a bit tough to handle for a game like this.

The soundtrack is somewhat split between a main score and a host of period tracks from the era which help to further draw the character into the setting. One of my favorite aspects of the game was that at high points in the story the main score would trump the radio music which was an excellent move as the score in the game is beautiful. At times I actually found myself not wanting to leave the options menu as the simple piano tune being played was so ambient I wanted to listen to more.

While the game doesn't have multi-player, I still found myself wanting to go back into the game for more after the first run through. At first I was worried that the side quests would get lost to the main story line, however, it seemed to setup for a way to add replay. Missed a job here or there, or collectible, just reload your favorite chapter and have at. Plus there is plenty of DLC to keep you busy while you're trying to collect achievements.

So for the run down.

-Mafia II outshines it's predecessor with much improved mechanics and story

-It doesn't have any multi-player, but the variety of achievements and DLC offer plenty to come back to.

-Soundtrack is excellent and anyone who is a fan of art and extras I would definitely recommend getting the deluxe edition.

-I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story and sandbox style gaming.

Later

Chi