Mafia II - Preview - The Armchair Empire


	Platform PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Genre Sandbox Action Publisher 2K Games Developer 2K Czech ETA August 24, 2010
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Mafia II

Some brief hands-on time with a game that will likely span dozens of hours wasn't enough to allow me to get a handle on anything outside of a basic understanding of the combat and driving. So I didn't really get an inkling of the basic setup for the game:

Born the son of a poor immigrant, Vito is a beaten down Italian American who is trying to escape the life of poverty that consumed his childhood. It was on the streets that Vito learns that joining the Mafia is the only route to wealth and respect for people of his standing. Wanting to escape the life of hardship that his father led, he dreams about becoming a “made man.”

A petty criminal his whole life, Vito, along with his childhood friend, Joe, will descend into the world of organized

crime. Together, they will work to prove themselves to the Mafia as they try to make their names on the streets. Starting with low-level jobs like robbery and stealing cars, Vito and Joe escalate quickly up the Mafia family ladder…but the life as a wise guy isn’t quite as glamorous as it seems.

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I dove right in, starting at a detailed apartment circa mid-1940s, complete with a Playboy magazine from that era. (It's not the full magazine, just a nude photo.) Acting on orders to whack some wise buy across town, I hopped into a car and followed the map.

Power steering wasn't around in those days and engineering amounted to creating bricks on wheels

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(accented by a fin, maybe) so there's instantly some learning to be done. Though I only drove a couple of vehicles, they both drove like boats. It's accurate for the time period though; 2K Czech is sticking to real life source material as much as possible.

Thankfully that "realism" doesn't extend to the combat. I was still able to carry around four different guns, including a machine gun, and absorb a lot of bullets.

After arriving at the ambush location, I manned a machine gun mounted in a window as my two companions yelled and swore. It was kind of a hectic moment. Then we dashed across the street to the warehouse where the target had taken refuge. Alternately ducking into cover and advancing forward through a series of scripted encounters, we found our target cowering in a corner. The wise guy gets in one last shot, bringing one of your crew to his knees. Of course, by this time, the building has experienced a series of explosions and fire is quickly spreading throughout the building. Taking less cover this time, I push back down to the main floor and exit the building, with my compatriots slowly bringing up the rear.

We pile into the car and take off, flipping a few accurately-dressed pedestrians across the hood as I hit the sidewalk. A trail of cop cars show up and start shooting. I drive up to the bridge only to find that a police roadblock is in place. It all feels a little like a setup, like they were ready for us. But the demo ends and I'm left thinking.

From my brief time with the game, Mafia II feels really good. And familiar. Any comparison with more recent sandbox titles like EA's The Godfather games or Grand Theft Auto IV are bound to be made but I can see that only working in Mafia II's favour. When the original released, sandbox games weren't as widespread as they are today and at least one of the evolutions that Mafia II seems to be making is this one: "As time passes, hot rod cars, 50s fashion and some of the era’s best music reflect the birth of a cool new era." With only 30 minutes spent with game, I didn't see any of this, but it's a great idea to extend the time of day cycle, to changes in clothing and cars as the game progresses. It'll be interesting to see how this aspect is showcased over the course of the entire game.

Mafia II is scheduled to arrive at retail in North America on August 24, 2010.

- Aaron Simmer

(June 30, 2010)