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like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Dog Day Afternoon, to more recent
films and shows such as Pulp Fiction and The Sopranos. To that end, the
amount of Sandbox games that focus primarily on the theme of made men
are sparse, which is what helps give the Mafia series a notable
distinction. Originally released by Illusion Softworks to depict
criminal life in the 1930’s, Mafia gained a cult following on the PC,
but was largely ignored by PS2 and Xbox owners who preferred running
around Liberty City (while waiting for their next adventure in Vice).
With more knockoffs these days than ever before, 2k Games is hoping for
another round with Mafia II. Developed by their Czech studio, does this
new sequel have enough gusto to roll with the big boys, or should the
series be given a quick kiss of death?
Taking place during the 1940’s, Mafia II’s story focuses on Vito
Scaletta, who makes his way back to his hometown in Empire Bay (a
politically correct renaming of New York’s “Empire State”) after
participating in World War II. After reuniting with his mother and
sister, Vito decides to take the disciplined training from his tour of
duty and settle down into a quiet and productive life.
Actually, scratch that, he decides to partner up with his old pal Joe in
order to earn some big cash while making a name for himself with the
city’s most notorious crime lords. At first Vito engages in these
illegal activities in order to pay off a sizable debt left by his dearly
departed father, but soon enough his motivation for robbing safes and
jacking cars becomes an alternative to an honest day’s work. As is
typical for the genre, however, things go wrong….constantly, even in the
most mundane of missions. Bullets will fly, betrayals will commence,
loyalties will be tested, and more than a few characters will find
themselves fitted with a pair of cement shoes.
The game follows the basic third-person formula, with Vito possessing a
plethora of abilities, from bare-handed brawling to scaling over ledges
and fences, to taking cover while carefully aiming a .45 at someone’s
cranium from several feet away. From a gameplay perspective, Mafia II
offers nothing you haven’t seen a dozen times already, although it
thankfully keeps its copied controls perfectly refined, with a better
controlling targeting system than Grand Theft Auto as well as a
less-robotic feel for walking and running.
What sets Mafia II apart is its aesthetics and attention to detail,
depicting a city that’s still in its American infancy. The clothing, the
cars, the music and the accents all convey the ‘40’s (and later on, the
‘50’s) as accurately as it’s been told by the people who have lived in
those bygone days, although there are a couple of historic inaccuracies
(collections of Playboy magazine, for instance, feature pinup models
from the ‘60’s). This is a moot point, however, as the end-results
feature a more detailed setting than GTAIV, with NPCs featuring more
life-like animations and sharper visuals overall.
This extra amount of detail comes at a hefty price however, and that is
linearity. Despite featuring a city that’s roughly the same size as
other Sandbox games, Mafia II features virtually nothing in the way of
outside content. Each of the game’s missions run sequentially, with one
chapter immediately preceding the other; While players are free to
explore in-between missions, there is hardly any reason to do so other
than see the sights or to stop at one of the handful of shops (which
include changing clothes, buying weapons, or repairing and customizing
stolen vehicles).
Normally the linearity could be forgiven so long as it means
experiencing shootouts and chase sequences quicker, but this is where
the game’s biggest problem comes in. Even though the game focuses
primarily on its story missions, players are still required to drive
from Point A to Point B, followed by a detour to Point C and back again
to Point A. Every mission requires that Vito wake up at his apartment,
be given orders to meet with someone at a certain place, and then drive
to another place in order to start the actual mission, then finally
drive back to his apartment to start the whole thing over. Even worse,
there are no shortcuts around the city (such as taxicabs), and driving
past the speed limit will have the police chasing after you. For the
game to artificially lengthen its overall run-time by forcing you to
drive, it won’t be long before this monotonous practice will have you
purposely engaging the police just to spice things up.
As mundane as the driving can be, the payoff is usually worth it.
Missions are generally well done, featuring clichéd but otherwise
engaging sequences such as a shootout with the police during a rooftop
run, or escaping a burning building after a botched hit job. One
particularly inspired moment features Vito receiving a “temporary change
of venue”, adding more story-driven elements that will please fans of
the organized crime genre. All of these scenes feature impressive
voiceover performances by a cast well versed with depicting made men and
Mafioso, and usually takes itself much more seriously than Rockstar’s
self-parodies.
In the end, Mafia II has the makings of a quicker and darker paced GTA
clone that is unfortunately short of greatness due to its forced driving
and overall sterile setting. If you feel that you have enough patience,
the payoff is well worth it, even if it’ll be a while before you can get
your hands dirty.
- Jorge Fernandez
(September 30, 2010) |
