My first review and not without reason! This game has a lot of good but also alot of bad! Wasted potential!
And that is what comes to mind when I played Mafia II, don't get me wrong this is a good game, even more so an excellent one!
But at the same time that is what will annoy you... ' ALL THAT WASTED POTENTIAL '.
Without giving to much away you play as vito a lower class guy with ambition. Having to go to war instead of a prison sentance is an easy choice for him and so he serves his time as a soldier in Italy during the second world war.
Back in America the small time criminal finds out there is good money in not playing the straight game.
With big payouts in crime, that is where an ordinary man as Vito finds out that he excells within this business.
in its basis the story of this game!
To move on to my point, everything is there in this game to create an amazing ' Game of the year ' experience!
Graphics are good to say the least and on par if not better then other free roaming classics, such as GTA4. The music and atmosphere wich captures the era of this game perfectly, there could have been a bit more diversity in the radio tunes and speech, but hey it serves its job well of transporting you into the 40's / 50's.
The main problem with Mafia II is its linearity!
You have this beautiful city wich has the same amount of interactivity as the game ' Driver ' and that's from 1999 if I remeber right!
The game kills itself by not giving you any freedom! There is nothing to explore, And even if you can find fun in racing your car around the city and doing two lineair side mission wich consists out of strealing cars and selling them it still wont give you more extra time with the game then a few hours.
At then end of Mafia II, it will leave you with a very double sided feeling.
On one hand you have enjoyed a 12 / 16 hour ride with some excellent story telling, wich leaves you wanting more. But there is really nothing else to do you're done and in just one day, especially for the sleepless die hards! you're done and there is nothing else to enjoy about this game besides trophy hunting and wait for the next ' PAY DLC '.
VERDICT:
Mafia II is worth picking up if you enjoy good story telling even if only for 12/14 hours. If you want value for your money look elsewhere after the main mission is done there is nothing to motivate you to stay in Mafia II's... actually stunning world! Without online features and replayability this game scores a 7 in my book and serves as a great way to show, what wasted potential really is!