Linearity isn't the problem; Loose Gunplay, Too much Clumsy Driving, Chapter 1-8 are painfully Boring and no Story Depth
Pros:
-Detailed graphics (doesn't mean great)
-Hollywood Production Value
-Great Musical/Dramatic Score
-Perfect Voice Acting
-Story Oriented Game
-Beautiful Set Pieces
-Nice Selection of Clothing
-Great Story (End of Chapter 9--15)
-Henry and Joe
-Fist Fights
Cons:
-Loose Gunplay
-Clumsy Driving
-One-hit realistic death (cheap, boring, and frsustrating)
-Stiff Unrealistic Character Movement
-Familiar setting/Story
-Weak Protagonist development
-One sided dialogue
-Painfully long intro (9 chapters long)
-Annoying COPS
When I read and watched previews for Mafia II, my heart told me this game was going to make me bust a nut once I got my hands on it. I was so convinced of this fabricated reality, I even led myself to believe this game would make me forget about Rockstars fine creation...GTAIV and the episodes. I felt we had a game of the year contender, but I ended up getting a bargain bin masterpiece. I can see alot of work was put into this game, but in the end...Mafia II deserved to be a movie, not a video game in 2010. Not only does GTAIV rape Mafia II on every front, Mafia II couldn't even succeed in being the successor to its legendary older brother Mafia. But it is still an enjoyable game once it allows itself to play like a game.
Mafia is considered a classic too many including myself and it's stellar ending will never be forgotten. At the time, Mafia was a complete game and I even considered it to be better than GTA story wise. Then GTAIV came out and GTA took on a more realistic seirous approach while mixing arcade fun into the mix. Many people hated GTAIV for this reason, but I loved the fine mix between realistic gameplay, storytelling, graphics, etc. After playing Mafia II, I can accurately report GTAIV was ahead of its time.
Mafia II has to be one of the most generic gaming experiences I have experienced this generation. I'm hestitant to call it Mafia II bad because it possesses masterpiece qualities. It has a mildly entertaining story (with great production value) which only got interesting towards the end of the game. I didn't enjoy driving around doing pointless errands for 8-9 chapters listening to stale conversations. My objective was to play the game and wait for the story to get better, but I didn't think it would take 9 chapters into a 15 chapter tale to get interesting. All I did was drive...listen to cliche well written mobster drama...drive...go home to go to sleep and do the same thing the next chapter with a random errand thrown in that still involved drving...driving...and more boring a** driving. The driving mechanic feels so wrong...it's right. I guess the driving mechanics are a true to life representation of cars handling/mechanics back in those days...but this type of realistic game design drastically kills the fun factor especially when driving alot of the less sportier vehicle, but that's pretty obvious. GTAIV did the realisitic driving thing which ended up being entertaining once you mastered the mechanics, but Mafia II's driving feels sloppy. It is as if I don't have full proper control over the car and the steering input is a second too late. Driving is horribly boring and it can be very entertaining in the sportier cars that burn rubber at will, but when you spend most of the game driving...driving becomes an unneccessary gamebreaking chore.
Maybe one of the most irritating realistic game design choices was implementing traits of the fragile human body into this game. Gunfights have never been more frustrating. Shoot from cover to fast...dead. Accidentally take cover on the wrong side of cover...dead...all with one or two bullets resulting in game over. These have to be some of the quickest deaths ever in gaming history. Hiding behind cover doesn't always properly protect you and the A.I. seem to flank you at all the wrong times making unexpected close range fire fights a deadly situation. Probably they should have copied the close range automatic kill Red Dead Redemption used because the camera in this game keeps you from accurately aiming at your enemies. But not only do you die alot from cheap deaths, you have to experience the whole gun fight all over again which is absurdly boring/annoying due to loose gunplay mechanics. The first actual gun fight doesn't become available until chapter 5 and now I know why.
The gunplay in this game is pretty mediocre when you're not using the vicious shotgun. I'm not going to lie, I have become a little tired of shooters, but I still find them fun...but some how, Mafia II introduced me to my first taste of unengaging gunplay (exceptions include the shotgun). It's not the outdated mechanics that are terrible, its more or less the frequent deaths, unfair enemies advantages, lack of blind cover fire, lack of cover protection, etc that make me hate shoot outs in this game. Jesus Christ, these developers emphasized how much time they put in perfecting the gunplay during interviews...after playing the damn game, I began to wonder...did they play the game? Now I have played some mediocre shooters...but this is number 1 contender. It's no Fallout 3 real time mediocre shooter, but it should have been better. The demo was a great representation of the final product which I was hoping was false. Damn, how can you make a game based on shooting people and make the gun play so lifeless. Also, I spent more time recovering from lost health behind cover than invovling myself in the action. As soon as I aim to shoot at someone, BAM...my life is red and I must wait a few seconds and shoot again only to meet the same faith until I finally knock off my enemies. GTAIV and RDR were like this, but unlike the aferomentioned games...the shooting in those game were spot on...not perfect, but spot on. Now Uncharted may have some of the most entertaining third person shooting available and I think that may be one of the reasons I found Mafia II shootouts to be very underwhelimng.
But there is not mistaking the brillance that goes along with these shootouts. There is a great sense of chaos and panic during shootouts, but somehow...the loose gunplay kills what could have been very memorable gun fights. In Mafia II, I always get the sensation I wasn't shooting anyone because the aiming felt too loose, shots have no gratifying impact, and everything felt a second too late. I don't even know if I am targeting someone or just wasting bullets. The most memorable thing about gunfights were my frequent cheap deaths. I guess this makes it more realiistic, but it also makes it painfully annoying, but thank god for the set pieces which are memorable.
The set pieces made the gunfights better than they actually were. I think it's pretty sad that the set pieces during gunfights take more notice than the actual action taking place within them. China Town was great, the hotel was great, the drug factory...great. Every gun fight after Chapter 8 had a beautiful back drop. Nothing here was entirely original, but it all felt authentic, real and it was detailed down to the tee. Something else that felt authentic, but not original was the story.
No one should confuse Mafia as a masterpiece as this story has been told coutless times with a better sense of presentation and pacing, but it is still very entertaining once you get pass the slow intro. Everyone knows the premise of this game so far so I won't explain it...but I didn't know it would be so straight forward. I didn't know it would be filled with every cliche you could think of relating to mobster tales. Even the twist in the game are predictable due to its cliche resembalance. I also didn't know the game would start getting interesting after chaper 9. Most of the story before this is just a long ass cliche filled intro to a boring mafia movie. Everything after chapter 9 is pretty damn cliche as well, but it's more interesting than the errand boy beginning. And after Chapter 9, you finally feel like you a playing a Mafia game. One thing that struck me odd about this game is the lack of character Vito displayed through this whole tale. I had no interest in him or his livelihood...why? Because the developers gave me no reason too due to little character development and Vito stale personality. Vito seems like an idiot who is only chasing money...this theatric has been done millions of times which makes it hard for me to find interest. Vito in a sense was nothing, but a yes man and briefly show signs of smooth roughness which only became noticably during Chapter 15, the last chapter...WOW. I cared more about Joe's faith at the end of the game more than Vito, though chapter 15 gave me reason to admire Vito. Vito does end up being a nice protagonist as he becomes a guy who's hard to hate, but he doesn't give you a reason to really care about him either. Sadly, the game doesn't feel like it should have ended at chapter 15 as the developers had enough time to create a full game instead of making this half a** game so they could go straight into Mafia III.
The game is not that long as one would expect and it doesn't play like an open world game...so what you have is a very linear game with a lot a down time. Due to the linear nature...they could have done what FFXIII did. Have a slow beginning only to ramp up the action and story towards the middle and end. Mafia seemed like it was caught in the middle...then they just stopped and rolled the credits. After viewing the ending, I now understand why gamers are screaming , "WTF ending". That is the perfect way to describe it. It's unexcusable. Mafia II has been in development for how long...and this is the most they can pump out. The only reason I kept playing was to see how it all would end...and now that I have seen the ending, I can easily conclude the developers ended Mafia II this wasy to either set up a sequel or DLC. I am highly dissappointed with that, though the ending is tastefully done and really ends on a cliffhanger.
Alot has been said about how marvelous Mafia II appears on our screens, but people forgot to mention they were referring to the PC version. The PS3 version doesn't look terrible by any means, but it isn't look mind blowing either. Mafia II has all the detail to make its open world look great, but it is missing one thing that was able to hide GTAIV's graphical deficiency....a great light system. I popped the original GTAIV back in and I was stunned. GTA IV still looked blurry and washed out, but I was amazed to see how alive it felt compared the Mafia 2. The graphics actually felt like they looked better, but that is far from the truth of course though Ballad of Gay Tony has better graphics. Mafia II is sharper, clearer, and has better facial detial. But GTA Ballad of Gay Tony can compete with Mafia II. GOWIII, Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy XIII, etc. have elevated my expectations in the graphical field. Mafia II can be considered a good looking game, but with so many enhancements in the graphical department in the last few years and the time it took for this game to come out of development...one would assume this game would own in the graphic department. As it stands, Mafia II is still a great looking game, though it appears muddy sometimes.
So what saved this game from receiving a score lower than 7.5 after all my previous complaints...well it has to be the story. I don't care how bad a game is...as long as the story is solid, I will play as game just to see how it ends. The gameplay alone is a easy 6 or 7 for me, but the story is a solid 8. The story is too predictable and too familiar to be considered classic, but it was entertaining due to the classy dialogue and musical score, but the way everything played out was just...blah. Everything goes wrong once a drug deal goes bad...everyones out for you, feds on to you, gangs want you dead...all simple cliche tired bullsh*t. GTAIV and RDR were serious open world games with unpredictable stories, this game was the opposite. I new what was coming next. I heard peolple say this before I played it and they never lied. But in the end, I enjoyed the story and dialogue and that is it.
You know...I really hated playing through Mafia II, it was boring for way too long, ended abruptly, and featured some of the weakest gunplay I have ever endured. But chapters 10-15 saved the game even though they weren't masterpieces. During these chapters, the game starts to fill like a Mafia game. The story comes into fruitation and the shootouts are generally entertaning minus the loose gunplay and cheap deaths. Chapter 15 was awesome. Mafia II could learn a finger or two from Rockstar...you know on how to make a solid game with an original story and also how to make a proper open world game. I know I keep comparing GTAIV to Mafia II and I have good reason. They are so similiar, but so different. No need to explain that. Mafia II feels like it should have been released before GTAIV and RDR hit stores because its potential to be loved has been ruined. But even without those games existing, Mafia II doesn't have the right gameplay to warrant a hardcore gamers time or money. That is why I believe Mafia II should have been a movie because as a game...it doesn't do its job well, but the story is enough to warrant of full release movie for mobster fans (I am not one). I didn't have that much fun playing this game. Listen, I had more fun playing Heavy Rain then Mafia II....HEAVY RAIN. If you have played Heavy Rain, then you know something is wrong.
All in all, Mafia II is unengaging and it's hard to find any true emotional appeal towards the protagonist and the famiilar story in generic. The gunplay is piss poor (exaggeration, but you get the point), you do more driving in the game than shooting, and everything and everyone is a cliche though everything is presented perfectly. Why must you drive back home and go to sleep...WHO thought this would be fun or engaging? Mafia II had a lot of potential and alot of it just wasn't met. Developers shouldn't hype up their games unless they are established in the medium...the developers of Mafia II spoke about this game as if it was going to be a classic. Mafia I is a classic...Mafia II has bargain bin/rental masterpiece written all over it, but it still provides an entertaing yet too familiar story...the question is do you want sit through the weak gameplay to experience it. Save your money and just rent it. If you need it in your collection...wait until is goes on sale because it won't be too long until this happens.
P.S. I didn't talk about the cops in my review, but just to let eveyone know how I feel...the COPS are another reason why I hate this game so much...they are everywhere and everything you do attracts a cop...unrealistic in the sense, but makes sense, but still annoying. Gun fights with cops are lousy too and I can't believe how easy it is to get rid of them.