Spoiler free. A tough game to review with mixed reactions throughout.
Mafia 2:
Mafia 2 kicks you off in 1945 where you will meet someone called Vito and his immigrants…..You start off as small theft business and hen eventually gets more intense than that leading to some thrilling shootouts and good action scenes.
Gameplay: (20)
Story: (15)
Control: (5)
Graphics: (10)
Final Thoughts: (25)
Gameplay:
Although this will be mentioned upon "Graphics" allow I to start off by saying the game does a great job at changing the setting of the game. Not to spoil anything in this review but the game starts off in 1945 and it's winter. The cars are different then, the streets are different and the game generally looks different. Fast forward to 1951 (guess how and win a prize) and the map is the same but there are faster cars, pedestrians look more modern, clothing changes and so forth. It's a great atmosphere.
The Gameplay in Mafia 2 is very solid and more or less has only three types of missions but don't make it seem really disappointing in that perspective. There is a mixture of shooting, driving and stealth. Sadly, I have to follow the band wagon here and agree with what people say. The stealth element is so easy to work and should have defiantly been used more often. Driving I will mention in the control section. Finally shooting is just like GTA IV's style of shooting. It features a neat cover system which works pretty well most of the time but also in addition to the shootouts, there is a lot of "spots" in shootouts where a certain thing may happen to make it more interesting. Such as a car crash or a big fire breaking out, just to not make it so stale.
Outside of these there are side missions. They aren't interesting and won't be worth your time, unless stealing cars is your thing. There are also shop robberies which can be interesting but they last about 10 seconds, literally.
Overall for Gameplay: It's strong but it's lacking a great variation and there's so much you wish you could do. Mafia has a fairly decent sized map and there is barely anything to do in it, barely anything.
Gameplay: 14/20
Story:
The story in Mafia 2 is pretty straight forward. You meet this man called Vito and as the game progresses, he moves up as a criminal. The game begins for you when you come home from the 2nd world war and Vito has joined the U.S Military to avoid doing time in prison. Vito talks to you but then reunites with his old friend called Joe and your criminal career begins when you're introduced to another character called Mike. Mike is a car mechanic and the rest goes on from there pretty much. The story is sadly very predictable and I called it after the first few cut scenes (seriously). Characters can be interesting to get to know and the game does do a quite decent job of getting you to know them. You can pick up traits in some people and what not. There are a few twists and turns around the Gameplay and I'd be happy for it, just if it wasn't for the ending.
Story: 9/15
Control:
I just had to add this in here as I love the control in vehicles but not so much on foot. The controls may seem a bit cryptic at first as they aren't so generic but you quickly get used to it. Handling is very smooth and varies from the winter nights to your bright summer day's overtime. The control is strong and easy to get use to.
Control: 4/5
Graphics:
The game is very clear and looks beautiful. Textures are very smooth and other touches such as powerful fire and brutal bloody moments really add to the games image. It's almost a quite distinctive game and can be picked out from an image. Weather variations happen over chapters and look amazing. Rain is absolutely gorgeous on this game and blends so well.
Graphics: 8/10
FINAL THOUGHTS. As this is my half bothered review and it's currently 5:02 in the morning. Allow me to set this out in a much lazier but easier to follow layout.
Good: Well themed and varied map from mid winter 1940's to 1951, visuals are strong, great driving, shooting is fun and melee works well. Distinctive look. Bloody. Great original music.
Problems: Money is useless, Gameplay gets rather repetitive,
Bad: Predictable storyline, missions started to feel dull, game felt unfinished and could have been improved, open world lacks much fun, glitches encountered.
Overall: 20/25
Gameplay: (14/20)
Story: (9/15)
Control: (4/5)
Graphics: (8/10)
Final Thoughts: (20/25)
Overall: 55/75
X1.333333333 = 73/100
7.5 overall.