What's with the crap graphics and physics?
Well, it has a good story alright. Michael Corleone makes us the boss, so we can build a new family, and in the Mob Market, we try to become two big families. That's nice.
Secondly, it is very clever to organize your men, your rackets with your funds, your money and you need to build good strategies to remain powerful. You need to pick the right men for the right job, you need to put correct amount of men into a racket to keep it healthy, and in big fights you can develop different strategies.
And finally, the BAD PARTS:
-THE GRAPHICS!!! These graphics are even worse than the first game. Hellooo? We upgraded our systems, it's the next gen game age? The cars look like they jumped out from the "Midtown Madness" or "Taxi", you bump into a car, and there are not even one scratch? At least make a glass break for God's SAKE!
Not only the cars, the streets, the models, they all look like crap. You see an old fashioned, Midtown Madness style streets, very bad looking and too similar cars, then you see a very good exploding effect. What the...? If you can do this good exploding effect, why the hell you screwed the cars, street and the models?
-Michael Corleone? Just look at Al Pacino, and the Michael in game. You see any similarity? You cannot, cause there is not any! You can draw Vito, but how is it possible to draw a model which has absolutely no relevance to the original??? He's not Michael Corleone, maybe Mickey Corleone, but not Michael!
-And what's with the walk! You create a tough mafia character, who is the boss of a family, he runs fast, okay, but when you press "LAlt", he walks like a gay man!!! What the heck is that, tell me!
-And combats? It is so easy that it looks impossible, one man shoots you with a shotgun or a machine gun (no difference), he keeps shooting until you come near him, and beat him with your bare hands? HE USES A SHOTGUN! Are you a superhero or something? A superhero walking like a gay man?
In the first game, to beat a man, we had to fight really well and become well developed to beat a strong brawler, even in the one on one bare handed fights, we could have beaten, but now? We can beat a man with a shotgun, no matter how far is he.
-The sounds are also pretty lame. Sounds of the weapons are weird. And the map? To use it, you must have a wise man's patient!
In conclusion, if you have lots of money, and you wanna try it, go ahead and try it, you can have fun if you ignore all the nonsense stuff; but if you value your money and wanna play a good crime game, just buy GTA 4 or wait for Mafia II.