The original Mafia – Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven – was released exclusively for PC back in 2002. It was relatively successful, both commercially and critically, and as an open-world third-person shooter in a time dominated by Grand Theft Auto III and its clones, it managed to stand out thanks to its own unique merits. 

Now 8 years on, many fans of the original are eagerly awaiting 2K’s follow up.

In many ways, Mafia II is similar to Grand Theft Auto IV. It is set in a massive, populated, open-world cityscape, where the primary protagonist is a foreigner trying to carve out a life for himself by climbing his way through the world of organised crime. Having said that, it plays very differently, and as someone who felt GTA IV was just a touch overrated, I believe that Mafia II’s tighter narrative is what makes it a better game.

The first thing you will notice, particularly if you are playing it on a beefy PC, is that Mafia II is an absolutely gorgeous game. Empire City is probably the most impressive virtual city I have ever seen. 2K Czech have truly outdone themselves, and if it were not for the engine’s occasional chunkiness, I would say that is one of the best in the industry right now. The city teams with life; the shadows, reflections, lighting, weather effects and overall detail levels are incredible. 

Unlike many open-world settings we have come to know, Empire City actually feels alive. Walk by a window where a cat is sleeping, and it will wake up and look at you before hissing and making an abrupt exit. In Winter you will walk around your apartment while snow falls outside and gathers on the windowsill, and birds will litter the streets in Summer.  

Similarly, facial animations are as realistic as we have seen in a game. This goes a long way towards making characters believable, as does the excellent voice acting and script writing. 

It is all very impressive, and I am hard pressed to think of a game which looks better than Mafia II in all its glory. Playing it with an AMD 955 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a HD 5870, I was able to run it on maximum detail levels at 1920×1200, with anti aliasing on, at a solid 55-60 frames per second. 

On top of this, there are hardly any loading screens, and the most obvious one – when the game first loads – is shockingly short (about 5 seconds), considering the magnitude and level of detail of the world on display. Some seriously smart coding went into building this game, and we have to tip our hats to 2K for its technical achievements in Mafia II. 

But on to the game itself. 

Once the general awe of the production values begins to subside, we become more acquainted with the game itself. It is immediately apparent that Mafia II is story driven. The game is broken up into chapters, with each one doing its part to keep things moving along. While it reeks of the typical rags-to-riches Mafia tales that we are all familiar with, it is delivered convincingly, and you are likely to become genuinely engaged by the whole thing. 

This is thanks to three notable narrative strengths:

Firstly, the pacing is spot on. Rarely does the story lull, and the constant momentum is likely to keep you playing through to the end.

Secondly, it takes place over the space of 10 years, and introduces a few unexpected new locations along the way. Even the same locations feel different as time passes, with the music, fashion and automotive trends of the respective times being accurately reflected. This lends the story a truly epic scope.

Thirdly, the characters are well presented, excellently voiced, and uniquely charismatic. 

All this makes for a thoroughly engaging cinematic experience.

But flashy visuals and a great story are not what make a game special. The gameplay is probably Mafia II’s only real stumbling point, although saying this feels harsh. I wouldn’t say it at all if Mafia II did not create such high standards for itself.

The actual interactive component consists of three primary activities; driving, shooting, and melee combat.

The driving is great in so far as it really allows you to breathe in Empire City, and combined with the amazingly realised world and music from the era, it is a pleasant enough experience. It is somewhat hampered, however, by a few problems. Firstly, you will usually want to avoid the attention of the police. This means sticking to speed limits, and waiting at traffic lights – which are often quite long. While there is nothing catastrophically wrong with it, driving around is not exactly bundles of fun, and it takes up a significant portion of the playtime.

Then there is the shooting, which is definitely the most entertaining of the gameplay elements. The third-person cover mechanic is familiar and robust, while the solid hit detection, rag-doll physics and variety of weaponry make it highly enjoyable. At the same time, it is not going to compete with the likes of Gears of War II, or other more dedicated third-person shooters. It also does not bring anything new to the table.

Thirdly, there is the melee combat, which really feels like it was tacked on, and does not offer anything truly worthwhile to the experience. There will be times where it is important to understand this combat element to progress in the story, but outside of these forced encounters, you will probably never use it. 

Players will earn money from performing jobs, both in the context of the storyline, as well as in side jobs. Like so many games however, money begins to feel worthless. There is nothing really worthwhile to spend it on, and it is easy enough to simply walk into a gun store, smoke the cashier, and take what you want. The same applies to clothes and cars. 

You will gain access to a variety of weapons fairly early on, and the fact that you gain access to many guns simultaneously makes each individual gun feel less special. There is no real joy in finding a new weapon, and it would have been nice if this had been structured in a more coaxing manner. 

Having said all that, Mafia II is still a great game. The story and characters will hold your attention where the gameplay might not, and you will become truly emotionally invested in the entire experience. This, coupled with the incredible presentation makes Mafia II one of the standout games of 2010.

Mafia II is well worth owning for anyone who feels like getting wrapped up in about 12 hours of 1950s Italian gangster storytelling. Or anyone who with a sweet-tooth for eye candy for that matter – particularly owners of high-end gaming PCs.

Reviewed on PC

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