14 DAY TRIAL // 
Long time coming Mafia II is finally here and, as promised, it gives players the opportunity to take on the role of a mafioso in the making and get an insight at what organized crime is all about. I know that 2K Games has been working on the tile for a long time so that it would be a crying shame for me to take the game apart by listing all the that is wrong with it.
So it's better if I start off by showing what's great about the game so that I can then disappoint you with some aspects that I find lacking at the very least.
Story
Instead of starting off as a regular cab driver minding his own business (like in the first Mafia game), your character Vito Scalletta started his crime life in his teens, following his partner in mischief Joe Barbaro. With a moral compass that sometimes makes you look like a stone cold mafioso, all you envision in life for yourself is money, respect and power with a complete disregard to what your conscience and even your own mother has to say.
After being discharged from fighting in World War II, you find yourself struggling to make an honest living and paying off debts that you father left before he so conveniently kicked the bucket. Fortunately for you, your old pal Joe is still in the “business” and he offers you a helping hand that you so eagerly decide to follow. As far as the story goes, 1945 is the year when you leave everything behind and join the life of a small time hustler, pushing guys around for money and robbing the occasional store.
Things couldn't be any better for you and your buddy Joe until one day, after a deal gone bad, you find the police sitting in front of you apartment and waiting to throw your skinny behind in jail. I have to admit that this was a particularly interesting twist in the story. I didn't actually expect that I would have to go through the entire prison experience and I was hoping the story to jump forward to six years after. Nevertheless, after you get out, the city of New York (as in Empire Bay) has been completely transformed from what it used to be.
You have to understand that in 1951 rock and roll and fancy cars were a completely new experience for a small time punk that spent the last six years in prison. As to be expected, your pal Joe is still there to guide you to the same mafioso life that you have become so accustomed with. Luckily, you have now made some friends in prison and you no longer work on your own, you are now accepted into one of the three Italian mafia families that control the organized crime around the city.
Soon after this, you find yourself in an all out war between the Vincis, Falcones and Clemente families that you unwillingly caused, you being at the center of it all. How it all plays out? I don't want to give away any spoilers but all I can safely say is that there better be a next Mafia game, because there is a lot of explaining to do.
Gameplay
With a GTA IV look and feel, Mafia II is anything but an open world type game. Of course you're free to explore every corner of the city if you choose too, but the fact is that there's nothing there for you to see. Apart from some mature content Playboy magazines, there are little to no side quests that you can take on. The linear story of the game compels you to keep pushing forward with every mission, simply driving from one location to another without ever stopping to check out any interesting stuff. For instance, in the first Mafia game there was a mission where you went across the Juliano bridge and you could see a man trying to jump off it, totally unrelated to what you were doing at the time. It's this kind of diversity that Mafia II lacks along with the free roaming experience of the city.
When it comes to weapons and hand to hand combat I wasn't really impressed but I can't say that it was bad altogether. Sure you have a shotgun, a tommy gun and some small firearms that you can shoot the competition with, after all these are the classic mafioso weapons. Dodging bullets by taking cover is extremely useful especially when you're in a tight situation and cornered. Sometimes a stray bullet happens to hit you in the head from no apparent direction but take it from me and don't think too much about the source. As frustrating as it might be, there's nothing you can do about it but to restart the mission from the last checkpoint.
Something that might become annoying after some time is the fact that the main character can't even open a door without the game going into “savegame” mode. It's not really useful if you ask me and instead they could have added this feature after you completed an objective. Instead, you have to run along home and sleep for the rest of the day if you want your progress to be saved and move on to the next chapter. This can be quite irritating especially if you've done your job and on your way home you smash your car into a wall (it happened to me). Now you have to replay the entire mission and there's nothing you can do about it.
With only fifteen chapters to go, Mafia II is a really short game offering up only about twelve hours or so of continuous gameplay. Is this what an open world game should be reduced to? With all the polished graphics and the 700 hundred pages of script I expected something more than that. Even with the announced downloadable content packs that 2K promised to release in the coming months I don't see how could they significantly enhance the gamepelay and the game world.
Graphics and audio
Anyway, leaving aside the story and overall gameplay, the environment is really something to look forward to exploring. The attention to details leaves you somewhat breathless the first time you enter the world and your first instinct is just to pull over at the side of the road and gaze upon everything around you. Surely later on it becomes clear that everywhere you'll go you'll see the exact same thing, but the way they treated the weather and it's impact on everything around you, will surely raise some gasps.
From viewing the snow falling down on your car and front bumper to steering the car on a slippery road on a rainy day, it's safe to say that Mafia II is all about the details. The most noticeable visual difference, you'll see between the time you go to prison and the time you get out. Capturing the era of rock and roll spirit and fast cars, you'll really get that Golden Age vibe when driving down the street.
Turing on your car stereo you'll get to hear some of the classic jazz songs that you've grown so accustomed with in the first Mafia game and also listen to some really cool and hip rock and roll classics that will make you roll down your window and start picking up girls on the side of the road in the classic Grease style (too bad this isn't actual gameplay).
Even the characters themselves have been nicely drawn when it comes to mimicking facial expression and gestures. Reproducing the old school mafioso slang would have been in vain without having them expressing in such a lively way. Hand gestures or the discrete corner eyed look are a nice touch when it comes to creating a serious and somewhat dangerous table conversation between two made men.
Conclusion
Trying not to get carried away and keeping an objective point of view about the entire game and gameplay experience, I can safely say that it's not one of those games that you'll be taking about over the years or measuring standards against. It's certainly fun to play in the way a linear story game is supposed to be and the graphics are well in the high end category for an open world type game.
I'm mostly disappointed about the fact that I had something else in mind when I was thinking about the sequel to the first Mafia game. Probably I was expecting a little more good guy mafioso drama and a little less “capo di tutti capi” or running after money and respect kind of motivations. The idea is great as it is, but it would have been a lot better if you were able to influence your own destiny and taking control over your actions. Who knows, probably they'll work on a new title and get it right the next time around.
