There’s just no getting around it: despite the illegality of their chosen occupation, mobsters are cool. They get the money, the power, the girls and pretty much live a life above the law. We know all of this because there’s been so many classic films about organised crime and the lives of those taking part in it. It’s about time then that a really classic game on the subject came along. Have 2K Czech been able to deliver on that front? Read on to find out.

Mafia II follows the life of Vito Scaletta, son of Sicilian immigrants to America, from his involvement in the second world war to his career as a low level mafioso. To mention much of the narrative here would detract from the experience of playing the game so I will simply say that the story is brilliant. There’s so many classic gangster situations featured that we’ve seen on TV and in the movies, and being able to experience them from the position of the protagonist is just superb. The story has plenty of twists and turns along the way and kept me interested for the entire 12 hours it lasted.

The best thing about Mafia II is the way in which the atmosphere of the entire game is so convincing. The cars handle how I would expect those from the period to; the music on the radio is of the time (and in fact the soundtrack to the game is probably my favourite of this year so far); adverts on the radio are on occasion hilariously in keeping with the period (cigarette companies refuting the ‘evidence’ that they cause illness for example); presenters on the radio give updates on the war in Europe. From the smallest details such as posters on walls, right the way up to the social stereotyping of the 40′s and 50′s, the game features as detailed a recreation of life at that time as I have ever seen in a game.

If you’ve seen images or videos of the game online then you could be forgiven in thinking that Mafia II is another GTA clone. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The only similarity is the fact that both games feature a large map to explore. Mafia is far more linear than you would at first expect, it’s the most linear open world game I’ve played, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This linearity helps keep the story focused and moving forward in a way of the developers choosing and as far as this game is concerned that has worked extremely well.
The only issue I had with this is that besides the main story mode there is pretty much nothing else to do in the world. Sure you can spend some time robbing shops but that does get old rather quickly.

Talking of things to do other than the main story, it would be most remiss of me not to mention the collectables in Mafia. The developers have done a deal with Playboy and have scattered centrefolds from the 40′s and 50′s around the map for players to find and enjoy. It’s good to see a game try something different as regards collectables, and who doesn’t like pictures of naked chicks? There’s also a series of wanted posters which are scattered around, again with the goal of prolonging the game, but these are far less fun to collect.

The gameplay is split between three main areas: driving; cover shooting and hand to hand fighting. As I’ve said above, the cars handle just how you would expect they should, and this makes them quite a challenge to drive. High speed chases with the police rarely exceed 100mph.Tthough this doesn’t make them any less challenging as the health system in the game is rather unforgiving, with a relatively small amount of damage being enough to take you down.

The cover shooting sections of the game are the real meat of the missions themselves and generally speaking are fun to play. As with everything else, the weapons at your disposal are in keeping with the setting of the game and are all very fun to use. My main gripe with the cover shooting sections is that on occasion you will be able to be shot despite appearing to be in cover. This can be frustrating at times , especially when it forces you to repeat a section of gameplay and even moreso when it’s a large section due to the rather hit and miss checkpoints.

The hand to hand combat sections are in my opinion the least well done part of the game. They are very basic, featuring essentially only a light and heavy attack, and a block. These sections are all about timing your attacks and they do become something of an annoyance by the end of the game, with one section in particular featuring just a little too much of this type of gameplay.

Graphically the game varies greatly. Some of the interiors are really well done, and the destructable portions of environment become particularly enjoyable parts of the experience. However, some of the outdoor driving sections feature graphics on a par with some last gen games which can be a little disappointing. The framerate does also appear sluggish at points, although even then it does at least maintain a constant speed (slow). There’s also some noticeable tearing during quick movements of the camera which is especially bad during interior sections.

Mafia II is not a triple A game by any stretch of the imagination. It most definitely is a game worth playing in order to experience a slice of what it must be like to be a gangster. If you’re put off by the undeniable technical issues the game has then you’re missing out on what is a really enjoyable experience.

Verdict: 7.5/10. You. You good you.