Mafia 2 - Page 2

Okay, cool. Old habit of wanting to save progress when my wife wants to go out for the night...

SERIOUSLY. I missed a turn off of the elevated interstate in one mission, causing me to go blocks and blocks out of my way to get back on track, and there was an absolutely beautiful and dramatic section of the city I'd never have seen otherwise.

I'm loving the game and the story, but Christ, the unexplored potential of this city is staggering.

I'm currently exploring the unexplorable. Car fell through the road geometry. I'm watching the car fall into nothingness - at least it spit out the 120 MPH and Die Flying achievements. This happened in Chapter 4: Murphy's Law...

I'll avoid spoilers, but... yeah. The reference to Mafia 1 offered better closure.

Plus it surprised me that I was able to remember enough to catch a reference to Mafia 1!

As someone who is working on their own low-budget game right now, it kinda pisses me off.

Would it be a good idea to wait buy this until this game eventually drops to $29.99? I really liked the first game, but I just got done with RDR, and have at least two (or three) more games I bought a little bit ago that I haven't played through yet. I have a tendency to kevyip games.

I definitely want to buy it at some point, but I'm just wondering if Mafia 2 is amazing enough to jump on it right now. Also, while Mafia 2 doesn't sound like a traditional sandbox game, I think I might want to change up the type of game I play after Read Dead Redemption.

Yeah, I'd say wait.

In a Post-GTA World, there's no excuse for this game.

If you're expecting RDR meets Goodfellas, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. I think it's worth the asking price, but it won't be for everyone.

Well, I'd say it's GTA and RDR that have no excuse still having such terrible controls.

I played the demo yesterday and really liked it. The weapons feel very nice and heavy and the acting was good. For those who've played through, how long is it? Should I go with a rental or a purchase?

10-15 hours, and -zero- replay value. If you're a big fan of mob stories, you'll probably find it worth the money. To everyone else, it's probably best as a rental.

You can probably clear this game if you have a free weekend...Feels like I'm rounding third on it and am on pace to finish in about 10-12 hours. Solid story, good acting, pretty good gunplay. My only real complaint is with the driving...for a game that includes SO MUCH driving (it feels like the driving/shootout ratio is about 60/40 - maybe more) the non-souped up cars handle pretty poorly. I'm beginning to dread any mission that requires precise driving.

I agree with Jameson.

The driving is shit. 90% of the cars handle for shit and the impact to damage ratio is really off.

You can take more damage for hitting a divider than another car.

Driving is shit every action sandbox game. I think it has something to do with navigating the line between realism and fun, as well as factoring in the insane amounts of perpendicular intersections that just aren't conducive to good racing games.

Yeah, the driving doesn't do anything for me, but the missions themselves are varied enough to make up for it. It doesn't feel like you're doing the same mission over and over again.

Thanks! I got a weeks vacation coming so I'll try to rent it instead.

Finished it on normal difficulty at 10.5 hours...definitely worth a playthrough, particularly if you like the first one. Despite the gripes about the driving - the presentation of the story is really solid, and some of the sequences are memorable.

I'm a couple of hours in and so far i'm bored to pieces by it. Has to have one of the slowest learning curves in recent memory. All i've done is spend 5 minutes walking or driving some place, to have to spend another 5 minutes driving to somewhere else, to talk for 10 minutes to someone and then spend another 5 minutes driving back.

WAY too much conversation and driving going around. Very little actual mission play. I'm kinda hating it.

For a sandbox game, Mafia II has a remarkably slow start. It's a rear-loaded game that ramps up after the shawshank chapter.

I replayed the demo yesterday and this is the only game that's ever given me nausea. The camera is way to close to the character.

A question about the sandbox thing: was the game marketed as such? It's seems weird that the game keeps getting knocked for not being one.

Why is the final showdown in a planetarium? Everybody knows Sicilians have no business in a house of astronomy.

Henchman: "So where do you wanna take out Vito, boss?"

Don Gazpacho: "How about the planetarium? We already used the slaughterhouse, the toy factory, and the pasta silo."

Henchman: "Mangia Italiano!"

I agree with that. But, it's a little too fucking late.


When you reach the final leg of the game, you just don't care anymore. Fred Flintstonio keeps running his mouth and you've got to deal with the basic bullshit to further the game.

What the hell was the point of burning down the house to lose all of your money? Oh, the Irish wanted to get you back for something that took all of 2 minutes in the prison level.

It's a very contrived game, but it's still better than the first one.

The story was gangster movie trope after trope. But the actual writing and acting was top notch. So was the atmosphere and the demand for you to behave less like a madman than is usual for open world games. The shooting, when it happened, was pretty good. I liked it but I really don't know if I could recommend it to anyone.

But I have a sneaking suspicion that this game had a lot of finished content withheld in order to sell DLC. A lot.

I only started caring about what happened to Vito, and to a bigger extent, Joe, after he gets made, which is surprisingly late in the game. It feels like there are three or four chapters that were condensed into a "the good times" montage after the ceremony. As soon as Vito gets made, everything falls apart, so we don't get to enjoy any of the benefits of Vito's mafia success. The house burning comes - what - two chapters after you get the house? Jesus.

Vito suffers from game protagonist cypher syndrome. He's by far the least developed and blandest guy in the whole game, which is ostensibly because 2K wants the player to project themselves into the character. I don't want to follow around a blank slate for twelve hours, though. Had we been following Joe the whole time, I think things would have been much more interesting.

The few story events that wipe out everything you've built, like the prison chapter or the house burning, might have been more effective if the game were longer, or if it actually gave a shit about having Vito accumulate wealth. I liked that Mafia II tried something different, but the execution was flawed. There are a lot of pieces missing here.

I feel so inadequate, reading your experiences. I've had an absolute ball with this thing, and I haven't finished, and I'm at 10.05 hours.

I still think this game is lots of fun.

I've been playing for like 5 hours. I think i've spent 2 of those hours driving from one place to the other. And another 2 hours watching cutscenes. This is probably the worst paced game i've played so far. Every little gameplay bit takes 10 minutes to explain and 2 to play.
Why the fuck did i spend so much time going from place to place meeting different guys (the docks, the military guy who sold guns, all the different apartments, the guy at the junkyard ) if they don't really mater to the story or game at all. They just make you follow the missions anyways.

The game is beautiful though. And when you actually get to do something, it's fun and great. But at this point it feels more like a movie than a game.

I can't even say that. While there are brief moments, they never actually build into something I'd call enjoyable.


The Hotel mission came a little close, but it's just so recycled.

Having enjoyed the game - how many times does it take all/most of your money away from you? Four times? In 15 chapters? Even though there's not much to spend it on, that seems excessive.

The Mafia 1 tie in really bothered me. Mafia 1 was set in the late 30's when it finished and it ties together in 1951. For the change in appearance that really doesn't jive, just seemed like a lazy way of bringing the two games together.

Overall, it was an enjoyable game. I agree, no replay value whatsoever and really not worth the money spent. I'm not down for Mafia 3.

ETA. Oh and the fucking driving............... I'm so tired of driving around! Such incredible bullshit.. More storyline, less bullshit driving.

More actual missions. Less fucking driving and talking. It's the most boring bet looking game ever.

And it kills me that when you actually get to do something, the engine proves it's great. Combat works and the destruction of property is simply fantastic. When you shoot the bar to shreds it's amazing.

And i want a full FPS game set in a prison.

Chronicles of Riddick: Butcher Bay and The Suffering weren't enough?

Set in the prison in Maffia 2, i meant. Kinda like a Half Life meets Prison Break kinda thing. With riots, different factions, etcetera.
I found the Prison levels of Maffia 2 to be beautifully designed. Even if it was 2 hours of cut-scenes and just 3 fights.

Just started on this yesterday. 3 chapters in. For longevity's sake, I've determined to do one chapter a day. So far, it's a great-looking game with very odd action. But I did love that it opens in Sicily. And I also really enjoyed that stealth mission where you have to rob some stamps.

The attention to detail on this thing is impeccable. I'm not complaining about it not being a sandbox game. The first Mafia wasn't one either. These games give you an intricate backdrop that immerses you in the world and it helps as you get sucked into what is basically a very derivative mob story.

I do question the period authenticity in some of the language. That bit where you boost a car and then have to fight the bombers or whatever they're called... I enjoyed being called a "motherfucker" and a "Guinea bitch" but I wonder if they actually talked that way back then.

It doesn't really matter, though. It's funny and the voice acting is very solid.

I can see how this might not be for everyone, but I'm finding it to be an enjoyable experience.

I played through Chapter 7 already. I can see what Tati is getting at. Chapter 6 (Time Well Spent) really made me long for an entire game set inside a prison. And it's probably only a matter of time before we get that. Hopefully Rockstar does it.

Or 2K... Why not? Just give us more variety in the action than a bunch of stupid fist fights.

....

I think the game is interesting in how it jumps ahead to the 50s and the design reflects the period accordingly. I am really digging this 50s rock soundtrack. Then you switch to the "Classic" station and it makes you nostalgic for the game's early chapters.

Regarding the game's flaws, atmosphere and attention to detail are definitely not among those flaws.

But I am already starting to see what's getting on people's tits. The past 90 minutes, or so, of gameplay have consisted of having a couple of fist fights in jail, then driving to a whorehouse, then driving to the woods, then driving home.

Action enthusiasts must have been pulling all the hair out of their nuts in this one.

And the story, while engaging enough and well-acted, doesn't have quite the interest level (nor is it combined with such enjoyable gameplay) of the Uncharted games. So, unless things get really cooking now, I don't think I'll play through again except to get all the pinups and collectibles. But I'm hoping I can do that by just reloading chapters and using a guide.

It's an odd duck of a game, but its latter half is much stronger than its beginning. There's a highrise mission towards the end that might edge out Three Leaf Clover as one of the best sandbox heists of the current gen.

Yeah... My "one chapter a day" thing didn't really work out. And I've already played through Chapter 11. I think I did the high-rise thing Trevor is talking about. Is it Chapter 10? The one where you have to storm a hotel? Or is something even cooler coming up?

In any case, my overall opinion of the game has not changed. I dig it. Though I get the sense that the first Mafia game had a more compelling narrative. The flashback story structure here isn't as engaging and there is not a clear reason for why Vito is reminiscing. As a result, it feels a lot more episodic and there's no sense of where the story is going. He could continue reminiscing into the 70s for all you know. It doesn't matter.

My one big complaint in the gameplay department is with the iffy combat system. It's not very responsive. And, since I'm playing through the Uncharted games again, you can really see how a satisfying combat system makes a world of difference. I've died many a frustrating (FFFUUUCCCKKK YOOOOUUUUU!!!!) death simply because the guy doesn't cover where I want him to. Or he does, but I somehow get popped anyway. Or I'm busy trying to drop some Superman gangster who doesn't die even though I shot him 17 times in the face... Then I realize that some stupid splinter or something was actually shielding him. Then I shoot him in the foot and he dies.

Things like that get on my nerves.

Also... Am I the only one who finds the death (or Mission Fail) animations to be condescending and obnoxious? The slo-mo makes me want to kick the screen in.

I was referring to the hotel mission, although the final mission is pretty cool, too.

I hesitate to call Mafia II a missed opportunity, but in hindsight, the only things that stick out for me months later are those two missions and the Prison stint.

I've been stuck on a late-game mission (14? 15? I know it's after Chinatown) where you're assaulting the warehouse with whats-his-name inside and he starts raining molotovs down on you from the second story. It doesn't seem all that hard, but there should be a damn checkpoint once you fight your way into the building.

That shit took me at least ten tries. Hijack a car and drive it into the gangsters crowding the back of the warehouse, and then immediately bail and run for a pillar.

I'll keep that tip in mind.

But this game's checkpoint system is a kick in the balls. They seem to be under the impression that you just love doing entire levels over and over again to admire the wonderful graphics.

Well... I'm in Chapter 14 and I just completed the aforementioned warehouse showdown. That was the kind of thing that made me want to find the bastard who designed the scenario and crush his nuts in front of his children.

But I derived great personal satisfaction out of using a Molotov cocktail to burn that motherfucker at the end.

Well that does it. I'm killing him tonight.

Swear to God... Whoever designed the final mission for this thing deserves to have air injected into his penis.

ETA - I take it back, it is the gentleman responsible for this fucking game's aiming system that should be punished.

ETA - Really? That's how this game ends?

Waaaay late on this one, but dude, WTF??? Feels like there is 2/3 of a story missing. Jesus. This had potential, but about halfway through (the house burning down) I realized this story was not going the way I wanted. I enjoyed it, but this was really wasted potential.