This is not a openworld game
The first Mafia was a great game despite it's flaws. The squeal, that is review here improves in every front. In first game the settings was in Lost Heaven, a fictional American city where the action took place in 1930's. The sequel takes place between 1943 to 1951 in city of Empire Bay.
Game play has been described as open world sandbox game. Which I don't think is fair description. Sure, game has lot's of similarities with games such GTA. In game-play department there is fair amount of driving and shooting. And also the fact that both franchises are viewed from third person perspective. Difference being that both of the Mafia games have the main focus in the story. Namely a time specific and more realistic type story/game. There are separate story lines or side missions. The way professions here is done I am reminded lot of, the almost movie like action pace in Uncharted games. Besides the story and the collectibles there isn't much more to the game. And not that it is required either. Vito driving a taxi or ambulance just doesn't fit the game. Lot's of time is used on driving in the beautiful Empire Bay with 40-50's cars and doing different shooting based missions. Only difference here being that compared to any other linear game is that in Mafia 2 you can approach the missions with more options. Good example here is one of the boss battles in game which gave me tons of grief, until I realized that I could actually take a car into battle. Without spoiling more details.
Graphics in this game is absolutely stunning. The post-war fifties is relayed perfectly with Empire Bay being a booming city. I would even go as far and saying that this is one of Xbox 360's best looking games. No doubt that this would look even better on PC, but I got no complaints on any of the visual parts. Cars are detailed and each bit of scratch is visible. As well as the details
inside the buildings. Fake ads and products look real for the time period. Game being such a story heavy there is good share of cut-scenes. Most of these done with in-game engine. Interactions such as the looks main characters Vito and Joe change during dangerous situations is brilliant. Can not remember seeing such captive interaction with two friends before.
On sound department there is equal top notch quality all across the board. Voice actors are well acted with proper Italian language, well at least to my ears. The games music is periodical 40-50's songs with different rhythm and blues as well as pop music from this times. Music is not all historically accurate but all fit the mood and setting really well. There are multiple instances where a song is used to create games mood and this works perfectly. Not to mention Frank Sinatra, can't go wrong with that.
Story as the name heavily implies has to do with mobsters. The main character Vito Scaletta is a young Italian American gentleman who's story we see here. How he gets pulled into mafia and how he becomes a made man. Story is told well on using cliches we known from mafia movies and stories. It goes through different steps from young excitement to a more mature and experienced mobster who is spiraling on keeping his friends alive while staying true to his name. There is even a reference to the first game which I found to be a very nice touch. Won't go into more detail but re-acting one of my all time favorite video game cut-scenes is pure epic-ness.
Mafia 2 has three different difficulty levels as well as good share of interesting achievements. Not to mention the pages of Playboy magazines that can be found in the game. Another time discrepancy but this still is done in classy way. There is also a 150 wanted posters which are very well hidden and will keep the completionists busy. Game's manual is also tempting with
additional DLC in form of more missions and character. Which can not come soon enough.
I have no other choice than give this game a full score with the risk of sounding like a daft fanboy. There isn't simple a thing I could deduct here. Action in all sense is in par with GTA 4, if not even better with more fluent cover system and controls. The story telling and the pacing of the games is same quality as Uncharted 2 in my books.
