This is not a sandbox game.
WARNING: Includes spoilers that reveal in-game mechanics, and obvious main character statuses. (E.G. player becomes higher in rank).
Mafia 2 came through as a surprise to me after I have finished it. Seeing many features of the game were unused, made me reconsider this game, and consider this could have been a great sandbox game, if it were to be so.
The story of this game deserves this game a solid 4/5 if it weren't for my familiarity with mob-movie classics such as The Godfather, Goodfellas etc., but what surprised me was the hint of Shawshank redemption in the prison scene, same camera view and intro, but different dialog. And what's even more shameful, was their similar plot line attempts correlating with Mafia 1; Despite all that the story being shifted over from movie classics, and trying to take a bite into their original game, the story itself is fine on it's own.
When I first stepped into the world of Mafia 2, I enjoyed it and saw it as a great game.
As your main character steps off from the Taxi to return to his own neighborhood from the war, he was greeted by neighbors and the shop keeper, scripted events happened around you as I rotate the camera to check out my surroundings, the story appears to be amazing. But later I've learned they made no consistent use of their surroundings and features through out the story.
I am appreciative of the little details they put in through the game, such as radio-DJ reactions to your missions. Civilian reactions to your actions as you bump into them. Before you were a made men, they have aggressive vocal reactions when you bump into them. But after you become a made-man they react in fear and apologetic manners. There's even a mission from Mafia 1, players will find out more about the ending of Tommy Angelo. And I love easily you can rob stores in free-roam, just point your gun at the store clerk and there might even be a violent reaction from the clients there, then you get to loot the store merchandise, and/or steal from the cash register. Police leaving temporary yellow tape if you have killed the clerk in the store when you revisit the spot.
So why did this become a 2.5/5?
Because I played it on a PC with a mouse and a keyboard.
There's a simple function when the personal computer came out, and that function was unified by the mouse and keyboard; the ability to view and select a single thing out of many on a list or a table.
So I might ask the developers, why in the world did you make me press the down/up arrow key to find a letter in a letter/number-wheel for my license plate for the SIX fields on the plate, when I could have typed that shit. Also why did I have to navigate by arrow key to the paint grid of roughly 10 x 6 when I could have selected it via mouse? Don't even get me started on the carcyclopedia. Man... I thought they got the idea in the first game, list the names, let us click on it. Not fucking blindly going through the car list.
The PC succeeds in frame rate, but rolls back on our keyboard/mouse superiority, while the console is the efficient controller but with a low frame rate and less pretty graphics. My tip: Play it on a PC but with a controller...
I also recommend this game to anyone who haven't seen the Godfather, Goodfellas and Shawshank redemption. Also if you haven't played Mafia 1, you will be oblivious to the plotline.
Mafia 2 came through as a surprise to me after I have finished it. Seeing many features of the game were unused, made me reconsider this game, and consider this could have been a great sandbox game, if it were to be so.
The story of this game deserves this game a solid 4/5 if it weren't for my familiarity with mob-movie classics such as The Godfather, Goodfellas etc., but what surprised me was the hint of Shawshank redemption in the prison scene, same camera view and intro, but different dialog. And what's even more shameful, was their similar plot line attempts correlating with Mafia 1; Despite all that the story being shifted over from movie classics, and trying to take a bite into their original game, the story itself is fine on it's own.
When I first stepped into the world of Mafia 2, I enjoyed it and saw it as a great game.
As your main character steps off from the Taxi to return to his own neighborhood from the war, he was greeted by neighbors and the shop keeper, scripted events happened around you as I rotate the camera to check out my surroundings, the story appears to be amazing. But later I've learned they made no consistent use of their surroundings and features through out the story.
I am appreciative of the little details they put in through the game, such as radio-DJ reactions to your missions. Civilian reactions to your actions as you bump into them. Before you were a made men, they have aggressive vocal reactions when you bump into them. But after you become a made-man they react in fear and apologetic manners. There's even a mission from Mafia 1, players will find out more about the ending of Tommy Angelo. And I love easily you can rob stores in free-roam, just point your gun at the store clerk and there might even be a violent reaction from the clients there, then you get to loot the store merchandise, and/or steal from the cash register. Police leaving temporary yellow tape if you have killed the clerk in the store when you revisit the spot.
So why did this become a 2.5/5?
Because I played it on a PC with a mouse and a keyboard.
There's a simple function when the personal computer came out, and that function was unified by the mouse and keyboard; the ability to view and select a single thing out of many on a list or a table.
So I might ask the developers, why in the world did you make me press the down/up arrow key to find a letter in a letter/number-wheel for my license plate for the SIX fields on the plate, when I could have typed that shit. Also why did I have to navigate by arrow key to the paint grid of roughly 10 x 6 when I could have selected it via mouse? Don't even get me started on the carcyclopedia. Man... I thought they got the idea in the first game, list the names, let us click on it. Not fucking blindly going through the car list.
The PC succeeds in frame rate, but rolls back on our keyboard/mouse superiority, while the console is the efficient controller but with a low frame rate and less pretty graphics. My tip: Play it on a PC but with a controller...
I also recommend this game to anyone who haven't seen the Godfather, Goodfellas and Shawshank redemption. Also if you haven't played Mafia 1, you will be oblivious to the plotline.
