Mafia 2 – Review – Xbox 360

In Mafia 2 you play an up and coming mobster named Vito Scaletta. The story revolves around a multitude of years of Veto experience’s with the Mob families he encounters in the game. The question is does your experience with the game match Vito’s?

Story: The game starts you off with a cut-scene showing Vito and his friend Joe robing a store and getting caught. Vito is arrested and forced to enter the Army as a translator. During his time in the Army he is injured and is forced to return home for leave. His friend Joe is expecting him and is waiting at the train station much to Vito’s surprise. In just a few days Joe finds a way to get Vito out of returning to the Army and Vito’s life of organized crime begins. Throughout the story Vito’s motives change from being able to help his mother and sister to getting himself out of jam because of something he did. They present these challenges to you very well and you almost feel like you know him a little bit when the story is over. Not all of the story arches end well for some and there is always a sense of betrayal waiting around every corner. The story progresses very well and it does make you want to play until you’re finished. Some missions were a bit of a drag but most were a unique experience and it felt as if the mission objectives were never repeated.

Gameplay: The gameplay will remind you of the GTA series. You are constantly driving to each new mission and you feel a little forced to start the next mission as soon as you finish the one you’re currently playing. Because of this you feel as if there is no free-roam as the game is always telling you to go to your next objective. Stores and items found in the game are few and far between. There are tons of cars you can drive though some you may only see once or twice your entire time playing. You can buy items for your character as well as upgrades to your car but you are quite limited on what you can purchase or upgrade. Your health is displayed as a bar on the HUD and will go down quite fast when in a gun fight and uses a system like Gear of War where the screen turns grey to let you know you are injured. At most times I found my health would drop so fast I would not be able to recover and I would die. The gunplay feels a little basic and so does the cover system. You will find yourself stuck in a position during a firefight and having bullets rained down upon you. There are also some collectable that can be found these include Playboy centerfolds as well as wanted posters.

Graphics: The graphics are average for the generation. While playing I felt like I was in a closed in city. There were no grand vistas or great scenes of the city. Walls and building blocked every view. Buildings and cars looked a little subpar. The characters are one of the redeeming factors of the game. They looks almost life like and actually help you understand who they are and associate with them while playing the game.

Overall: The game has a decent story that I liked quite well. The companionship between Vito and Joe is expressed quite well and I enjoyed that part of the story. The game is fun but don’t expect anything that really sets this apart from the GTA series.

Score: 7 out of 10

A copy of this game was provided to the reviewer from the publisher for review purposes.

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