The smell of freshly cooked Italian pasta and a smoke filled restaurant can mean only one thing. 2K are dying to make you an offer you can’t refuse.
Mafia II is the long awaited sequel to the 2002 smash hit on the PC. The game has been developed by 2K Czech, formally known as Illusion Softworks, with most of the original team returning to the IP. This new entry will chart the rise of Vito Scaletti, a veteran of the Second World War, through the seedy underbelly of the Cosa Nostra. The demo is quite short for an open world game, with only one short mission on offer and a meagre ten minutes to free-roam around the streets of Empire Bay. The short time in the city does leave lasting impressions however.
One thing to be noted immediately, is the awkwardness of the camera in indoors locations. It hovers awfully close and it makes it difficult to keep track of your position relative to cover. This isn’t to say it is entirely unmanageable, but it would simply be better if it wasn’t the case.
Out in the open, however, there is almost a sense of free-world perfection. Driving is a pleasure, whether using realistic driving settings or otherwise. Vito is easy to handle on foot and can make use of any passing vehicle as a means of transport; the staple of any open-world game. The way in which driving is implemented differs from most games, in that traffic violations will lead to pursuit by the authorities. Openly speed in front of the cops or shunt another car, and the fuzz will hound you to the ends of the earth until you pay your fine.
If driving was the meat, the combat would surely be the bones, and what a set of bones it is. Gunplay is intuitive and utilises standard 3rd person shooter controls. The cover system works well with any type of cover; walls, boxes and even stationary cars, and as such is quite versatile and very meaningful. The player will have to use cover, or face the embarrassment of repeated death by bullet spray. Mafia II does not lend itself to those who like to charge head first into every situation. Patience and the automatic health regeneration will see you through.
The character models are solid and each one is beautifully crafted, and with the 1940s setting everything pays tribute to the era; from the architecture of the buildings to the cars, influences from all the major cities of America are present in this fictional city. Since the game uses the Phys-X engine, it’s a simple joy to see materials fold and bend on characters and even better to see the violent reactions of a body hit at point blank with a blast from your shotgun.
In the short time with the demo, it is clear to see that the development team has created something of a little gem, if not a sparkling one. With some graphical issues to iron out, it looks like this could be on the road to being a GTA killer and shows the makers of the woeful Godfather game how the 40s should be done. Mafia II could very well live up to its PC predecessor and is impressive, even in its console format.
