Mafia 2 has been criticised by many gamers for having no side missions just like Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row but does it really need them? Just because other games do it, does not mean that all games have to have the same ideas. The only problem with having no side missions or collectables is that the developer has made this beautiful free roaming open world but has done nothing to encourage exploration. I don’t really want to explore as there is nothing to gain so I stick to the main story, and the story is where the game holds it’s own.
The story in Mafia 2 is well thought out and you start off as a soldier in the war against Mussolini. From there you come back home and that is when you start to fall into the life of crime which is the basis for the game. It does flow really well with a decent pace but unfortunately at about halfway through the game the pace is ruined by a chapter which drags down the game to a snails pace and really takes away from the game rather than adds to it. I don’t want to give away spoilers so that is where I will leave that comment, only to say that personally I think the game would have been better without that dull chapter and without it ruining the pace.
The graphics in the game are excellent and well detailed however at times there was some screen tearing on the Xbox 360 version. This seemed to happen really only in the first couple of hours and then settled down so it was not too much of an issue, just a little distraction.
The game uses a cover system which feels a little clunky at times but it is very important to use cover as there are times when you can be killed by one shot. The AI is not that great, but come across one with a shotgun and it may be game over if you are out of cover. One annoyance I found was the police wanted system. You have two layers of wanted – first the car you are in is labelled as wanted and secondly if the police see you out of the car they get a description and then your clothing is marked as wanted. To get rid of the wanted status of the car you must change vehicles or change the number plate at one of the many garages and to get rid of personal wanted system you must change your clothes. The problem was getting to these places. There seemed to be at times police on every corner so it was quite a task to actually shake off the police. You may lose their alert but as soon as you go near another police car the alert starts again and you can get into a vicious cycle. Simple taking another car is not that simple because all stationary cars are locked so you have to wait for the animation of smashing the window or picking the lock before you could take it – and in that time another police car turns up. I tried running to a shop to get a change of clothes and shock horror just as I was about to go into the store a police car turned up and the alert started again, I got into a 20 minute vicious cycle of alerts and no alerts before I was able to take proper action. Frustrating times but it did not dent my enjoyment of the game.
Overall I really enjoyed the game and it’s storyline and would recommend it to everyone to play. It may not have the sandbox feel of other games but really it does not need it. Definite rent, possible buy.
