Mafia II Reviews Roundup - briefly
(hx) 12:14 AM CEST - Aug,24 2010
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Mafia II reviews are flowing out today, and it seems like
many agree that this game is pretty average with a great story, but not
as great gameplay. The release is set for tomorrow in the US (August
24) and this Friday in the UK (August 27), but if you have had the
chance to check out the demo, or read this when you get your bloody
hands on the game, how do you rate Mafia 2?
- Destructoid 6.5/10 (PC &
Xbox) 7.5/10 (PS3) - While
for this review I played the game to its completion on the PlayStation
3, I spent some time with both the Xbox 360 and PC versions for
comparison. It needs to be said upfront that the PS3 version of Mafia
II is the least visually impressive of the bunch, missing a number of
subtle game effects that were pulled from the game, reportedly due to
performance issues. With the right rig, you'll get the best visual
fidelity on the PC (the “PhysX” stuff, as usual,
looks great), with the
Xbox 360 version trailing slightly behind.
- G4TV (4/5) - How
the story unfolds in Mafia II is perhaps the most significant departure
from the prevailing structure of open-world games. While the city is
freely traversable, there is minimal reason to do so, with little need
to buy items or take on side jobs. Missions are doled out one at a
time, eschewing the “choose-your-order” style of
other games and for
good reason: this is what keeps the narrative so strong and compelling.
2K Czech has a story to tell and to break it up into self-organizing
tidbits would only serve to dilute it.
- Game Informer 9/10 - Mafia
II suffers from some other minor annoyances as well. The game relies
heavily on cutscenes, and sometimes doesn't know when to draw the line
between interacting with the world and triggering a cutscene. I
shouldn't take control of Vito as he wakes up only to jump immediately
into another cutscene when I pick up the ringing phone. The NPC
intelligence during missions is also troublesome. In one mission I had
to tail a car to find out where it was headed, but the driver got into
an accident and the mission failed.
- GamePro 3.5/5 -
Most of Mafia II's memorable moments come from the cinematics and not
the actual missions, which consistently lack exciting gameplay
opportunities. Cover-based gunfights dominate much of the action, with
occasional stealth segments, but the action feels very rote and
familiar, and doesn't stack up to the combat found in other titles.
You'll also be forced into fistfights at various points, but the stiff
and simplistic controls feel underdeveloped, making these encounters
feel like a chore
- Gaming Nexus B - At
first glance this may look like any other Grand Theft Auto rip-off, but
Mafia II is significantly more linear than Rockstar Games' popular
franchise. This is not one of those open-world games where you choose
which missions you want to go on and when, instead all of the levels
are to be played in order. There are 15 chapters in all, each playing
out exactly the same way no matter how many times they are played
through. Players can still explore the Empire Bay (yet another
fictional New York City), but I found the game was always pushing me
complete the level and move on to the next chapter.
- IGN 7/10 - Mafia
II is an interesting mobster tale with some great voice acting and cool
cutscenes; if you have a 'made man' itch, feel free to scratch it here,
but be prepared for a pretty standard third-person shooter in the
gameplay department. The 'take cover, kill everyone, do it again'
mechanic didn't wow me, but it didn't let me down either.
- Joystiq 3.5/5 - And
there is a lot of driving. Most every mission is framed by a long drive
to a start point and a longer drive home after the job is done.
Usually, there's some driving mid-mission as well. The problem's
compounded when you have to repeat long driving sections thanks to
checkpoints that are so unforgivingly infrequent it seems silly to even
refer to them as such. Worse, this is the late 40s and early 50s, so
you'll only rarely find a car that's fun to drive.
- Planet Xbox 360 9.3/10 - The
gunplay is strong for what it is, even if the A.I. can be a mixed bag,
especially the dim-witted cops that can be lost with a simple turn. The
world has been captured pulling much of the essence of the
‘40s out of history books and firmly spread throughout the
entire experience. Even if you don't become fully immersed in the
gunplay, you'll easily be pulled into the suspenseful build of Vito's
entry into the mafia. Storytelling is king here and Vito's entry into
the mob families is more than compelling enough to warrant a trip to
Metropolis.
- VG Revolution 7.6/10 - Mafia
2 looks great and the many years spent building the game's unique
engine has paid off for the most part. Character and car models look
great, and the environments feels great. Each section of Empire Bay has
it's own unique style, be it the Port or Little Italy. Areas that are
run down will have alleys filled with trash and look much dirtier then
the richer areas. As the years unfold you'll see changes, like posters
changing on the walls or just the attitudes and look of the citizens.
The city is also fairly alive
- WorthPlaying 8./10 - The
biggest problems we faced with the game, however, were the bugs. Some,
such as falling through the floor in Vito's apartment, were minor, but
others were game-breaking to the point that they required reloading
from a previous save. For example, in one mission Vito needed to take
out a security guard at a desk before he set off an alarm. Sneaking up
behind the guard and executing the move would start the stealth kill
animation, but then the guard would inexplicably get up (with Vito now
choking thin air), set off the alarm and then proceed to get choked by
an invisible set of hands. In another mission, one of the thugs we
needed to kill spawned outside the game map, making it impossible to
continue. Topping the list of bugs, though, is the AI directing the
NPCs where to walk and how to behave. On multiple occasions, we saw
NPCs standing in place as they walked into an obstacle, such as a desk
or a door, with a complete inability to walk around or simply open the
door.
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Updated:12:24 AM CEST Oct,03
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