PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

Released a massive eight years after the original Mafia: City of Lost Heaven game, Mafia II was eagerly anticipated by gaming fans. The original game had a few problems, like having checkpoints set too far apart – leading to some incredibly frustrating battles made worse by the dodgy AI of your companions, but niggles aside it was a fantastic game, well received by critics and gamers alike. Hopes were high for Mafia 2 then, the first of the series to debut on consoles as well as PC, but the first reviews turned out to be a mixed bag.

Some of the main complaints about Mafia II focused on the linear nature of the gameplay, with few side-quests or points of interest outside the main storyline, despite the incredible, massive and detailed open-world of Empire Bay. In addition to this, there are problems with the controls which can feel a little awkward, and there are definitely still a few issues with the checkpoints. As a game, we stand by our review score of 7.6 out of 10, which on our system equates to a “solid game marred by occasional flaws”. As a mob story however, Mafia II is an absolute masterpiece, and easily rivals the Sopranos as one of the most enjoyable Mafia experiences in modern media.

One review in particular that single-handedly misses the point of Mafia II is the Eurogamer review. We’re big fans of Eurogamer here at PlayStation Future, but the guy who reviewed Mafia II for Eurogamer must have either no interest in or little knowledge of the American Mafia. They sum up the game as follows: 

“Mafia II gets the last word by destroying the myth that the mafia is interesting at all. It contends that the mob world is a hell of boredom populated by aggressively stupid automatons. These drones wake up each morning, carry out a series of repetitious tasks, and return home.”

Their claim that Mafia II isn’t interesting is their opinion, but it also implies a lack of knowledge of what the Mafia is actually like. Sure, films like The Godfather paint a picture of the Mafia being an exciting world of string-pullers and glamorous business meetings but in reality the world of the Mafia is a fascinating but ugly world full of murderers and thugs who regularly get their hands dirty with burglary, counterfeit goods and prostitution. The world of the mobster often involves dull, repetitive tasks for little reward and occasionally Mafia II makes you go through mundane tasks like  fencing stolen cigarettes off the back of a lorry or selling fuel stamps for cash. Far from dragging the game down, these tasks keep your career as a mobster realistic and serve to make the genuinely exciting missions all the more interesting. If you want massive high-octane explosions and car chases for an entire game then Mafia II is not for you.

As a story told from the bottom rungs of the Mafia to almost the very top, Mafia II gives an incredible overview of what it could have been like for a mafioso at the time. Other gritty mob stories like Goodfellas (and Wiseguy, the true story it’s based on), The Sopranos and the true-story books of Joseph Pistone (a.k.a. Donnie Brasco) paint a picture that Mafia II neatly fits into. Of course, there are some corners cut to make the game a more interesting story – and a good storyline does not necessarily mean a good experience – but as a way of telling a fascinating, gripping and detailed story about the mob, Mafia II is a resounding success. The world you are in feels real, alive and hugely detailed. The characters you meet are much more than just 2D stereotypical gangsters, with real issues and conflicting interests that lead good people to do bad deeds and bad people to do good deeds. 

Perhaps the biggest criticism levied at Mafia II is the lack of side-quests in such a huge open-world, and there’s no denying that there really is little else to do but follow the main storyline. However, this kind of criticism is only raised with Mafia II because the world is so open and detailed. Had this been a linear ‘on-rails’ adventure like Uncharted 2 (which is one of the best PS3 games of them all) then no-one would have noticed that there’s little else to do in the Empire Bay: Mafia II is unusual because it is an open-world game without being a sandbox game and clearly many gamers were understandably disappointed when they learned this. If you know how linear Mafia II is from the start, it’s a whole lot more fun.

Clearly Mafia II is flawed as a game, and even as a storytelling experience it’s not much fun if you’re not into mob stuff. But if you know your capos from your carbonara and your sit-downs from your sit-ups, do not be put off by the average review scores that the game received – Mafia II is one of the finest Mafia storytelling experiences of modern times.