Mafia 2

Credit goes to nukke for this sick design

Since Mafia III is shaping up to be pretty interesting  and Mafia II just got re-released on Steam for a measly $5, I figured I would give it a shot to figure out why fans seem so protective of this little series of open-world interactive Goodfellas reenactments. Turns out that the answer is close to why people have had such a fascination with the real-world Mafia: they both possess a suave, charming exterior that makes it hard to process the fact that they're responsible for some truly twisted shit. Mafia II, like the organization it's creators are so clearly enamored of, is fast-talking and reasonably good-looking on the surface but the calm waters on top mask an undertow of textbook development hell. While it's ambitions and heart were in the right place, the game exemplifies the state of "over-promise, under-deliver" that games caught in such a long development cycle can end up in.

The real reason fans of this game and franchise are so reluctant to see the series go mainstream is that for all the things Mafia II did wrong, it is, at the same time, almost shockingly ahead of its time in certain aspects. For one, the facial animations and cutscenes are top-notch, especially considering Mass Effect 2 released that same year, along with the overall art direction of the city, characters, and particularly the cars. You think George Miller likes cars? Taken along with the included physics-based driving model dubbed "Simulation" the game simply has one of the most enjoyable driving models I've played with, especially considering the time period of the events of the story which range from the mid 1940s to the late '50s - peak time for the American land-boat, and especially considering that GTA clones aren't known for really good driving mechanics. It's a good thing that the driving and cars are so enjoyable, Mafia II is similar to that gem Far Cry 2 in that both games force you to manually drive to your destination - Far Cry 2 actually has a better fast travel system despite that game taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. I'd say of the 14 hours I spent with Mafia II, a solid 5 of those were just driving to the next story mission.

Luckily, the story here is basically one long highlight. It's populated with well-acted, reasonable interesting characters, mostly you're standard Goodfellas types, but the voice acting is largely nicely low-key and convincing - more The Sopranos, less Joe Pesci. The writing for the characters and plot itself, which follows the life of Italian World War II vet Vito Scaletta after he returns from active duty and his life in the Italian Mob of Empire Bay, is also a standout component here, and while it isn't breaking any new ground for the genre, for a committed and largely self-serious period piece it works quite well. I found myself rushing to get to the next story beat just so I could enjoy more of the deliciously pulpy narrative as the cutscenes would frequently lure my dad in to watch, drawn by the comforting tones of that famous accent - incidentally, major props to the voice actor who played both Derek and Joe, Robert Costanzo, for knocking them both way out of the park. The story missions themselves are well-varied in their setups and objectives and it never felt like it was a chore (except for when I had to replay the same 20 minute sections over and over due to the bullshit checkpoint system). The animations and character models are also excellent, with the gunplay in particular being way better than I expected - every gun kicks and barks convincingly and the enemies are tough without being annoying bullet sponges for the most part. Handguns feel appropriately solid, especially the .44 Magnum with it's distinctive Dirty Harry report, and the shotgun and Tommy gun are incredibly satisfying to unload. You'll be ventilating a lot of deadbeat cocksuckers in your time with Mafia II and it honestly never feels dull.

Sounds pretty good so far, right? Right. Well, Mafia II definitely has it's rough edges and while it never got game-breaking bug level bad, I definitely had to take a break for a couple of days after getting super pissed off at the little annoying things that come with the package, like the way the checkpoint system saves about once every 30 minutes (seriously), meaning you'll be replaying entire missions over again in some cases if you fail partway through, or the way storing a car in your garage doesn't actually fucking save it - you need to progress the story to a checkpoint to do that. Or the fact that the only things you can actually do in the city that isn't a story mission is eat a burger, buy some clothes/guns, or get gas - yes, cars in this game will run out of gas periodically. Oh, and you can steal cars and drive them to 2 certain spots on the map to turn them in for cash, and look for collectibles.

So yeah, Mafia II is basically the definition of a flawed gem - if you're willing to look at it in the proper light, it's quite striking: a real passion project, with mountains of charm (I haven't even mentioned the music - actual, licensed classic Christmas songs!). In a dark room, though, it's just a lump of carbon - unnecessarily frustrating, predictable, and feature light. That said, I'm biased towards these types of games and am willing to forgive a lot for ambitious over-reaching, so the less-than-smashing success of Mafia II doesn't come as much of a surprise. While I'm doubtful Mafia III can be sanded down into a smoother experience without giving up a lot of what makes the series special, Mafia II will remain a very fun and very unique experience.

B-