Mafia II is a game with a lot of style; something you’d be forced to admit even if you hated every single other aspect of the game. It captures all the iconic elements of the 1940s with effortless ease, from the hair-dos and popular music right through to the architecture and casual sexism, with effortless ease. We found ourselves actually choosing to obey the speed limit or stroll through the streets idly, just in order to soak up the ambiance.What really makes Mafia 2’s style so interesting and enthralling though is how far the game goes in order to complete that effect, often tweaking things in a way which, on paper, would sound like a terrible idea. The cars, for example, handle like butter in a hot pan even as they struggle to move faster than narcoleptic turtles. It sounds terrible, but it’s actually just another element in Mafia 2’s stylish master plan. Learning to appreciate the style isn't always easy though and 2K Czech hasn’t done itself any favours in a lot of ways. The opening chapters of the game, for example, take place in the winter of 1945 – where icy streets in the most unwieldy and ancient cars in the game make navigating the narrow streets a formidable task. Eventually you get used to the slow-motion drifting and things do improve when the story moves on in later chapters, but the early sections are needlessly hard going, even if they are worth the effort in other regards.
Mafia II is a mafia movie run once through a game grinder, and that’s simultaneously the worst thing about the game and the compliment it was developed for.In telling a story as convincing as most Hollywood depictions of the Cosa Nostra, 2K Czech have accomplished exactly what they intended to: only at the
end does the artifice topple slightly, piling one too many game-cliché mass-battles onto the pile. But detach the story from its very familiar housings, and we’re not left with much: a bit of walking, a lot of driving and too much shooting. Each is good, but rarely superb.Even supported by a neat script and great voicework, Mafia II is treading ground already chewed up by cinema’s very best. On that level, it can’t compete. On the level it can – that of the gorgeous Empire Bay – it shows an unwillingness to try. It’s a compelling experience, but an offer you can refuse.
