Mafia 2

I'll just cut to the chase and say that I am very disapointed of this game. This coming from a guy who's played the first Mafia and find it one of the best games on the subject of crimeworks in general, if not ever. The game had it all - the cinematic appeal, the voice acting, the whole "mafia" mood, I can safely say that it was to games what The Godfather was to movies - a jewel.

Mafia 2 is almost like an exact copy of the first game, and it has all the "good stuff" but lacks the "for the first time" factor.

The storyline is best described with the caption of the last chapter "Per aspera ad astra", meaning that it describes the rise to power of a small time crook, to a key figure in the criminal world. Yes, the story has all the suspense, trust and betrayal, power struggles and everything but it's nothing new.

The gameplay mechanics is almost an exact copy from the first game, with a little touch from GTA. City map with various locations to explore, cars to steal, several different weapons and people to run over and everything does not pack much of a WOW, I think everyone would agree. Even the variety of the missions carries over from the previous game, torching the competition, illegal distribution and smuggling to the classic sleeping with the fishes kind. It's not that it isn't substantial , more that it isn't something new.

Also, overall the game is rather short.I finished it for like 10 hours or so, on Hard. I dunno what was I expecting, I guess I wanted something different, but instead i got the original Mafia. I think the "2" in the name is obsolete.

6.5