1. i_like_games

   9

   I'm not sure what all the people with negative reviews were expecting. I'm going to try to list my take on the game.
   
   The story is linear and there are no side quests. But the first Mafia was like this. It's a game and it's trying to tell a story, and it's a pretty good one. Unfortunately there is currently no free ride mode as in the first Mafia. This essentially means that hunting down the centerfolds and wanted posters and exploring the city must happen in mission. Which is totally fine. The only thing that sucks is that the current save mode, with saves only occuring at mission check points. It would be nice to have a save point you could go to, to save your progress (guns and clothes).
   
   The centerfold collectibles are far more interesting than item crates (JC2), and shooting pigeons (GTA IV). For some people they may want to actually find all 50. And how much "Extra" crap do you really need to do? Just Cause 2 is full of extra crap, so much that the actual storyline missions are only ok.
   
   The graphics are beautiful. And in the cut scenes the vehicles and clothing of your character are in the exact state they were before the cut scene (new outfits, bullet holes in car, etc.)
   
   The radio station rocks. The action can be intense. And for anyone who's mission isn't to race through the chapters as quickly as possible if you start a few gun battles with police you can get automatic weapons right away! I really enjoy this game. And my only qualm is the current save system as I'd like to be able to save my status after getting new guns and messing with the police. A longer story might be nice as well, but hopefully there'll be some decent DLC's to fill in the gaps.… Expand

   • Helpful? 6 of 7 users said Yes.
2. BTUpr0ductii0nz

   8

   Let me start by saying I really liked this game. The graphics are pretty great, the cars and the characters faces and bodies are very well detailed. I really like the driving in this game. I'm one of the few people that like GTA mainly because of the driving. I can't stand drifting and the lack of control in GTA. Mafia II is being compared to GTA which I think is a shame. I don't understand why everyone seems to compare all open world games involving crime to GTA. I like Mafia II much better than GTA. The thing that keeps me from giving it a perfect 10 is the poorly placed checkpoints, "weird AI" (by weird I mean sometimes they're amazing and you die and the next time you play the same part you just kill everyone right away), and the ridiculous collectibles. The checkpoints don't really annoy you until you get to the last couple chapters but they're still irritating. What I really hated about this game is that it took me twice the time to collect the collectibles than it did to complete the game on hard difficulty. You have to collect 159 wanted posters and 50 playboys however some playboys are in such ridiculous spots that no one would ever ever look there. They're not just in corners, some are on the other side of town from your objective and you can only get them at a certain point in the game. The wanted posters took forever because you need to collect all 159 and they're hidden in the most ludacris areas on the map. Luckily there are a couple great guides out there but nonetheless, annoying. It feels kind of like the developers realized their game could get beaten in 10 hours and just added in a ton of collectibles to extend the life of the game. All that being said I throughly enjoyed playing the bulk of the game and just touring around the city. My enjoyment stopped when I tried to complete the game 100% and had to get those collectibles. I think the fact that you can't play with your friends or others (in other words no multiplayer) hinders the full experience further but I was never really a fan of the free roam system that is used in GTA which would have probably been the direction a multiplayer would have gone had it been included in Mafia II. My verdict, buy it. Get the regular edition (definetly not the collectors edition like I got, big mistake). Or possibly rent it if you just plan to play the crap out of it and beat it in a couple days. I'm not really a big trophy hunter or a hardcore gamer (I mainly stick to online shooters) but I managed to get the platinum in 25 hours. All in all, it's a great game with some features lacking and some annoying in game problems. None of the negatives take away from the positives. IMO, it's a must play just maybe not a must buy. Btw, this was my first review. Feel free to leave comments and please rate helpful or not… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.
3. masteratt

   7

   If you are looking for a story driven game (story is good but not super amazing), that is strictly mission based (missions are mostly good), then this game is for you. It is nothing more, nothing less.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.
4. Jmeyers1983

   2

   My high level of excitement when I purchased this game was completely misguided. I knew not to expect a game of the scope of a GTA, but I did expect the game to last more than a few sittings. The lack of any realistic side missions was incomprehensible in today's gaming market with the bar being set high by many superior titles. The missions were one Mob cliche after another and became very boring. Just about every mission consisted of: get a phone call, meet somewhere to talk to someone, drive somewhere to kill someone, something goes wrong, get out of there. The areas for customizing your character were minimal to the point that they were useless. This title was the definition of a cookie-cutter mob action game. Absolute waste of $60.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.

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