Hands On: Mafia II

The borough of Windsor holds a dark secret– one that the average tourist or passerby might not notice.  You see; beyond the marvellous architecture and fantastic scenery beats the dark heart of organised crime.  The Mafia reside in Windsor – and they’re asking to see TSA.  Upon receiving the summoning email, our very own Colossalblue acted in a manner both noble and heroic – and sent me instead.

Luckily for me it’s 2K Games ‘Mafia II’ that I’ve been sent to see, and instead of a horse’s head or the kiss of death, there is the promise of playable code and copious amounts of pizza.  Before sinking my teeth into the game (and pizza), I took the opportunity to speak to Matt from 2K Games regarding the overall direction Mafia II is taking.  Of course the elephant in the room – Grand Theft Auto 4 – raised its ugly head but it wasn’t me who brought it up, oddly enough.  2K Games is keen to stress that – although similar on the surface – Mafia II and Grand Theft Auto 4 are completely different beasts.  Mafia II is more story driven, with the city acting as more of a backdrop rather than a playground.

Although the finished game will start in the 1940s and span ten years, the code I got my hands on was set in the 1950s, and the era’s vibe was recreated nicely.  Starting off in your house, there are upbeat 50s tunes on the radio; the decor is suitably tacky; the TV is lovely and wooden and the dress sense is very snappy.  A quick tour of the apartment reveals various levels of interaction – you can raid your fridge for a snack or bottle of fizz; turn on and off the kitchen taps; muck about with the radio and even change into a rather dapper suit. Conveniently placed on the kitchen worktop was one of the much touted photos of a Playboy pin up – the game’s main hidden collectible item.  As promised, it is not a graphic image and those people who have ever watched a Gok Wan make-over show will have seen much worse.

Stepping outside the house, I’m met with a very bright and airy world teeming with people.  Whilst 2K Games has promised weather such as ice and snow, today must be my lucky day because the sun is shining and there’s not a cloud in the sky.  Being the good lad that I am, I decide to crack on with a mission right away.  The small mini-map in the screen corner shows a red line marking my destination – so it’s time to head over to the garage and pick a set of wheels.  Fortunately my garage has a choice of three cars in it; all suitably American and muscley with burbling engines, so I pick the one with the biggest balls and head off.

There are two modes for driving – ‘normal’ and ‘simulation.’  Normal allows you to rag the car about, flicking the tail out in a controllable manner whilst never really getting into any bother.  Simulation is a completely different kettle of fish and demands corners be taken at speeds you would drive at in real life – any horseplay resulting in what I like to call ‘lamppost-car syndrome.’  Whilst driving you can also activate a speed regulator for the car, which will limit the top speed to the road’s speed limit.  This is great for avoiding any unwanted attention from the fuzz.

Throughout the mission the character you control handles pretty well.  Movements can be a bit light and twitchy but it didn’t seem to have a detrimental effect and the camera also behaved itself at all times.  As with most days in my life, I was soon involved in a huge fire fight, so I loaded my shotgun and ran in all guns blazing – and was killed.  Undeterred I loaded up the game again but got another battering.  Mafia II is in no way a ‘run and gun’ style game – and using the cover system is essential.  Pressing the relevant button will allow you to snap to cover, where you can then lean out and take pot shots at the hired guns trying to relieve you of half your face.  Using this method I managed to clear the room swiftly and effectively.

I’m not a huge fan of the game’s auto aim feature but without it aiming felt a bit loose and unsatisfying – definitely a bit of a weak spot.  Melee combat is nice and bone-jarring with punches, jabs, uppercuts and choke-holds in your arsenal.  My one big gripe though, is the amount of bullets needed to take down an enemy.  If I shoot you in the arse with a shotgun I’d expect you to die a little bit, not brush it off and kill me – three shotgun blasts is just too much, and you can double it if you’ve got a normal gun.

Mission cleared, I decided to go out and cause a bit of havoc in the city.  Pushing a random male pedestrian will usually end up in a fistfight mini-game – like an old fashioned version of ‘Fight Club.’  Push a female character and she will shriek, drop her handbag and run off – and no, that’s not a joke.

Cars can be stolen by either picking the lock or smashing the window and unlocking the door – you can guess which method I used!  This procedure doesn’t take very long, but you need to be very aware of any lurking police.

When provoked, there are several ways the police in the game will come after you.  If you have been seen committing a crime, or you are spied with a gun, a mug shot will appear in the bottom corner of the screen indicating that the only way to shake the police is to stop at the tailors and get a new set of clothes.  If you’re seen driving away from a crime, a number plate icon will appear on the screen indicating that you will need to either stop at a garage to get your car re-sprayed, or steal a new car.  Then we have the bog standard ‘three star’ wanted level rating, with police ferocity increasing with every star gained.

Speaking of ferocious police, the buggers are pretty damn violent and reminded me of the psychos in the old PS1 game ‘Driver.’  They will ram into you, push you into pedestrians, and generally cause massive amounts of damage just to incapacitate you – oh the irony, who’s the real bad guy, huh?  When caught – depending on the seriousness of your crime – you will be given the choice to accept the arrest, bribe the officer or resist arrest and fight your way out.  If you resist you better have lightening quick reactions as there is a gun aimed right at your head.

You may have noticed that I’ve yet to mention the graphical quality of the game – and there’s a very good reason for this.  The build I played was a good couple of months old and 2K Games has said that the demo to be released to the public next week has had a bit more spit and polish added to it.  What I did see though was lovely black and white cut scenes, competent in game character models and a lovely vibrant city that’s large in size.  It’s more than passable now for sure but if they’ve made it shinier then that will be a welcome addition.

I came away from 2K Games quietly impressed.  I’ve never been a huge fan of open world games but what I have played has left me feeling confident that, come release day, I would definitely like to play through the game and rise through the ranks of the Mafia.  Just call me The Don.