Mafia II Definitive Edition Review

Mafia 2 was originally released in August of 2010 on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. This week 2K announced a surprise release of the remastered version as part of the Mafia Trilogy, having missed out the first time around I thought I’d take this opportunity to review the second installment of the cinematic shooter.

Story

Mafia 2 takes place in Empire Bay, a fictional version of New York City, from the mid to late 40s to the early 50s. You play as Vito Scaletta, an army vet recently returned from World War II. Vito needs to find work, mom wants him to get a straight job but he’s got a friend who knows a guy and from there things spiral out of control in typical mafia movie fashion. Typical doesn’t necessarily mean bad or boring though, and despite some plot holes, underdeveloped characters, and a cast full of mobster stereotypes it has its moments. A large part of the appeal is the fictional city of Empire Bay. Seeing it transform from an iced-over amalgam of grays complete with a soundtrack of stuffy big band and jazz and updates from the war to the bright, colorful summertime of the early 50s sets the mood perfectly as the tale unfolds. Classic cars blaring early Rock N Roll, diners serving liquor and 15¢ hamburgers, police walking their beat and patrolling in cars, clothing stores and exclusive nightclubs with neon signs show a thriving young city while the segregated neighborhoods, racist dialogue, street gangs and police taking bribes paint a decidedly different picture. Unfortunately the well-realized setting is criminally underutilized because the realization is where the developers stopped.

Outside of the aforementioned businesses there’s really nothing to do in Empire Bay. Citizens wander aimlessly, the police exist as story props and an occasional nuisance when you break traffic laws, a considerable amount of work went into recreating the time period and yet the city feels lifeless.  Take a decent plot, a decent setting, and add in some decent voice acting and you’ve got just enough to find yourself at least marginally invested in the rise of Vito Scaletta.

Gameplay

Mafia 2 is a 3rd person cover shooter with some melee and stealth sprinkled in for good measure. The campaign consists of 15 chapters each with a few missions that push the narrative forward. Through most of the game the developers did a good job breaking up the monotony of drive, shoot, drive, shoot, drive shoot with several different mission types. You’ll find yourself selling illegal contraband, sneaking into government buildings, fist-fighting, evading police, etc. Later on, understandably, shooting dominates as you barrel towards the climax of Vito’s story. None of the gameplay mechanics are awful, stealth is close but the sections are short and there are few enough that it’s not a major complaint. The problem is that none of the gameplay mechanics are good either. The shooting, the driving, the fighting, lockpicking etc., they’re all…fine. There’s a good selection of firearms and you’ll feel the difference between them when mowing down enemies. The same goes for driving, particularly with simulation mode on where weather and cornering with excessive speed will lead to frequent spin-outs. On foot your character feels a bit weightless and I found myself constantly adjusting the camera. There’s just a certain dullness to the action. Everything is competent enough but it never hits any highs, or lows for that matter. The gameplay in Mafia 2 is a vehicle to tell part two in their sprawling mafia trilogy, and that’s okay as long as you’re there for the story and not for the gunplay.

Graphics

Originally released as an Xbox 360/PS3 game, the remaster definitely still shows its age. Character models and animations are dated, especially with pedestrians who slide and jump around awkwardly to avoid cars and each other on busy streets. It applies to Vito as well, whose movement snapping in and out of cover, sliding up and down staircases, etc. can be a definite eyesore. That said, it looks good enough to ignore the graphics and just get on with the meat and potatoes of the game. That is, it would, if not for major framerate issues that plague the second half of the game in particular. Firefights, driving around the city, sometimes even just walking, I would be hit with several seconds of the Scaletta slideshow. I can only hope this is addressed in a patch but it should have never been released in this state. Aside from the framerate issue, I also encountered several graphical glitches. In one scene Vito was arguing with an NPC but Vito’s lips never moved. In another, a character was dressing down Vito with his eyes stuck looking up and to the left, it was a bit difficult to take his threats seriously. In some cases character models would not load correctly, leaving 3-4 perfectly fine models and one who looked like he escaped from a Picasso painting. The graphical upgrades here are minor and the glitches and framerate issues more than cancel out any benefits. If you already own/have played Mafia 2 the graphics offer no reason to upgrade.

Conclusion

On one hand the Mafia 2 remaster comes with no new content, slight graphical upgrades, and a few new issues for what was already a pretty mediocre product. On the other it does include the previously released DLC and comes as part of the Mafia Trilogy package. As a standalone game for $29.99 I would have to say the Mafia 2 remaster is a pass, as you can find the original release for much cheaper. As a part of the trilogy where you receive Mafia 3 (also pretty mediocre) and the remake of the original Mafia game for $59.99, it’s a buy. Getting 2 and 3 for an extra $20, especially if you’re a fan of the genre, is a pretty good deal and worth it just to have the complete story arc in your library.