Mafia 2 preview

For the franchise's devoted followers, it's been a long two years since Grand Theft Auto 4 came out. DLC add-ons aside, Rockstar focusing attentions on Red Dead has meant it's been quite a while since gamers have had any high-end urban sandbox fun to sink their teeth into. Crackdown and Saints Row, for all their good qualities, just weren't in the same league.

This, publisher Take 2 will hope, is where Mafia 2 steps in. Take GTA's polished gameplay, weave in classic American gangster-movie mythos, and add-in state-of-the-art graphics and meticulous attention to detail, and you have a recipe for something that's worth getting pretty excited about.

Set in a fictional American city, the game's "mature, believable" story spans two decades, as twentysomething Vito Scarletta returns home from the second world war and begins his ascent within an Italian crime syndicate.

Comparisons with its illustrious rival are inevitable, with near identical controls and gameplay mechanics, but the many ways in which Mafia 2 borrows from GTA are as much of a boon as a drawback. The absence of tricky new controls to master allows you to get stuck straight in to the action.

I was shown both the 40s and 50s Empire City in my viewing of the game - the story is split into two parts - and it's easy to see how this clever dynamic will add a great deal of depth to the experience. Cosmetically, the city changes drastically in those ten years, with the familiar streetplan reinforcing the differences - and highlighting the incredible attention to detail seen in the game as it attempts to immerse you in its iconic period setting.

Cruise around in your vehicle of choice and you're struck by just how authentic and of its time everything feels. The cars, though not actual vehicles, have been carefully designed to mirror their real-life counterparts. Meanwhile, over 100 licensed classic tunes are on offer on your suitably fuzzy sounding car radio, offering everything from Bill Haley to Frank Sinatra.

Even Vito's house, which works as a save point and garage throughout the game, has been lovingly crafted with 40s and 50s interior design, kitchen appliances, clothes to choose from and so on.

The graphics are incredibly impressive at times, and although this may have been aided somewhat by the cinema screen our preview was shown on, it looks like they're going to be amongst the best ever seen on home consoles. Much like those early, awe-inspiring panoramics over Liberty City that so impressed back in 2008, the wintry cityscape on offer at the beginning of Mafia 2 just begs to be explored.

It's this beguiling mix of attention to detail, beautiful graphics and ingenious, thoughtful touches (I noted a pair of WW2 biplanes flying overhead as you're driven from the airport in the game's opening sequence) which begins to show how Mafia 2, despite the aforementioned similarities, is a game that offers far more than a mere retro-fitted "Niko in the 50s" GTA-clone.

First off, the tone is much darker and much more serious than GTA 4. The action and set-pieces offer gritty realism rather than the more cartoony aspects of Niko's adventures in Liberty City. You certainly won't be flying off motorcycles onto helicopters at any point (well, I very much doubt it).

Towards the end of the mission I played, a gun is thrust into the mouth of one character, and you can't help but grimace as you hear his whimpers and moans before the trigger is pulled.

Meanwhile, hand combat is an altogether more challenging experience - and much more sophisticated than the punch-button jabbing of your standard GTA skirmish.

The shooting mechanics too have a more realistic feel about them. Chunks of pillar fly off as you shoot at enemies in cover, and the weaponry feels weightier, more real, somehow. Mafia 2 wants, above all else, to make you feel like you're a part of its world.

To aid this, the voice acting is, in the small section I've seen, amongst the finest ever seen in a video game. Close your eyes and you could be listening to a deleted scene from Goodfellas.

There is, however, a reason I've said you'd need to close your eyes. By opting for realism in the characters facial animations, developers 2K Czech have taken an unfortunate wrong-turn into the uncanny valley.

Although this was an unfinished version of the game, I found the static, inscrutable facial expressions featured in the cutscenes very offputting. Mouths and eyes barely move when characters are talking, lending the scenes the air of a very strange ventriloquist's act. If this prevents players from getting attached to their character, the overall game experience is really going to suffer.

This one problem aside, Mafia 2 has the makings of a blockbuster release, and is a potential must-have for your late summer shopping lists. Who knows, by the time Grand Theft Auto 5 comes out, the comparisons may be the other way around.

Look out for our full review on the Games blog in a few weeks' time.