Released on 27/08/2010

• Mafia II to get Collector's Edition

  Mafia II to get Collector's Edition

  2K Games has announced that its forthcoming open world crime game Mafia II will be getting a Collector's Edition when it finally touches down on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

  Eurogamer has the details, and has revealed that each Collector's Edition will come with a metallic steel case, a hardback art book, a soundtrack, and a map to the game's city. The latter should be very handy during frantic car chases.

  "By offering?special editions of Mafia II, we are able to show our appreciation for those guys wise enough to reserve their copies early," said 2K president Christoph Hartmann.

  Mafia II takes you from the end of the Second World War and on into the 'fifties as you rise through the crime ranks in a huge city that's modelled on New York and San Francisco. Both driving and shooting sections look excellent, and the game's period setting and attention to detail suggest that it's going to be a seriously classy prospect.

  Mafia II will be released on 27th August.

• Mafia II: Preview

  A family-ar tale

  In Mafia II you step into the Italian American shoes of Vito. Born the son of a poor immigrant, he's a downtrodden character who dreams of escaping the life of poverty that characterised his childhood. Craving wealth and a more elevated position in society, he decides crime is the only way to achieve his goals.

  Crime doesn't (always) pay

  The basic story will be familiar to fans of iconic Mafia novels and movies, as Vito moves from a life of petty street crime like robbery to more serious felonies, working his way up the ladder on a journey to becoming a “made man.” It's an equally glamorous and dangerous choice of lifestyle and we're sure that, in part, the message will be that crime doesn't always pay.

  Things turn sour when some rival Mafiosos burn your merchandise with a Molotov cocktail, setting off a revenge mission.

  Arguably the biggest and most important star of an open world game is its setting. Vito's tale takes place in the fictional American city of Empire Bay, where clothing, cars, architecture, music and advertising have been meticulously created to portray an evolving ten year period that spans the 1940s and ‘50s.

  Empire Bay isn't the largest open world city, which has allowed developer 2K Czech to fill it with impressive detail, citizens realistically wandering in and out of shops, chatting idly and generally giving the impression of a living, breathing city. Weather conditions and the time of day are determined by the mission you're on, giving each a unique feel, while the game's presented in a slick, cinematic-style.

  Gameplay revolves around some impressive gunfights, hand-to-hand combat and vehicular exploration. One section of the title demoed recently sees Vito and his friend Joe operating a bootleg cigarette business out of the back of a truck. Things turn sour when some rival Mafiosos burn your merchandise with a Molotov cocktail, setting off a revenge mission.

  A shower of bullets

  You respond in kind by showering their favourite hangout with bullets and burning it to the ground, an act which shows off the game's impressive environmental damage system. Wood splinters and glass shatters realistically as individual letters from the building's sign tumble to the ground before the wreckage is consumed by roaring flames. Visually it's highly impressive and during such instances the game's on a par with the current generation's best looking titles.

  Even equipped with a powerful arsenal of pistols, shotguns and sub machine guns, you have to approach combat strategically

  Burning down your foes' diner seems a little bit of a pointless exercise though, because Vito, Joe and their fellow goons aren't finished there – next they set off to kill the guys who messed with their cigarette business, which is where the cover-based shooting system comes into play.

  Even equipped with a powerful arsenal of pistols, shotguns and sub machine guns, you have to approach combat strategically because Vito can't take much punishment before dying. The same goes for your enemies, one or two hits usually being enough to put them down, so caution and consideration of your environment and the available cover spots are necessary. The combat isn't as thrilling as it is some other cover-based shooters, but it's solidly constructed and well polished, giving you precise control over the mechanics and neatly balancing a sense of vulnerability with one of power. Computer controlled combatants also act realistically in battle, your allies not getting in your way but always ready to cover your back, while your enemies make clever enough use of cover too.

  Exciting prospect

  Originally expected to release last year, delays to Mafia II now seem like wise decisions because 2K Czech appears to have made the most of the extended development time. The excellent visual presentation of Empire Bay and the solid combat that brings its mean streets to life are great foundations on which to build, leaving us more than excited about the prospect of getting our hands dirty when the game launches next month.

  Preview by: Tom 'Wise Guy' Ivan
  Preview Published: 02.03.09

  Published: 21/07/2010

• Mafia II Review

  Crime pays

  Mafia II puts you in the Italian American shoes of Vito Scaletta, a man born the son of a poor immigrant who's intent on escaping poverty at any costs. This leads him to drift into a life of crime, working his way up the Mafia ladder throughout the course of the game. The tale will be familiar to fans of iconic Mafia novels and movies – crime pays, usually at a high price - but the game features a compelling story nonetheless, and it's delivered with bucket loads of style.

  Romp n ride

  What Mafia II is not is an open world action romp in the Grand Theft Auto style. It's a linear, story-driven driving and shooting experience set in Empire Bay, which is less the star of the show and more a beautifully realised backdrop to Vito's journey through the 1940s and '50s, in which the shadows of WWII and economic uncertainty loom heavily. The city's crammed with impressive details that help create a realistic and evocative sense of place that anchors the story well, but it's not a playground for you to explore and act out your own free will.

  The city's crammed with impressive details that help create a realistic and evocative sense of place.

  Mafia II is split into 15 chapters, each of which is essentially a multipart mission. These see you progress from petty street crime to more serious felonies, with activities ranging from intimidating citizens and collecting protection money to stealing cars, selling stolen goods, gunning down rivals and escaping the cops.

  Play is divided between action set-pieces and travelling to and from missions, with a few chases and bar room detours in between. It's hardly new material for the sandbox genre, but the gameplay is nicely varied and the story keeps you engaged until its conclusion.

  Run and gun

  Equipped with a powerful arsenal of pistols, shotguns and sub machine guns, the cover-based third person shooter gunplay is solid throughout and the tension's heightened by some smart enemies. Unfortunately fist fighting, which is based on simple blocking and countering moves, isn't as thrilling. Driving around is another fun – and dangerous – pastime as the cars flashier and nippier than they were in 2002's original Mafia. But while their smooth handling makes them a pleasure to drive, you'll have to watch your speed if you want to avoid getting pulled over by the cops or, worse still, sleeping with the fishes after a nasty accident.

  Mafia II also has a few nice surprises up its sleeve.

  While standard driving and shooting sections provide the bulk of gameplay, Mafia II also has a few nice surprises up its sleeve. The first action sequence takes place in Sicily during WWII, providing you with some insight into Vito's life as a soldier and his earliest exposure to the Mafia, while our anti-hero later spends some hard time in prison, a location that offers plenty of brawling and more than a few nerve jangling moments. These sections provide nice changes of pace and flesh out the characters, helping Mafia II succeed in putting many other story-based games to shame.

  An offer you can't refuse?

  Mafia II is a deep, cinematic and absorbing experience, its story, acting, music and visuals worthy of comparison with some of the best Mafia works of fiction. It packs in over ten hours of decent shooting and driving gameplay too, and as long as you're not anticipating oodles of player freedom in an open world setting then there's no reason to expect you'll be disappointed taking on the job.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Compelling narrative.
  • Solid driving and shooting.
  • Great production values.

  

  • A linear game with a lack of side missions.
  • There isn't great replay value.
  • No multiplayer.

  Review by: Tom 'The Don' Ivan
  Version Tested: Xbox 360
  Review Published: 07.09.10

  Published: 07/09/2010

• Mafia II Review

  An offer you can't refuse?

  In interviews, the developers of Mafia 2's talked about taking inspiration from great Mafia movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas. What those movies understood is the importance of making your characters likeable even if they are, essentially, violent jerks for a living. They made their Mafiosos witty, scary, funny, and above all they made their protagonists sympathetic.

  Mafia 2 has a stab at this with a plot that sees main character Vito turning to the mob so he can pay off his ailing mother's debt, but after getting the cash together you realise Vito's real motivation iso do what everybody else says, all the time, while whinging about it. Actually, that's not entirely fair. On a couple of occasions Vito's conscience appears out of the blue, and you find yourself having to disobey Mob orders and annoy everybody.

  Mafia 2's main problem is dialogue. It may boast two hours of cut-scenes and many, many in-car conversations, but they aren't as accomplished as we'd hoped for ? to the point where the endless swearing and overt sexism struggles to endear you to the game's characters and story. Mafia II misses the subtlety of the cinematic big-hitters its developer so reveres.
  

  Shooty shooty bang bang

  Look past the story, however, and However, what Mafia 2 does offer is some 12 hours of varied criminal action that should hold the attention of anyone who likes cars, guns, or cars and guns. That's a lot of gamers, then.

  There's a nice weight to the shooting, and gunfights manage to be suitably dramatic, largely due to some great audio. Mafia 2's expensive orchestral score is used well, and the pop and crackle of the guns is nice and satisfying.

  The driving's just as competent, and the only issue is that it doesn't receive much attention. There's a wealth of driving characters safely from A to B, and you end up doing a lot of running from the city's ever-vigilant cops, but in terms of dramatic chase sequences in a GTA stylee, there's two in the entire game, there's no scripting and they're over too quickly.

  This is made more of a shame because of Mafia 2's awesome car collection features. Not only can you stash any car you like, if you get it to a garage you can tune the engine, swap out the rims, paint it or even write your own number plate, or just fix the damage if you've been a little careless.
  

  50s flavour

  Building up your collection is a pretty moreish business by itself, but there was room here for a game that encouraged you to select your best car for a given mission. Instead, half the time a mission will begin with you being told to get in somebody else's average car. Your own, loved vehicle is left abandoned on the sidewalk, like a beached shark. Shame.

  Still, Lots of people are going to have fun with Mafia II. They'll hear the guns instead of the dialogue, enjoy the girls and cars despite some clumsy plotting, and they'll love the city in a way that players of the first Mafia loved its ideas and bravery.

  Mafia 2 is essentially a flawed but competent crime-em-up, then. Go into it expecting a GTA-beater and you'll be disappointed, but iIf what you're after is a 50s flavoured free-roamer where you'll get to shoot wiseguys while crackling profanities, it'll do just fine.

  

  Mafioso
  + Beautiful city.
  + Engaging action.
  + Lovingly detailed.

  Mafi-no-so
  - Dull dialogue.
  - Lack of a spark.
  - No multiplayer.

• Top Spin 4 dated

  Brrr. It's still chilly out and, frankly, it looks like it's going to rain, so it's nice to sit indoors and think about the summer. 2K Games certainly has. The BioShock and Borderlands publisher has just announced that Top Spin 4, the latest instalment in its brilliant tennis series, is hitting store shelves in the UK on 18th March, giving you plenty of time to get in the right mood for Wimbledon. Come on Tim! Oops. We mean Andy.

  Andy Murray's fronting the game, while 2K Czech, last seen delivering the blisteringly brilliant crime opus Mafia II, is handling the development, and the game is apparently shaping up very nicely. According to the developer, the tennis players have n uncanny level of realism and there are plenty of them, too, rendered with glorious new animation. You'll be able to choose between the likes of Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Bjorn Borg. No Michael Chang? Maybe he's an unlockable.

  The Top Spin series has been away from TV screens for three years, according to Eurogamer, which makes the fourth instalment long overdue. Top Spin 3 was a bit of a classic, so we can't wait to get our hands on this one.

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