Mafia II – Hands-on Impressions from E3 2010

For yet another round of E3 impressions, I have decided to focus on my hands-on gameplay I got with Mafia II. Being offered a chance to play another “demo” format of Mafia II on the Xbox 360, different than my gameplay experiences at Penny Arcade East (PAX East), would this time around change my opinions on the mission driven, sandbox title? You’re about to find out.

2K Games and 2K Czech have continued to buff the story of Mafia II, this time pitting you on a mission to track down the Fat Man, who has vital information you’ll need to track down some mobster slime. As soon as I booted up, I was thrown into the world of my mobster, Vito. The phone rings and I learn for my next mission I need to get to the meet up location quickly. After checking out my surroundings and digging the classic 40s and 50s style design (and possibly checking the house for Playboys), I head out to look for a car. In the garage, you’ve got access to three vehicles, all with their own perks. One is built for speed, another for handling and one that can likely handle a bullet or two. I pick the speediest vehicle and head out towards my waypoint, enjoying views of the 10 square miles of Empire Bay. Anyone who played the initial Mafia will be familiar with the handling of vehicles and the minimap set up, but the little features like the licensed songs from the era really give you that sense of realism and the Illusion Engine has things looking better than ever.

Now behind the wheel, I head out towards my first mission. The game has a speed limit (if you turn it on) to help you avoid picking up the attention of the local police, but like always, I threw caution to the wind and put the pedal to the metal. Needless to say, the game can be a bit unforgiving for reckless driving, such as speeding tickets, road-raging drivers, and the occasional pedestrian road-kill. All three can lead to an arrest, or cop shootout, but I ended up wrapping my car around a telephone pole and effectively ending my first mission before it began. Sad times? Nah, I just loaded it back up and dicked around less the second time.

With the 2K Games PR person talking me through some of the features, I quickly realized Mafia II isn’t trying to be a “me too” sandbox title, but really has the legs to be the next open world title that stays in your disk tray for months to come. I was impressed, to say the least, as my enjoyment of the game was even higher than my first experience with it at PAX. Once the first mission kicked off, you’re thrown into a heated shootout with a group of baddies, while trying to track the Fat Man down through a warehouse. You gain access to a mounted gun, have your fair share of fire power and even can whoop some ass with your bare hands, if you are so inclined. I stuck with my trusty side arm and apparently relied on it too much however, as I forgot to pick up extra ammo and ended up going into the second part of the mission without ammo. That was a bad idea. Mafia II’s difficulty can be unforgiving and I really regret not picking up that shotgun ammo that was laying on the floor before the elevator went upstairs. I failed the mission about 15 times before the 2K Game’s PR guy helped out. He also could not get past the two Tommy gun wielding baddies before he called over their in-house developer who sat down and quickly cleared out that part of the mission and loaded me up with ammo.

Well warned and ready to see the next part of the mission, I pushed on. Without spoiling any of the mission, it was satisfying and just one of 50+ missions planned for the game. I really like the controls of Mafia II and look forward to getting my hands on the final product. You too can get your hands on a slice of the game, as the demo hits in August on the PSN and Xbox Live. Mafia II will be on shelves August 24, so practice your best mobster lingo and warm up your Tommy guns, as you’ll be blasting mafia rats like they’re going out of style. If you have any questions regarding my impressions or the game in general, please leave them in the comment section below.

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