Hey, all. This is my first blog on a wiki, so bear with me here. :D
Anyways, I've been doing a few reviews on my blog for a while now, although not a lot of people look at them. So maybe this will work a little better.
Onto the review.
MAFIA 2[]
Mafia 2 is a game about, well, a fictional American Mafia during the 1940s - 1950s. It features many things like a GTA kind of game, except without the free roam, and the sandboxy-ness, and stuff like that. However, even without these (major) components of the game, Mafia 2 does succeed in some areas that some games wouldn't.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay is a mixed bag. Some people will say that it's amazing, creative, and different from all of the other games around. Others say its just another TPS with linear gun fights and bad car handling (I'm just making up ideas here). In this writer's opinion, it is, in a way, creative and different. Of course, thats not without its flaws either, but lets take a second to look on the bright side of things.
One of the major components of the gameplay that I have liked is the fact that the gunplay is played EXCELLENTLY. There is quite a few guns in the game, ranging from a .38 pistol all the way to a MG42 (unfortunately, you can't use the MG42 that often :P). Most of the fights require you to take cover behind something, and most of the areas in the game are partially destructible. Therefore, standing behind say a wood crate isn't going to last long.
I guess you could even say that the game is a little fast paced, when it comes to that aspect. The enemies aren't just going to fly away, you're going to have to kill them sooner or later, and in some cases, they actually keep respawning until you kill off the majority of them. You gotta keep moving from cover to cover, and keep shooting. That's a positive thing, in my opinion. It makes the game interesting, and unlike most of the other third person shooters around. I can easily say that I wasn't aware of the destructible cover system at first... that sure gave me a few deaths.
Another aspect is the amount of different cars in the game. Each one handles differently in different places, and its faster and slower and all that fun stuff. In example, the Ascot Bailey, a convertible featured in the latter part of the game, has plenty of speed and great handling, but doesn't last very long towards a gun... or a brick wall. However, one of the first cars you get, the Jefferson Provincial, is an all around good car, with good durability, decent speed, and pretty fine handling. It all comes down to what car you use when you're not shooting people. It doesn't seem very important, especially when you're getting shot at, but it can mean the difference between life and death.
However, the gameplay, as all games do, has its flaws. One of the biggest is that the gunfights are pretty linear. Sure, with different locations and other things like that, it's a different fight, but it looks as if you can always counter what they are using with one gun, always. It gets to the point where it's pop out of cover, shoot a enemy, go to the next cover, shoot another enemy. That's basically what some of the gun fights are, and that can get a little boring when you're constantly playing (like I did when I did my first playthrough)
Other than that, I actually didn't have much of a problem with the gameplay. If I had to give it a score, it would be a 8.5/10. I'll be doing most of my scores on that basis, so keep that in mind for the rest of the review.
Story[]
The story is what this game basically revolves around. Admittingly, I'll say outright before I go into this section of the review, the game is like a big cutscene. Although, with the gameplay involved with it, it's really a great thing in my opinion.
The story revolves around 2 main characters, named Vito Scaletta and Joe Barbaro. They go through their Mafia life killing stuff, stealing stuff, getting put in jail for stealing and killing stuff, and so on. In the midst of all of that they meet a lot of characters with a lot of stuff happening to them and those characters (I'm saying that not to spoil the story).
On the good side, the storyline is explained extremely well, in most parts of the game. The supporting characters are more indepth then most other games, and the main characters focus on other people than themselves too. Some of the supporting characters even evolve into main characters after a while.
On the bad side, the storyline and the game itself is VERY SHORT. This was most likely the biggest flaw to me in this game. The story itself had potential to go much further then the game actually did, and I was very disappointed when the game ended on the point it did. There was still more story to tell in the game, and it felt like potential wasted. Maybe DLC that adds onto the end of the game would make it feel right.
The story was good, but it was too short. 8 in my opinion.
Sound[]
The sounds of most of the things in the game are pretty good, aside from the usual sound glitches and what not.
The sound of the guns of the game are pretty realistic, the sounds of Empire Bay itself was actually pretty impressive, and when it came to the music of the game, I was vastly impressed. I never knew that 40-50s music was so good until I heard it on this game, and I actually started to somewhat listen to stuff like this after finishing the game. It's kinda funny and stupid at the same time, but I thought that they really did a good job in that aspect. So Sound gets a 9.
Graphics[]
The graphics when maxed out were very impressive. I personally wasn't expecting this, rather expecting graphics of a much lower value than what was actually in the game, but on PC at the very least it looks great, and I loved most of the graphics.
The one thing that was especially realistic was the bullet wounds on the bodies. So realistic in fact I was kinda freaked out when I first saw them. The gun models itself were also pretty good, and the graphics of Empire Bay's cars and buildings were a great hit to me. So graphics gets a 9.5/10 in my aspect.
Replayability[]
Unfortunately, after everything else that was good about this game, there is no replayability at all aside from collectables and achievements. There is no free roam after the game is over, and the only way you can do anything else is to replay the missions. Like previously said, DLC may fix this in the future, but as it is at the moment, this gets a 6/10. I know they said that this wasn't a sandbox game, and all of that stuff like that, but they even allow free roam after missions are over! I mean, why can't you just incorporate that into the game itself? Was disappointed in this aspect.
Final[]
Overall, Mafia 2 was a success. It wasn't the game of the year, its not the GTA game that people were expecting, but it delivers a good story, pretty decent gameplay, amazing music and sounds, along with good graphics. However, there isn't a lot to do after you finish the game, but as said previously, DLC will hopefully add a lot to the game. Other than that, Mafia 2 is a great game, and it deserves some more praise than is given by some of the reviewers in the world.
My final score for Mafia 2 is a 9/10.
Thanks for reading guys, and comment and vote and stuff like that. I hope you enjoyed the read. Maeglwn, signing off.