Mafia II Collector's Edition

Despite featuring a beautiful reproduction of a fictionalised post-war New York, Mafia 2 is not an open world game in the mould of GTA4. It has a story to tell, and it does its best to make sure that the player experiences it. The main character is Vito Scaletta, a young Sicilian immigrant who returns to Empire Bay (New York) after serving in Europe, and turns to crime with his best friend, Joe Barbaro. The scene in which Vito returns home is one of the most atmospheric in the game, with Vito trudging through the snowbound streets and triggering half a dozen little vignettes, all to the tune of 'Let It Snow'. Unfortunately after a strong start, the story fizzles about halfway through as though the developers were in a rush to finish. Vito becomes a cipher whose only articulated goal is the acquisition of things (since there are a couple of easy means of earning money in the game, it's not much of a motivation, especially as there is so little to buy).

The actual gameplay is reasonably good, with the missions mostly being varied and interesting (although there are a couple of stinkers late in the game). The main problem is that there isn't enough actual content. You could probably complete the game in a couple of sittings if you don't become distracted by roaming around the city. And you probably won't, as the game actively resists the player's attempts to deviate from the rails, the better to disguise the fact that there's not that much to do in the beautifully realised Empire Bay.

One thing that struck me as odd, given the game's much publicised inclusion of Playboy pinups and 50s cheesecake, is how asexual Vito himself is. He looks visibly uncomfortable in the handful of interactions that he has with female characters that he isn't related to, the scene in the cathouse being the most obvious. As a PC user, I also have to complain about the save system or lack thereof. The game allows you to reload from your last save or the beginning of chapter, so if you want to replay a particular mission you're out of luck.

Mafia 2 has a lot of potential in the freshness of its setting, and the amount of effort that has been put into accurately reproducing it. Clothing, cars, music, even the way the prison is segregated. Unfortunately it does very little with that potential and really needed either a great story or great gameplay to carry the game. Sadly neither was up to the task.

Wait until it's on special, unless there some free DLC is released that significantly increases the amount of content. 5.5 out of 10

Mafia II is a really great game great graphics one of the best games I have played but the only thing bad about this game is the storyline is kind of short finished it in half a day. Only if they add more chapters it be a really great game that can even compare with grand thief auto because the ending of the story is kind on lame would be good if they added more acts.
But overall it's any 1 who have played grand thief auto should really check this game out XD

Graphics are some of the best, played it with no hitches on my computer
Controls feel little stiff when controlling Vito and the cars, but they don't affect the game play to much
Soundtrack..i love it, all the classic music from each era has been placed in the game adds to atmosphere when driving around empire city which you do alot
Story is top notch, loved it from beginning to end!!!

Definitely recommend this game for anyone that enjoys shooters and likes a story line that isn't just there to be there, while a little short I finished it in ~10hrs I enjoyed every bit of it which in my view is good since leaves u with more positive impression than having a game drag out to long just for more game time

Great game
But story bit short

THIS GAME WAS EPIC!
i love this game and was defiantly worth what i payed for it. its a game sort of like gta and the graphics are superb. i really like the idea of the game being set back in time with the old fashion cars which really made this game a new gaming experience. 100% recommend this game