At 36, I consider myself a slightly older gamer. I sometimes wonder how my age affects my opinion of the interactive entertainment I consume. Such was the case as I played Mafia II, a new gangster game made by 2K Czech with an assist from Vancouver-based Massive Bear Studios. Admittedly, I'm a bit late to the party on this one-it came out a couple of weeks ago-but time has afforded me the luxury of checking out what other critics have had to say about the game. Most reviews have been lukewarm, with many complaining about its slow pace, linearity, and general lack of action. But I find that the older I get the more I appreciate games that employ a measured and deliberate pace in order to develop a stronger narrative. I think that's exactly what's happened here.
Mafia II plays out like a classic gangster movie. Players are shoved into the shoes of Vito Scaletta, a young hood who was born in Italy in 1925 but moved to Empire Bay (a thinly veiled virtual version of New York City) before he was old enough to remember. We follow him through formative events in his life-as a teenaged soldier in the Second World War; returning Stateside to find his family sick and debt-ridden; spending years in prison after getting busted for a relatively small crime and refusing to give the police any names-before finally seeing him become a made man. Which, of course, is when everything starts to go wrong.
Both the story and its characters are rich, uncompromising, and not for people who are easily offended. The writers have attempted to faithfully recreate the dialogue and attitudes of the era. The gangsters whose lives we follow tend to be racist and homophobic chauvinists who somehow fool themselves into thinking their behaviour is chivalrous and honourable. They are hard men who commit heinous crimes with the sort of matter-of-fact indifference for which wise guys are rightly infamous.
And yet they are fascinating and at times even courageous. There's little doubt that they are bad men, but we can often understand their motives and even sympathize with them. They feel like real people. Consequently, we take a strong interest in what happens to them.
The mid-twentieth century world in which the game is set is perhaps even more authentic than the characters that inhabit it.
Empire Bay is one of the most beautiful cities yet created for a game. From the rows of iron fire escapes lining the apartment blocks of Little Italy to the paper lanterns strung across the streets of Chinatown, it truly feels like the town that inspired it. It's not quite as big or interactive as, say, Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City, but it nails period and atmosphere in a way that few-if, indeed, any-other virtual metropolises ever have.
I particularly enjoyed the weather effects. The fog in the morning, the glare of streetlamps during rainy evening drives-it all felt just right. After spending a couple of hours in Empire Bay on a cold winter night-street sleet glistening with low-level artificial light from sparse overhead lamps, steam rising from manhole covers-I felt a small amount of shock walking outside and into a warm, late-August afternoon in Toronto. My mind and body had been fooled into thinking that it should be December outside.
Adding to the ambiance is a terrific soundtrack. The film noire-esque score sets a dark mood while a collection of recognizable mid-century pop songs heard on in-game radios, including hits like Dean Martin's "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and The Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman," provide musical flavour. It's funny how an old classic like Dinah Shore's "Why Don't You Do Right" can take on new poignancy during a long, rainy drive home after dumping the body of a hapless guy your best friend killed in a drunken stupor into a car crusher.
You'll note that I've yet to touch on Mafia II's more traditional game elements. That's not because the playable parts aren't fun or because the mechanics are lacking in some significant way, but rather because the action is secondary to the narrative. Some critics have cited this as a flaw, but I simply view it as a different kind of game; more interactive story than thrill-a-minute sandbox adventure.
Let's be clear: The action is satisfying. Fistfights are beautifully choreographed and easy to get the hang of. Press a button to take a defensive stance, counter when you have an opening, and follow onscreen instructions for decisive finishing moves. It's simple, but there are few enough brawls in the game that they don't become repetitious.
Firefights are equally rewarding. Mafia II uses a basic but effective covering system that strongly favours caution over balls-out running-and-gunning. Indeed, a single shot is often all it takes to ice our protagonist. Some of the lengthier set-piece action sequences near the end of the game are surprisingly challenging.
But driving is what you'll be doing most. And, happily, navigating Empire Bay's beautifully detailed streets can be a ton of fun. The game's old cars-many of which are 4,000 pound monsters-are sluggish but still enjoyable to drive. Recklessness doesn't pay. High speed crashes will instantly kill Vito. What's more, speeding, picking locked doors, and bashing into other vehicles will cause any nearby police officers to give chase. If it's anything more than a fineable offence, they won't forget who you are until you either don new duds or swap your car's plates. Your best bet for trouble-free trips is to turn on the speed limiter and drive safely.
Regardless of whether you're hurtling down the highway in a steel deathtrap at 125 miles per hour escaping the fuzz or engaged in something a little more subtle-like posing as a cleaner so you can set a bomb to explode in a conference room near the top of a 20-storey hotel- Mafia II's missions are consistently diverse, memorable, and cleverly interconnected.
For example, early on in the game you'll be tasked to rob a jewellery store, but it's not just a matter of driving up to a storefront and clearing out the joint. Mid-heist, a group of wild Irishmen coincidentally intent on robbing the same place drive a car through the store's window, giving rise to a tense shouting match between gangs. The cops suddenly arrive and things move from bad to worse. The Irish come out with guns blazing, while a small group of officers chase Vito and his partner through the building and across its roof. That initial standoff acts as the seed for a series of seemingly secondary quarrels between Vito and the Irish, but his tense relationship with one particular Irishman in a roundabout way becomes the catalyst for the story's dramatic final act. Like a good movie, each scene plays a role in the greater story-even if you don't know it at the time.
To be sure, there are areas that could use some improvement. I was bothered by Vito's inability to jump-a strange oversight for an action game in this day and age. Plus, women are strangely absent from Vito's life. He has a couple of nice scenes with his sister, but her conflicted feelings about his lifestyle never amount to much. And the 12-hour story, though the right length for Vito's tale, seems far too short a time to spend in a virtual city that took its developers half a decade to create. But I found myself dwelling much more on what Mafia II does right than its few shortcomings.
I like a good frenetic action game as much as the next guy, but not all games need to or should be non-stop fragfests. Sometimes what happens during the lulls can be even more important than the action itself. Perhaps some gamers (and some younger critics) just need a few more winters under their belts to be able to realize that.
Mafia II
Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3, Windows PC
Publisher: 2K
Developer: 2K Czech
ESRB: Mature
Score: 8.5/10
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