Mafia II
Mafia II is a finely polished tale of crime, honor and betrayal that not only ups the ante on its predecessor, but could challenge some of the PS3’s elite titles in terms of class. Our hero, Vito Scaletta is a war veteran returning home to Empire Bay, but as a Sicilian immigrant with no money he finds himself seeking easy cash through the local gangster networks, working his way from associate to fully fledged made man. While Empire Bay is an open sandbox, it seems that Mafia will be more story-driven then we would normally expect. It will span ten years in the life of Scaletta, from the mid-Forties to mid-Fifties, and the city will change and develop in keeping with the advancing years. Where other games would have free-flowing day/night cycles and weather, everything is tightly scripted to the missions to reflect the tone of the story being told.
Gameplay-wise there’s depth that goes beyond even what we’ve seen in the GTA IV. Breaking into cars can be done by smashing a window, but you can also pick the locks and hotwire them. The wanted system for the cops is very aggressive and is based on the police putting out a visual description of you or your car that will force you to change clothes or visit a garage. If you do go to a chop shop then you can not only select a new paint job, but also tune and improve your car, from the engine to the number plate.
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