There were a lot of third person games on show at E3, some were predominantly shooters, while other took a heavier platform focus. Mafia II, if it had to be classified, would probably fit into a Shooter/Epic Movie genre, it features gameplay boasting tight combat action but the underlying theme that impressed me was the characters and their interactions with each other, just like what you would want to see in an awesome Mafia movie.

We had already seen a little bit from the game a few weeks back at 2K but this was new and fresh and from a completely different section and time of the game. Taken from an early mission where it is winter and the streets are frosty and Vito has been tasked with getting rid of a nuisance called “The Fat Man”. He makes his way to meet up with his accomplices to perform the deed, once there he is explained the plan, things are put into place and the action begins.

Vito was, prior to joining the mob, in the war and has returned to make his mark on the world and in Empire Bay it seems that doing this in the Mafia is as good as any other way. The dynamics between Vito and his co-mobsters immediately shines a light on what is to me the most impressive feature in Mafia II. Your friends and enemies all take on an appearance of realism, there was one section in a gun fight where Vito needed to flank one of the enemies that had them pinned down, Vito distracts him and and he is then rushed by a friend who deals with him with brutal efficiency which was equally realistic and urgent. The sort of thing that some games might drag out, is enacted with so much power that I found myself forgetting to take notes on things like environment elements and character names.

The script is witty and while there is obviously an introductory story that precedes this early mission, the back and forth between characters is very tangible in it’s emotion. I don’t know whether it was attributable to great voice acting or the facial animations but it was believable and engaging. The climax of the assassination only further highlights this and goes further to demonstrate how much more this is than a simple mindless sit and play experience.

Something that couldn’t be shown in the preview but was explained and later clarified was that while this is a sandbox title, the story of Vito is still the central focus and this story will stretch over a 10 year period spanning the 40’s and 50’s. Empire Bay over this time period will change in appearance, season and culture during this time. While it is obvious that not everything will move in a step by step fashion due to pacing issues and conscious game design choices by Czech 2K the city will be noticeably different to the observant gamer with radio stations playing different music and people wearing more modern threads.

Of everything that I saw there was little that made me concerned that Mafia II might fail to deliver, if anything it might be good, but it has so much promising that it should be great. Time will tell but thing look very promising.

Tags: Games, Microsoft, sidebar, Sony

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 3:05 pm and is filed under E3, E3 2009, Games, PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, sideblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.