It’s an interesting story, but a lot of driving and the shooting is a bit clunky. The shooting is improved in the DLC Jimmy’s Vendetta’s, but the DLC lacks checkpoints making the missions pretty frustrating. I would recommend the main game, but skip the DLC’s.

Mafia II hits sky highs in some points but falls short in other aspects.
Narrative in general is a big high in this game. The main plot feels just right in pretty much aspect, being well paced and well written with fully realized characters. Following Vito and Joe’s rise (or maybe fall) in the criminal underworld is the brightest spot of the whole package.
Gameplay-wise, is nothing special. I can’t think of anything really off about the game mechanically or contextually, but in the same way nothing really outshines a functional Third Person Shooter from this time. Missions are well designed and have some awesome setpieces, even when restricted by the uninspired gameplay.
The single aspect that takes away some of the charm of Mafia II is how useless, the beautiful and well constructed, open world is. The absence of any form of side activities or distractions make the
otherwise well made open world just a meaningless backdrop. Unless you really care to make Vito look the slickest, there isn’t much to do in the game outside of the main story.

On top of my favorite open-world action games,

The games offers a lot of interesting ideas, and marvelous gameplay mechanics,

One of them which I liked the most is after few levels, the protagonist got jailed for some time and when released few years later you live the same city in different season and new atmospheres where you can see new cars, new buildings,….

If you like films like Godfather, Scarface or Good Fellas this is your game. Great story and good gameplay.

The game is pretty straightforward and pushes the story. It does not have any notable side quests like GTA does, but I did not miss that.

Played the PC version, which has good gamepad support (I used the XBOX 360 Controller) and nice graphics. If you have problems with random crashes try disabling NVIDIA PhysX.

one of thee best stories i have ever played, feel bad for Joe.

When I first time picked up the first Mafia I knew this game gonna be one of my best ever played. I played it in Czech (never played the original) and the VO our actors did was perfect. Absoultely awesome so never saw the need to hear the original. (Normally I always go for original, always). Mafia 1 was actually one of the few games I played more then once. In my case that’s very very rare.

As for Mafia 2, I originally picked it up when it was just released. I was so excited. And I have to say, Mafia 2 it’s actually really great game. Not as good as the first but really good. I decided some time ago to pick it up on Steam too with all the DLCs and like a few weeks ago to go play this game over again because I remembered I really liked it.

Graphicly this game is still even in 2017 nice looking, especially the enviroment. The city feels alive and busy. The story is always very well done and you even find some very small cameos from the first Mafia. The missions are interesting enough, the VO is really good. You definitely gonna enjoy this game.

As for DLCs, well I am gonna be blunt and honest. I was very interested in them because in my play first playthough there were no DLCs so wanted to experience them. Well what a huge disappointment for me. I didn’t mind they “introduced” new character in two of the DLCs, was more interested in Joe, but what really bored me was how the DLCs were build. I found them very boring, no story basicly, just so tiny that it’s almost not there. With both Jimmie’s I really got bored fast. And the style: – go across the whole city, click on some icon which gives you mission, if you fail you have to do it from the beginning and also police gonna be chasing you for 24/7. AND NO STORY. With Joe’s Adventures it started much better, you were getting small fill story between events in main Mafia 2 story, but then it again went to that boring, lazy style which had Jimmy.

As for main game – 8/10 (Great)
DLCs (I just couldn’t even finish them at this point) – 4/10 (Poor)

Ultimately, Mafia II tries to continues being like its original game. For one thing they are both able to establish themselves in a time period that is realistic and truthful to it. In this one, you’re immersed in its culture and lingo of the 40’s to 50’s. It seems that 2K Czech have done above beyond job to provide a beautiful city established in two different seasons in different times. They provide a game that doesn’t betray the period. As you continue into the game you’ll see the development from everything from cars, buildings to clothing. The game is never anachronistic to its setting. Such development is one which I appreciate the most about Mafia II compared to the original game.

Mafia II’s story is decent though not quite as dramatic or emotionally attaching as the original and even to other gangster genre games. The main characters and their personalities are diverse though and with many characters to meet which provide cut-scenes with great moments. Mafia II’s great weakness is its lack of focus on how it uses its story in the world. By this I mean the interaction in the world except specific place makes the open-world element of the game feel barren and redundant. It seems around 50-70% of the mission are designated in location which were specifically designed for the mission themselves. It doesn’t help much as the world it immerses you in is quite amazing. In the previous game, though that can be similar parallels to this issue, Mafia I still provides a Free Roam mode and does use up more of its locations in the city. Mafia II provides no more replay value to its original. The game’s world feels wasted.

II’s gameplay though during mission is quite excellent, the gunplay is smooth and slick, similar to that of GTA IV’s gunplay. Mafia II provides the weapons that fit the occupation (Gangster), it feels great to fire your weapon at the enemy. Graphically the game is technically and artistic beautiful to look at, character models though do sometimes seem a bit dated with some shoddy speaking animation, though nothing too bad.

Conclusion: The overall experience of Mafia II is not a much a disappointment as it is a let down, the game after one playthrough has nothing left for it. There’s no replay value nor anything else to do with it unless you want to get collectables.