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[Stallion Free]

Any impressions on the DLC?

Anyways, I have been enjoying it so far. I'm around 40% through and the timer says I have played for about an hour and a half. The missions unlock 1-3 at a time and they keep a decent amount of variety. There has been a lot of stealing cars, but a solid amount of gunfights and just blowing shit up too. It's kind of nice being free of story and just having raw gameplay, plus I feel like it's taking me to some areas of the city I had hardly been in before. If they released the PS3 Exclusive DLC I would probably pick it up as well.

Two posts above you.

Beat the game on Hard. I hate whoever designed the checkpoints.

Yeah, I definitely found a number of checkpoints infuriating on hard.

 

[BobsRevenge]

Btw I don't know if I'm the first to find this but in one mission, (3rd part of the game, where you have to

Spoiler

kill a couple of irish guys who burned down your house

) after you've dealt with everyone in the bar you can go to the back of the room and walk into a small hallway with 3 doors next to eachother. And if you walk to the left there you can find a pornmag with a high res photo of a chick with some nice looking tits inside. (you have to pick up the magazine to see it)

Can't post the photo here though since it would be nsfw, plus it would also ruin the suprise. :lol

Yeah, there's like 50 of them I think.

All very pleasant, I'm sure. I think I found 10.

 

[Caesar III]

haha, you haven't been looking hard enough if that's the first you've found the entire game. I'm about to go on to the last mission to collect the final 4, so I'm keenly aware of these high res photos you speak of.

The best thing is the timer in the stats which counts the seconds you watched those playboy mag covers lol

 

[BobsRevenge]

The best thing is the timer in the stats which counts the seconds you watched those playboy mag covers lol

I'll admit that I creeped on the better ones I found for a good 15 seconds or so.

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Jimmy's Vendetta is a little disappointing. The focus on scoring points and completing missions as quickly as possible kinda takes me out of the game and well, reminds me that I'm playing a game.

I was hoping for a new slice of story, or a different POV of some of the events that happened in the main story, but we've never even heard of these characters, although Jimmy seems pretty awesome, seems like a waste.

I dunno, I only spent about an hour with it, but it seems pretty tacked on and shallow so far. Maybe it gets better.

 

[Noisepurge]

There was a DLC pack for the PS3 that also used this Jimmy character that was free.

It's the same DLC pack that was released now for others right? It's just free if you buy the game new.

 

[Dilly]

It's the same DLC pack that was released now for others right? It's just free if you buy the game new.

Jimmy's betrayal is free on PS3, Jimmy's Vendetta is the newly released DLC.

 

[Stallion Free]

It's the same DLC pack that was released now for others right? It's just free if you buy the game new.

Nope, it's different: The Betrayal of Jimmy. Similar concepts between the two though apparently.

 

[Noisepurge]

oh, okay. I just thought the two different names were from regional differencies. the yanks get vendetta, europeans get betrayal.

and the content seemed identical too, just sidemissions with jimmy having his revenge

 

[derFeef]

Some of the stuff in this game is really great like in CH7

Spoiler

where the two guys begin to sing to that song in the radio after you buried the body.

. And then there is some tedious driving and uncanny faces all over the place. I don't know what to think. It´s great at times, but it does not have that magic that Mafia 1 had back then.

But maybe it´s this "Movies like Indy, BTTF or Star Wars was great back then, but today the magic is gone" effect ...

 

[wolfmat]

About the DLC:

If you want a freeride mode with generic missions, a persistent garage at your house and a highscore list, get it. If you aren't interested in all that, don't get it.
You can supercharge cars and put custom paintjobs on them. There might or might not be new weapons.

The missions are pretty straight-forward. I haven't encountered much in terms of cutscenes or whatever so far. If you bought Mafia 2 for the story, Jimmy won't exactly blow your mind.

I like freeriding in bigworld games. So I'm happy! Still, YMMV, as always.

 

[BanShunsaku]

Am I the only one who thinks Jimmy = Ed Harris?

 

[Stallion Free]

Am I the only one who thinks Jimmy = Ed Harris?

Haha yeah. I like Jimmy a lot.

 

[BobsRevenge]

DLC is pretty fun. It adds that extra something that Mafia 2 needed. Its just unfortunate I had to pay another $10 to get it. :lol

Anyways, I like it and it was worth the money for me. Especially after stopping by Harry's and picking up some real hardware.

 

[Q8D3vil]

just started the game and i'm already in chapter 10.
so fucking good but if only they included side quest like the stranger missions in RDR :/
also, the driving is better than riding the horse in rdr, at least i have a radio to listen to.

 

[Blackace]

I am assuming it is fairly linear, right?

 

[Noisepurge]

About the DLC:

You can supercharge cars and put custom paintjobs on them.

This was in the normal game too?

And on another note, i also played it through on Hard on my first go. Still way too easy, the only difficulty comes from the lack of checkpoints

 

[wolfmat]

This was in the normal game too?

Certainly not on PC.

Edit: Blackace, the game is extremely linear. The Jimmy DLC isn't though.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Certainly not on PC.

a mod

 

[wolfmat]

a mod

I've seen that mod, haven't dabbled with it though.

 

[Noisepurge]

oh ok. weird platform differencies

 

[EatChildren]

Finally finished it.

On the story front, I liked the ending, and dont really understand the hate. Yes, its sudden, but it puts into perspective the kind of direction and themes they wanted to stick with for the plot.

That being said, the plot itself was really average. The character writing and dialogue is amazing, to no surprise, but the actual plot's structure and pacing is all over the place. Way too much time dedicated to stuff that should have been a side mission, and not enough exposure to key characters. Its a plot that I think could have worked very, very well, and I see where they were going, but as a whole it falters pretty badly.

For presentation, the game is phenomenal. Artistically the city is jaw dropping in design and art, on a high end PC anyway, and all the little details on the cars, physics, pedestrians, and other stuff were amazing. Reminded me exactly of why I loved the city and design of Mafia over GTA3 way back when it was those two clashing heads.

As for the missions, these are probably my biggest letdown by a good country mile. Most of them just plain sucked. Yeah, there's a clunkiness to the shooting, but I dont really mind it. Visually levels looked fine, and the fundamentals in gameplay were there, but on a whole the way the missions were designed felt like one giant afterthought. There was one or two missions that channelled the memorable brilliance of the first game, but the rest were just...shit. Bad gameplay design, crappy encounters, woeful pacing, and hardly anything interesting going.

It is because of the letdown in the mission design and the story that Mafia 2 is, probably, my biggest disappointment this year. That doesn't mean it isn't a good game by any means. It is a good game, and when it hits a high note (such as in presentation, and the one or two good levels) it really is everything I wanted it to be. But too much of the game was a lowpoint, largely due to the standard set by the first and the expectations and hopes I had.

For me, it feels like they poured a vast majority of their development time into the engine, the art, and the presentation. So, in those areas, it excels phenomenally and meets the standard I had. As an city and world by design and presentation, its probably the best thing I can think of and absolutely nailed what I wanted. But as a game? As creative memorable missions? As a properly structure and paced plot? As all these other things that made Mafia so iconic? Huge disappointment.

As I said earlier, I haven't been this polarised by a game in a very long time. So much good, yet so much bad. A damn shame.

 

[speculawyer]

I finally finished and took way longer than most people. Part of that was due to some AI/scripting bug that required me to re-do chapter 14. I got to the bottom of the building of that final shoot-out but it would not let me leave. Everyone was dead but I was stuck in the building. I'm not sure what happened. I think there were some enemies somewhere that got stuck and I could not kill them. I went back to the top of the building and in certain places I would be shot at but I could not find the enemies to kill them! I looked everywhere. Weird.

And that shoot-out at the docks had me stuck for a while until I discovered the strategy of

Spoiler

grabbing my car and driving under the second floor area from where he throws molotovs. You then kill everyone else before finally going after the Molotov tosser.

It was a solid 8.5/10 game. Great world, great soundtrack, nice models, decent story, etc. But the driving got a bit dull. The shoot-outs were fun but there were not enough of them. Overall, I was quite satisfied. But I was a little bit disappointed considering how much time it took for them to develop this game.

I picked up the DLC and will check it out eventually. I suspect they ripped out a lot of the game to sell it as DLC. :-/


I finished with a bunch of playboys but zero wanted posters.

Good:
-Soundtrack is great
-Shoot out scenes are fun
-Nice city, models, animation
-Story

Bad:
-Too much driving and too little action
-The open world action of robbing stores & cars just didn't feel quite right or fun.

 

[squicken]

So what's the story on the PC version? I grabbed it off Steam and there was an update. I read around a few forums about physics and AA bugs. I just have a single GTX 460, so am I disabling all physx, or just some? Should I also avoid AA?

I guess triple buffering isn't available, so I'll go with v-sync. Is there a way to frame limit? If it won't run a consistent 60 I'd rather it be smooth at 30.

 

[Zenith]

People who cling to the "you were expecting GTA, you're playing it wrong" argument are distracting themselves from the real issues. The game isn't close to being as good as Mafia 1.

I like the driving, I like the cutscenes, but I want an equal amount of gameplay to go with it. That burying the body missions was just drive -> cutscene -> drive -> cutscene.

 

[BobsRevenge]

With how Mafia has aged, currently Mafia 2 is without question the better game. How they feel at the time they were released? Well, Mafia was certainly more innovative. Mafia was a shitload more frustrating to play though, and had a lot of crap that probably should've been left out.

For instance: Ralphy. That annoying bastard that you have to listen to stutter for half an hour to unlock the ability to steal one type of car before your missions. Then Vincenzo who walks around really slowly and talks some bullshit before plopping down your gear. Then the shitty side missions. The mouse controls have this awkward acceleration or something to it that makes it harder to aim quickly.

Mafia had more wrong with it than Mafia 2. It was just more special at the time. Its still a great game, but we've got some rose tinting going on in this thread.

 

[Stallion Free]

It was just more special at the time. Its still a great game, but we've got some rose tinting going on in this thread.

I reinstalled my old ass 3 disc copy before Mafia 2 came out and it has aged horribly gameplay-wise. The difficulty is severely unforgiving and the checkpoints can be infuriating. And let's not forget how one of the first missions gives you a bat and molotovs and throws guys with guns at you.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

So they just plunked Jimmy's head on Vito's body?:lol

 

[Zoso]

Mafia had more wrong with it than Mafia 2. It was just more special at the time. Its still a great game, but we've got some rose tinting going on in this thread.

I still think they're both pretty equal. Mafia definitely had more problems, but it was also more ambitious. Even Mafia 2 doesn't have a lot of the cool things they were trying in the first one(countryside, public transportation, melee weapons, sidemissions, realistic gun recoil and reloading, dynamic car damage, freeride extreme, etc.). These things weren't perfect at all, but I would have liked to see them improved upon, not removed completely. But the main thing I think Mafia 1 did much better is the unique missions. Mafia 2 has a few really great missions, but overall they're not as good. With that being said I think Mafia 2 does everything else better(story/characters, gameplay, city/atmosphere). So overall they're about equal to me.


BTW I just played Mafia about a month ago. I think it's still fantastic. Yes there are a few glaring flaws, but they have never bothered me that much.

 

[BobsRevenge]

So they just plunked Jimmy's head on Vito's body?:lol

[IM G]http://i56.tinypic.com/20uoc5i.png[/IMG]

Dude has a nasty tan line.

edit: btw, I'm in the middle of replaying Mafia, so I'm speaking from that perspective. The game can be sooooo frustrating. But, perhaps Freeride Extreme does bring Mafia up to Mafia 2's level. I had so much fun janking it out in that back in the day. I remember one mission where you had to kill this dude who ran, like, 60 mph or something. I kept doing the mission until eventually he got ran over by some random driver on the road. :lol

And then there was some weird one with a sea monster or something? And the cars! The Crazy Horse (or something along those lines)! I loved that car so much.

 

[Q8D3vil]

just finished it.
8/10 playing the pc version.

too much driving that the only thing i hate beside is the wtf ending.

Spoiler

i just hope they release dlc to continue the story since the chance of getting mafia 3 is very very low

 

[BobsRevenge]

Spoiler

i just hope they release dlc to continue the story since the chance of getting mafia 3 is very very low

Why? Has it bombed?

 

[Stallion Free]

Why? Has it bombed?

I think Pachter declared that it was going to :lol

 

[Saty]

Well, the recent NPD data does heavily suggest the game bombed pretty hard, which make the Take2 comments about the game mystifying.

 

[BobsRevenge]

Well, the recent NPD data does heavily suggest the game bombed pretty hard, which make the Take2 comments about the game mystifying.

Well, hopefully the game is bigger in Europe than here.

 

[Stallion Free]

Well, hopefully the game is bigger in Europe than here.

I'd bet Mafia 1 sold around twice as well in Europe as it did in the US.

 

[Takuan]

Finally finished it.

On the story front, I liked the ending, and dont really understand the hate. Yes, its sudden, but it puts into perspective the kind of direction and themes they wanted to stick with for the plot.

That being said, the plot itself was really average. The character writing and dialogue is amazing, to no surprise, but the actual plot's structure and pacing is all over the place. Way too much time dedicated to stuff that should have been a side mission, and not enough exposure to key characters. Its a plot that I think could have worked very, very well, and I see where they were going, but as a whole it falters pretty badly.

For presentation, the game is phenomenal. Artistically the city is jaw dropping in design and art, on a high end PC anyway, and all the little details on the cars, physics, pedestrians, and other stuff were amazing. Reminded me exactly of why I loved the city and design of Mafia over GTA3 way back when it was those two clashing heads.

As for the missions, these are probably my biggest letdown by a good country mile. Most of them just plain sucked. Yeah, there's a clunkiness to the shooting, but I dont really mind it. Visually levels looked fine, and the fundamentals in gameplay were there, but on a whole the way the missions were designed felt like one giant afterthought. There was one or two missions that channelled the memorable brilliance of the first game, but the rest were just...shit. Bad gameplay design, crappy encounters, woeful pacing, and hardly anything interesting going.

It is because of the letdown in the mission design and the story that Mafia 2 is, probably, my biggest disappointment this year. That doesn't mean it isn't a good game by any means. It is a good game, and when it hits a high note (such as in presentation, and the one or two good levels) it really is everything I wanted it to be. But too much of the game was a lowpoint, largely due to the standard set by the first and the expectations and hopes I had.

For me, it feels like they poured a vast majority of their development time into the engine, the art, and the presentation. So, in those areas, it excels phenomenally and meets the standard I had. As an city and world by design and presentation, its probably the best thing I can think of and absolutely nailed what I wanted. But as a game? As creative memorable missions? As a properly structure and paced plot? As all these other things that made Mafia so iconic? Huge disappointment.

As I said earlier, I haven't been this polarised by a game in a very long time. So much good, yet so much bad. A damn shame.

I'm with you, except I liked the shooting (PC). They nailed the presentation, but the story just wasn't fleshed out. I enjoyed the game quite a bit despite these facts, but it could've been SO much more.

Is Jimmy linked to Vito or Joe in a meaningful way?

 

[Fallout-NL]

Finished it this afternoon. First off, I'm a big fan of the first Mafia. Sadly this didn't measure up. Yes, it looked a lot better and the cars are more fun to drive than in the first one. But like most people here said, the pacing and the plot have some problems. Mafia 1 felt like it took its time with story and characters a lot more than Mafia 2. Additionally, the missions aren't as much fun as the first game's.

My first impressions were a lot better though since Mafia 2's beginning moments in the snow covered city were so utterly convincing. Too bad the game is marred by uninspired mission design and a rushed story. I did have my fun with it though, well worth the money, just not as good as the original which still is the best 'open world' (in a sense) game ever made.


/edit: Oh and an honorable mention for the playboy magazines which were the first collectibles I've ever spent time looking for.

 

[Q8D3vil]

Why? Has it bombed?

hopefully it didn't, i said that because of the lack of interest everywhere in the net.
if a game like alpha protocol can sell 600 hundren i hope this can do at least double the ammount.

also, i did my part and bought the limited edition.
as a collector for these stuff i didn't regret it but if jimmy vendetta as included in the game. it would be pretty a perfect price for the limited anyway the 10$ code from amazon was a pretty good .

 

[Zel3]

I'll just leave this here....


What a beast.

 

[BobsRevenge]

So... I read the Kotaku review of Jimmy's Vendetta which steam's Mafia 2 page in my library pointed me to.

Jimmy's Vendetta is not a set of missions that extends the story of the main game. It's the side missions that should have been included with the main product in the first place. Instead, Xbox 360 and PC owners are paying $10 to get a free roam mode in a game that was touted as open-world, with the implication that meant plenty to do in it.

OH MY GOD SHUT UP!

What kind of deal does Valve have with Kotaku that they're posting bullshit reviews from that site onto their Mafia 2 page for people who own the game? Who that has already bought Mafia 2 would want to hear that? Not to mention the ignorance of it.

Ugh. So pissed about the critical reception of this game. It shows how much they are driven by preconceptions and structure instead of quality and maturity. I shouldn't get worked up, but Mafia 2 is seriously the best story experience I've had this generation and I'm finding Jimmy's Vendetta to be a good usage of the gameplay mechanics that provides an additional 8 hours of gameplay for just $10.

Like, wtf? God of War 3 was shorter than Mafia 2 and only SP and didn't get any shit for its length, so what gives?

 

[Zoso]

Yeah I dunno. There were a large amount of people that didn't like Mafia 2. Even a lot of Mafia 1 fans hated it. Opinions are divided.


I finished Jimmy's Vendetta today. When I first started playing I was kinda put off by the change to arcade gameplay. Plus the beginning missions are rather boring. But towards the end the missions get a hell of a lot more fun. The very last mission in particular was unexpected and really cool. The plot is practically nonexistent. Its only purpose is to make an excuse for why we're doing all this crazy stuff. I would have liked to see a real plot with cutscenes though. Jimmy is a badass character. Also it makes for a great freeride mode.

Overall I'd only recommend it to people that enjoyed the gameplay of Mafia 2 and are looking for more, but don't mind that there's no story and the whole thing is more "arcade" gameplay.

 

[EatChildren]

I'm with you, except I liked the shooting (PC). They nailed the presentation, but the story just wasn't fleshed out. I enjoyed the game quite a bit despite these facts, but it could've been SO much more.

I didnt mean to make it sound like I disliked the shooting mechanics :lol. I quite liked the feel of gunfights, but I didn't like many of the actual shoot-out levels. Some were really awesome, but others were pretty bland with clumsy level design.

 

[eshwaaz]

So... I read the Kotaku review of Jimmy's Vendetta which steam's Mafia 2 page in my library pointed me to.


OH MY GOD SHUT UP!

What kind of deal does Valve have with Kotaku that they're posting bullshit reviews from that site onto their Mafia 2 page for people who own the game? Who that has already bought Mafia 2 would want to hear that? Not to mention the ignorance of it.

Ugh. So pissed about the critical reception of this game. It shows how much they are driven by preconceptions and structure instead of quality and maturity. I shouldn't get worked up, but Mafia 2 is seriously the best story experience I've had this generation and I'm finding Jimmy's Vendetta to be a good usage of the gameplay mechanics that provides an additional 8 hours of gameplay for just $10.

Like, wtf? God of War 3 was shorter than Mafia 2 and only SP and didn't get any shit for its length, so what gives?

I really enjoyed the game as well and I agree with your frustration to a degree, but I also understand some of the disappointment.

It's not just that Mafia 2 takes place in an open city - it also constantly teases you with map icons for characters and locations that, in any other game, would indicate optional side missions. Here, they're absolutely pointless, as no one ever has any work for you outside of the main story path. Perhaps 2K Czech never promised an open world packed with content, but they made the mistake of populating their environment with what have become industry standard earmarks of a GTA-style experience. Their red herring design is at least partially to blame here.

I'm having fun with Jimmy's Vendetta, but it feels like a mode that should have been unlocked upon beating the main game. As I said, I loved Mafia 2 - I've played through it twice now - but the gorgeous, atmospheric world that they created is sorely underutilized and feels like an unfortunate missed opportunity. Just a few of the missions from the DLC sprinkled here and there in the main game would have gone a long way.

 

[MMaRsu]

BobsRevenge.. I sorta agree but I do think these missions were cut and they just put Jimmy's face on Vito's body and decided to sell it as DLC.

Actually i'm pretty much 99% sure about that. Not saying Mafia 2 alone isn't a great game, because it is. But it's pretty obvious stuff like that was cut in order to sell it to people as DLC.

Whether or not you enjoyed the DLC is a whole different question, I personally won't buy it.

Case in point

Exact same model, different head. Even the hands are the same.


More obvious cut content :

I have NO doubt in my mind that most of these mission icons will show up in DLC, as will the melee weapons. Fucking ridiculous to be honest. Wish I would have known about all this cut content up front, I probably would have bought it second hand. Shitty publishers/devs are shitty.

 

[MMaRsu]

Here, another great quote.

Jack Scalici:
"There are parts of the story where we haven't seen what Vito did, or what Joe did while we were underway with Vito. The story of Mafia II was deliberately designed to contain such "holes" or "leaps in time" so to speak so that we can now fill them (with DLCs)."

 

[EatChildren]

Here, another great quote.

"The narrative and pacing of the story was significantly hurt because we wanted to make DLC."

Idiots.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Here, another great quote.

Yeah, that's fucking stupid.

 

[eshwaaz]

Here, another great quote.

Okay, my fondness for the game is starting to dwindle. Those odd holes in the narrative I noticed were done on purpose for the sake of DLC? That's incredibly offensive. I was under the impression that I had paid $60 for a full game. Between this and the withheld side missions, I'm starting to feel like they got the review scores they deserved.

 

[Zoso]

Here, another great quote.

:lol where is this interview? please share.


I honestly don't see how the Jimmy DLC could fit in with Vito's story. It's such a contrast of gameplay emphasis. It would not feel right playing these kind of missions with Vito. Some of the missions could work, but most of them wouldn't.

They should have just kept the side quests they had originally made. That one they showed off where Vito stole that red Ferrari looked great.