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Mafia II |OT| Hey Vito, drive me to the other side of town

nib95

Banned
Stallion Free said:
Renaming exes is ghetto and doesn't always work on Steam. Just google Nvidia Inspector. It's simple, much more efficient and doesn't hide options and shit like the Nvidia Control Panel.

Ok, I've installed it, but it just seems to be a CPU-Z style app with overclocking options. Could you possibly advise me on what to do next?
 

sn00zer

Member
ME-ME-ME-MEGA SPOILERSSSS
gottdamn cliff hanger...other than that great story, great story telling through gameplay (taking away all your cash, moving into different apartments, every bullet counts, having to wear certain clothing, having a whole mission fuck up because you ran a red light)...game really ratchets up the tension with Henry's death...overall great game, clocked in around 13hrs....

End result: 8.5/10
Great:
+Graphics, crazy good textures and geometry
+Gunplay, really solid cover mechanic, if you fuck up its your fault
+Atmosphere, this is the 1950s
+Story
Unexpected scenes like going to prison, Henry's death
+Characters, while some are under utilized every character feels just like that, a character with a unique personality
+Really Soild Mechanics, ie. Driving cars, buying from shops, taking cover

Bad:
-Doesnt use full city map
-sometimes feels like story arcs abruptly end or begin
-Driving is fun, but going back and forth between the same places is tedious
-
Cliff Hanger...but bring on Mafia 3
-a little "unfinished" being the biggest knock against it
 

sn00zer

Member
If Mafia 3 (please 2k) fixes the little issues with Mafia 2 I would not be surprised if it becomes the next big game changer AAA game. Seriously this series has so much potential and the fact that the gameplay is so damn solid I can only seeing it getting better with Mafia 3. They obviously needed a bit more time to flesh out the story and if 2k and investors give it to them we are in for a treat.

EDIT: Best moment in the game for me....very early mission spoiler
realized I didnt listen to the old lady in the car when she tells you where the safe is....spend some time sneaking around, then it dawns on me that there must be a map for visitors somewhere, it being a public building and all, sure enough, found on plastered on a wall, helped me figure out where the safe was located (which room would it most likely be in?)
 

nib95

Banned
I'll post thorough impressions when I finally finish it, but I am seriously bewildered at the press reception of this game. It is absolutely brilliant imo. At first I was a tad disappointed, but as it's gotten in to the flow of things, it's pretty much captured this whole genre perfectly. Touching on so many areas other games just glide over. The attention to detail here is just magnificent. Though some of the implementation (a bit too much driving) could be better.
 

pr0cs

Member
Amir0x said:
The only real big problem I had with the main game is that money is as close to absolutely worthless as is humanly possible,
I didn't invest in amassing a horde of money so I suppose it didn't bother me much. To be honest I thought the money thing was pretty good, it gave me a real sense of desperation and futility of the mob lifestyle. Even if you were wealthy and thought everything was golden it could be taken from you at any point since you are a criminal and have no right to complain about your illegal gains being taken from you. This *REALLY* hit home in the 'A friend of ours' mission.

I'm not done the game yet but I came in with a biased opinion. Mafia 1 was one of my favorite games of all time, it had such a great story and great characters and reading the reviews of Mafia 2 I didn't want to ruin my nostalgia. The Steam sale hit and I figured even for $7.50 it would be worth a few hours of fun and thankfully I bought it because so far I really am enjoying Mafia 2. I can agree with some of the driving complaints, the game purposely makes you do a lot of driving, probably in hopes to extend the game length but what's there in missions and stories are awesome. The physics are great, the AI is solid (pretty fun to pit the police against people you've already started a fight with), the graphics are kickass (thankfully my PC plays the game on high at a solid 45fps). I like the voice acting and the characters.

So far I'm glad I bought it, if you liked Mafia 1 and skipped Mafia 2 because of the bad reviews you should really try it, it's a lot better than I expected and I don't understand some of seriously negative scores the game got.
 

Hey You

Member
Alright guys, I want to get a DLC for Mafia II. Which one should I get, Joes Adventures or Jimmys Vendetta?

I want more story than nonsense.
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
Hey You said:
Alright guys, I want to get a DLC for Mafia II. Which one should I get, Joes Adventures or Jimmys Vendetta?

I want more story than nonsense.
Joe's Adventure then. It has 4 full mission that play with proper cutscenes like the ones in the main game. They are pretty fucking great missions too.
 

iNvid02

Member
when your walking single file to enter the prison all the guys have the same character model, there were all identical chinese guys on the left, and all identical black guys on the right. was really weird

just started a few days ago and its great
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Stallion Free said:
Joe's Adventure then. It has 4 full mission that play with proper cutscenes like the ones in the main game. They are pretty fucking great missions too.

Shit. I loved the first mission and then got bogged down with some terrible filler/text missions. Figured there would be one more proper mission at the end and that was it. I'll have to start that back up.

Am I correct in assuming the really long opening sequence that has you going over the ice lake and stuff only counts as 1 of those missions?
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
1-D_FTW said:
Shit. I loved the first mission and then got bogged down with some terrible filler/text missions. Figured there would be one more proper mission at the end and that was it. I'll have to start that back up.

Am I correct in assuming the really long opening sequence that has you going over the ice lake and stuff only counts as 1 of those missions?
Yep, that was one. Each of the other 3 also take place in unique locations. There might actually be 4 more.
 

Zoso

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
nib95 said:
I'll post thorough impressions when I finally finish it, but I am seriously bewildered at the press reception of this game. It is absolutely brilliant imo.
Yeah, it still confuses me. Mafia 2 was my GOTY last year. Dare I say it, I even enjoyed it more than all of the GTA games. It wasn't perfect, but its sense of realism and atmosphere is absolutely unparalleled. I really hope 2K Czech gets to make a third game, but to be honest I'd be surprised if they will.
 
Nice try Mafia 2 *slight spoilers*

I went to jail for the gas stamps even though I never did that mission at all. I did it the first time died and just let the clock run out and it let me continue but I still went to the slammer :(
 

nib95

Banned
Ok so my impressions after completing the game.

Honestly, I'm still dumbfounded by some of the extremely negative reviews. Overall, Mafia II offers up an experience that draws us the closest to the genre any game yet has. The world it creates, the atmosphere, the characters, they're all very well realised whilst still remaining gamer friendly. What I love about it is the pseudo realism of it all. Again, pushing it as far as a gamers attention span can go, the jobs you carry out, the pace of life, the occurrences, the constraints, the failings. Yes, carrying crates is boring as hell, but it's supposed to be. Yes, selling cigarettes or petrol stamps is also quite repetitive, but it's supposed to be. What we have here is almost a Mafia simulator, perhaps not as action packed and over the top as say, GTA, but far more grounded and within gaming limits, believable (hey if you couldn't kill hordes of people it wouldn't be fun). It really gives you a sense of what these Mafioso's got up to to make their bread and butter and no, not all of it was as glamourous as Hollywood often makes out (though obviously to keep things entertaining a lot of it still is). And whilst it's not consistently realistic (Police AI, limited freedom, linear hand to hand combat etc), other things it does, it often does exceptionally well and the attention to detail is sublime.

The shooting is brilliant, cover works well, health is just enough that every fire fight is threatening and forces you to take a well paced realistic patient approach. So even if you've killed dozens of people, you almost feel like you could have in real life too. Then there's the driving, again, brilliant controls with a real learning curve where you can actually fine tune and improve with delicacy and caution. Heck, even the damage modelling is brilliant.

Then there's the story arc. The ups and downs and occurrences the game puts you through, often cliche, just do wonders to give you a sense of the times and genre. FBI rats, protected citizens, mafia family hierarchy, initiation ceremonies, prison life, prison rape (lol), financial highs and lows, trying to make it on your own, betrayal, friendship, murder, mystery, wars, family troubles, it's got it all. I don't care if it has a sense of been there seen it, point is, we've never lived it. It's different when you're playing a game and actually living it all out.

I think where Mafia II is it's own worst enemy is in trying to maintain that sense of realism. Don't offer realism but take away true freedom to roam. In trying to re-live the monotony of a Mafioso's day to day life (which probably really did consist of mainly driving or waiting around), don't forget to make it more fun and exciting along the way.

The game should have had less driving, or rather, a lot more shooting or dynamic missions. Doing other stuff (like GTA is good at doing with random missions and gameplay mini games thrown in). The shooting segments were especially fun, but too few and far between. The set pieces you got to explore were brilliant, but again, rarely explored. The driving mechanic is excellent, but up the ante and make it more death defying. Where are the insanely fast cars? For example, I loved the mission in the original Mafia where you had to steal and drive that old F1 race car!

Despite it's failings though, overall, it's sense of grandiose, production values, characters, the world it creates etc, all help it to still make for a very entertaining ride. It has it's lows and repetition yes, but at it's best, it's riveting stuff that you just don't want to end. I honestly wish it was longer. Just as it was getting in to it's stride and really intensifying, it ends. Ends well with a great cliffhanger, but too soon none-the-less.

I really do hope they make a third and iron out some of the kinks, because the franchise still has the potential to blow the competition away. I might just be a sucker for the genre, but I honestly can't wait for more.

8.5/10 from me.

P.S, try and play this with PhysX, not kidding, it adds loads of value to it and that extra layer of realism that all just makes it come together that much better.

.
 

Zoso

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
nib95 said:
Despite it's failings though, overall, it's sense of grandiose, production values, characters, the world it creates etc, all help it to still make for a very entertaining ride. It has it's lows and repetition yes, but at it's best, it's riveting stuff that you just don't want to end. I honestly wish it was longer. Just as it was getting in to it's stride and really intensifying, it ends. Ends well with a great cliffhanger, but too soon none-the-less.

I really do hope they make a third and iron out some of the kinks, because the franchise still has the potential to blow the competition away. I might just be a sucker for the genre, but I honestly can't wait for more.
Thanks for your impressions. I agree with a lot of what you said. For me, it succeeds at creating a realistic atmosphere that greatly enhances the gameplay, characters, and story. The two Mafia games are some of the only games that have gotten a strong emotional response out of me, and it's mostly because of the emphasis on realism. However, I'd like to see them take it further - less shooting and more miscellaneous tasks. I felt more like a mafioso selling cigarettes and threatening the dock workers than I did killing dozens of nameless goons. This type of 'realistic' action game is rare, and I'd love to see them develop it further.

I also agree about the length. Mafia 2 would have benefited from more game. Plenty of interesting characters were barely explored and some plot points needed more time to develop. But really, we're lucky we got a Mafia 2 at all after the developers admitted to the troubled development and how they were forced to ship the game without some of the planned features. I really hope they get another chance with Mafia 3.
 
i've been playing the 360 version for a couple of chapters now (some chapters after the prison part) and i have to say that the game is a bit boring. There are some nice parts, but the game never really seems to grab me like i hope it would.

It's good enough to continue pkaying, but to be honest.. i rather go back to playing dead space 2 right now.

I'm glad i didn't buy it ful price. But it's a solid game. Voice acting is great, characters are great and the shooting is great. Missions are okay. Graphics are fine although the city is a bit bland.

I like the part in jail, the selling sigarettes and singing in the car with two drunken wiseguys.
Hate the driving for a big part but i do it to get to know my way around the city a bit better, so i beieve it serves a purpose..
 

1-D_FTW

Member
It really frustrates me that they loaded so many shitty missions into the DLC. A lot of these are so dependent on luck (I don't even care that I always waste 20 seconds trying to figure out how to end the level properly and screw up my grade). I'm just glad they're over. Why did they have to add so much filler between the awesome proper missions?

Currently stuck on "Bomb under the hood". When you type "bomb u" into google and it auto suggests "Bomb Under the Hood Mafia 2" you know you've designed yourself one shitty ass mission.

I think I liked the mission more when I was randomly having my car blow up and didn't realize what the trigger point was. /rant.

EDIT: OMG! And they made the ridiculously slow up-shift point just below 35 mph. Yeah, I don't think so. If I were driving a car strapped to explode if I was under 35 for 3 seconds, I'd redline the bitch to 36 and then shift. Somebody can go suck a tunnel of dicks.
 

Gvaz

Banned
This game is pretty neat but I hate how realistic the cars drive. I wish there was a mod to get rid of half the cars and increase the handling.
 

Gvaz

Banned
Always-honest said:
aren't there two types of driving you choose between
Normal and Simulation, though simulation is basically "I hope you like ice cause touching it means you spin the fuck out on it" and Normal is the same thing but less so.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Always-honest said:
aren't there two types of driving you choose between

You have to manually dig into the options to enable pro driving mode. I'm sure he's playing on standard physics. lol

I have half a mind to turn off pro physics for that stupid "bomb under a seat level", but it's just more fun with it on (plus it seems like the coppers have to play by the same physics).
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Actually went and turned off the sim settings and made it past that level after a couple tries (just had bad luck with traffic on early turns).

Also watched a video on youtube and saw people had the mission instructions on the screen the entire time.

I'm sorry, but when I turn off "Game Hints", that doesn't mean I want you to blackout instructions for what the mission actually is.

Something along the lines of: "Hey, this fucker (Has to be a fucker in the mission directions) loves to rig cars with explosives that detonate if you dip below 35 for more than 3 seconds. Make sure you don't." It wouldn't have been that hard to include in the directions.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
So I made it up to chapter 14, but my progress was halted by an unfortunate glitch that has me stuck on a never ending loading screen. It's right after I
paid back the 27K to that one guy, whatever his name is.
I quit out and tried that part again, only to be stuck on that same loading screen.

I looked it up, and apparently it's a known issue that has effected all 3 platforms. Basically, if you
rob stores instead of exclusively steal cars,
this glitch will happen and you have to restart the whole chapter and play through it all again to continue. It's a long fucking chapter too.

Just curious, how much game is left after that point? I was enjoying this game, but I was ready to wrap it up and this was a total buzzkill. I guess they were too busy removing content from the game to spot the glitch, and it doesn't help that they never fixed it despite being aware of the issues.

oh well, at least I only paid 7.5 dollars for it...
 

sn00zer

Member
Snuggler said:
So I made it up to chapter 14, but my progress was halted by an unfortunate glitch that has me stuck on a never ending loading screen. It's right after I
paid back the 27K to that one guy, whatever his name is.
I quit out and tried that part again, only to be stuck on that same loading screen.

I looked it up, and apparently it's a known issue that has effected all 3 platforms. Basically, if you
rob stores instead of exclusively steal cars,
this glitch will happen and you have to restart the whole chapter and play through it all again to continue. It's a long fucking chapter too.

Just curious, how much game is left after that point? I was enjoying this game, but I was ready to wrap it up and this was a total buzzkill. I guess they were too busy removing content from the game to spot the glitch, and it doesn't help that they never fixed it despite being aware of the issues.

oh well, at least I only paid 7.5 dollars for it...
Your really close to the end...would be worth finishing up...
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Snuggler said:
Just curious, how much game is left after that point? I was enjoying this game, but I was ready to wrap it up and this was a total buzzkill. I guess they were too busy removing content from the game to spot the glitch, and it doesn't help that they never fixed it despite being aware of the issues.
You are pretty much done, its about 10-30 minutes maybe after you pay that guy back to the end of the game I think.
 

Mr.Fresh

Member
So I'm on chapter 14 and I love this game so far! I'm right after
you kill the old guy and the cops Chase you.
The only thing I really hate about this game is how annoying the cops are. You make one mistake and they are on your ass, but other then that I love it.
 

DeVeAn

Member
Just got around to this after building my PC. I get 59 fps average @1080 with everything on high. I have physX off and no AA. I have a i5 2500k and gtx 570.
Anyway about the game it's really fun and immersive. I love the era and story is kinda interesting. Happy to have got this on sale off steam awhile back was worth it.
 
Can i just say this is one of the most atmospheric game's i have played in a while. You might find this funny, but i consider it a 'seasonal' game, in that i love doing the winter mission's in winter and the summer parts in summer.
Lastly, the game presented one of the most engrossing stories since the original bioshock for me. Cliched? yes, but nevertheless they pulled it off with Panache. Easily a 9 out of ten for me, also can i ask if the DLC is worth it? i am thinking about getting the defintive edition.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
ElzarTheBam said:
Can i just say this is one of the most atmospheric game's i have played in a while. You might find this funny, but i consider it a 'seasonal' game, in that i love doing the winter mission's in winter and the summer parts in summer.
Lastly, the game presented one of the most engrossing stories since the original bioshock for me. Cliched? yes, but nevertheless they pulled it off with Panache. Easily a 9 out of ten for me, also can i ask if the DLC is worth it? i am thinking about getting the defintive edition.

Despite my liveblog rantings about Joe's Adventures, it's definitely worth playing. I only payed 2.50 for it on sale through Steam, but as long as you're not paying too much, go for it. It can be wildly uneven, but the storied missions are top notch and worth getting through.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Despite getting it for Christmas I'm really only getting into the game now.

The transistion from the '40s to 50's just blew me away. Awesome game so far, and far more enjoyable overall than any GTA imo.
 
ShinUltramanJ said:
Despite getting it for Christmas I'm really only getting into the game now.

The transistion from the '40s to 50's just blew me away. Awesome game so far, and far more enjoyable overall than any GTA imo.
You get much better music in the 50's.
 

Turnstyle

Member
I missed this game on release, looking forward to picking up the Classics version for 360.

Comes with all the DLC, and it's around £15. Released this month.

Really great to see so many positive impressions in this thread, can't wait to get stuck in!
 

Troidal

Member
I got this for $20 on the 360, so far it's graphically impressive and I knew what was expected with not much action and more talking.

Since everyone talks about LA Noire, what are the difference between the two? I'm assuming one is a mob story, the other being a cop story(?)
 
Troidal said:
I got this for $20 on the 360, so far it's graphically impressive and I knew what was expected with not much action and more talking.

Since everyone talks about LA Noire, what are the difference between the two? I'm assuming one is a mob story, the other being a cop story(?)

They are two completely different games. Think of LA Noire as kind of a point and click adventure in 3D. Mafia II is more of a story heavy action game with trappings of GTA. Both share a giant city, but not much to do in said cities. Neither is a sandbox in the traditional sense. I'd describe them both as interactive fiction. I enjoyed both, but liked Mafia II more. Just don't expect a GTA-style game with either and play them for the story.
 
Just beat this game today. It was really fun and its nice to play a third person action game again (a genre that dominated last generation).

But the ending felt so aburpt and dissapointing. I original thought that I got a "bad ending" until I found out that the game didn't have any multiple endings.
 

White Man

Member
I've been playing this, Deadly Premonition, and LA Noire at the same time, by chance. It's weird when I play 2 of em in one night and end up fucking the controls.

I recommend this as some sort of gaming triathlon
 

Hey You

Member
Was playing some Joes Adventures before starting LA Noire, seriously was 2k to lazy or poor to even have cutscenes or voice actors?
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Hey You said:
Was playing some Joes Adventures before starting LA Noire, seriously was 2k to lazy or poor to even have cutscenes or voice actors?

There are 4 proper missions that have cut scenes and voice acting. They're actually as good as any mission in the regular game. There's just a lot of crap (some very tedious) sandwiched between them. Worth the effort to slog through em though.
 
I just beat this in a single sitting. I have no idea why I did that either, just did. Did it pull me in, maybe.

It was pretty good, its Metacritic is actually spot on 7.5, maybe a 7 but I wasn't disappointed.

Way to many cops. A cop on every street. I didn't like the enemies bull rushing in a cover shooter, I've never seen that before. It wasn't flanking but a straight head on rush, hmmm. I couldn't believe the end was actually the end even after the credits started to roll. It put me in denial. It was for sure unfinished, unless Mafia 3 is going to start right after that cut scene.

Well I did enjoy it.
 

Vlodril

Member
Lets hope there is a Mafia 3 since it didn't get great sales. Lets also hope it wont be 10 years in development.
 
So the consensus is that the ending is a cliffhanger? I played it last year and I didn't feel that way. It was maybe a little abrupt but it seemed to make sense as a stopping point to me. The game has a bunch of weird things in how the story works out, I don't really think that they're plot geniuses even though the moment to moment storytelling and performances were enjoyable. If there's a 3 I don't think it'll pick up right from where 2 left off. Or even necessarily be about the same character really. Doesn't his arc works out the way it is?
 
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