But you have to slog through just as many predictable turns, and a lot of uninspired game design--driving and shooting, then more driving and shooting, then still more driving--to get to them. Then, just when it seems like it's about to really get going, the game is over.
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In general, it's stop, pop, rinse and repeat from one mission to the next, and other than the occasional fistfight or car chase (there's that reliance on driving again), it's hard to play more than a handful of the story's 15 chapters without feeling like you've done all this before.
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Playing Mafia II gives you the feeling that the developers put more emphasis on telling a great mob story than designing a great video game, but had to split their attention too much to effectively do either one. That story would have probably been better served if the game had shed its superfluous open-world trappings and focused on quicker pacing and greater diversity in the mission design.