The second part of the Mafia saga in which you play as Vito Scaletta and coming back from WW2 you must work with the mob to pay back a family debt. Mafia II: Definitive Edition is a 4K remaster of the original game that was released 10 years ago.
AS THE GAME IS RATED M – FOR MATURE, THIS TITLE WAS TESTED WITH GAMERS OVER THE AGE OF 17.
General Gameplay
In the second game of the Mafia series, this time around you play in the Empire Bay area of New York as returning World War 2 hero Vito Scaletta and arriving you realize that your mother and sister have a debt that needs to be squared away, so what does Vito do? He goes to his friend Joe and starts to work for the Mob. Mafia II: Definitive Edition is a sequel to the original Mafia title that was released in 2002. In the sequel to this original hit, it is still played the same way with a more linear story mode and more freedom of exploring the city for collectables. With more weapons, levels, and story with all the DLC included with this remastered. The Game Visuals in Mafia II: Definitive Edition are remastered in 4K for the game. As the game is a remastered game from the previous version, all the graphic content is nicer to see running in 4K. You can see more details in both the characters and background, cars, and other assets. The game characters are in much more detail from facial animations to the level of details to each character on screen. The backgrounds also are much more detailed from the city itself to signs, businesses and characters and cars in the city. Again, like the Mafia: Definitive Edition, lots of attention to detail was given with the remastered. The game colors are very bright and vivid and easy to see. Mafia II: Definitive Edition does not offer a colorblind mode; however, it is not needed as the game colors are easy enough to see on the screen. As the game is rated M – For Mature, the game does contain some nudity throughout the game. The game has a side quest where you collect vintage Playboy magazines, and when you collect them you can view the cover which contains nudity. Also the game again as it is rated M – For Mature there is a considerable amount of violence, however as it is a game about the mob it is expected to have a higher level of in game violence (we will cover this more in detail in our Family Friendly section of our review). In our playtesting, outside of our concerns that we outline in our previous sentence, there was nothing that would be offensive to gamers under the age of 17. Audio in Mafia II: Definitive Edition is still the same as the original game. You have your expected sounds from a sandbox game with city characters banter, cars engines, music from that era of time, gun and other weapons fire, explosions, also the characters talking. Mafia II: Definitive Edition keeps its original character lines and audio throughout the game, which is not a bad thing. Mafia II: Definitive Edition is presented in 5.1 surround sound as well in stereo 2.0 and honestly the game sounds fantastic in both sound environments. As the game is rated M – For Mature, Mafia II: Definitive Edition has a lot of language and other colorful dialog, some of which some gamers may not feel comfortable with (we will cover this in more detail in our Family Friendly section in more detail). Outside of these concerns, in our playtesting we did not encounter any issues with the games audio or spoken dialog that would be offensive to gamers under the age of 17. The Controls in Mafia II: Definitive Edition are still the same from the original game and in this remastered version they remain for the most part the same. As the game is a 3rd person perspective and driving, it remains the same from the first remastered game. The left thumb stick controls Vito and the right on is for aiming and looking around. The face buttons are use for different actions, from reloading, to opening and picking locks, and other functions in the game. The controller layout for both in game action, and driving are well laid out where the gamer can easily control the game characters and drive without any problems. As the game controls are explained in the beginning of the game and other portions of missions, it is easy for non-sandbox gamers to get used to the controls. In our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game controls and controller settings. The game is fine to play with the standard PS4 or Xbox One controller and for PC gamers, we highly recommend that using a controller is the best way to experience the game.
“Mafia II: Definitive Edition remaster is a great game that continues the Mafia trilogy of great storytelling and the additional DLC makes this a great game for any fans of the Mafia series or even fans of mobster movies. A must have for your digital library.”
Family Friendly
Mafia was a great game that sets the cornerstone to the Mafia trilogy and when Mafia II came out, it blew the doors off the series with its wonderful storytelling, characters, gameplay, and voice acting. Mafia II tells a great story of a war hero Vito coming back home from the war and how his family owes a debt to a collector and how Vito works with his best friend Joe to get the funds to pay off the debt, but what happens is that he get intertwine with the mob and their “requests” for both Vito and Joe to work with them. As the story progresses you see what happens to Vito and his connections to the mob. This is where Mafia II excels with its way of storytelling. When you play the game, you feel that you are watching a blockbuster movie in which you are taking a part of. The action and storytelling in the game alone is worth the play through. The game look fantastic in 4K and the graphic upgrade give more life to the game and the story. Controls are quite easy to pick up and play the game and the audio in both soundtrack and voice acting is also top notch. Now something to note about the game. As the game setting takes place both in the 1940’s and 1950’s respectfully, that the language during those eras are also in the game. So just like a mobster movie, expect to hear some culturally offensive language in the game. The language in the game is used more to convey the characters and their language that they will use during those times. At no time in the game that the language and racial slurs overused and used to tell the story of the game. Also, as the game has some implied nudity, the nudity comes from the collectibles that you obtain in the game. In the game you throughout the missions must collect Playboy issues and when you collect them it shows the Playmate in the issue. When you view the issues, you will see the issue with the model posing fully or partially nude. Now this is not animated or game graphic nudity but more lifelike in its viewing. Now you can go through the game without collecting them and still be able to enjoy the game. One of the major differences that we notice with Mafia II from the original Mafia game is that this time around you get free roam the city and look for collectibles. Now there is no story side missions outside of robbing stores, boosting cars to sell them as well as finding wanted posters and the Playboys issues around the city. This is a nice break from the action and allows you to get more money to purchase more outfits in the game as well upgrade your cars that you obtain for your in-game collection. Also, when exploring the city outside of the story missions, you get to enjoy the game and how beautifully detail the game graphics are done. The in-game soundtrack that you hear from the radio is also authentic of what would be playing during that time era. The game soundtrack fits well for the game and it is a true joy to hear while driving in the game. Overall Mafia II Definitive Edition is a great game with a great story that is worth the play though or picking up for any fans of sandbox games or games that deal with the mob or mafia. The only complaint that we had with the game that was there was some technical issues in some missions, however these small issues are easily fixed by reloading the last checkpoint of the level. In our special needs game testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game graphics, audio or even the game controls. Mafia II: Definitive Edition is very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Mafia II: Definitive Edition is a great game that has a great story, graphics and voice acting. The game plays and feels like a blockbuster movie and if you or anyone in your gaming family is a fan of sandbox or mob games, this is a must have for your digital library.
#mafia2definitiveedition #2kgames #hanger13 #familygamerreview #videogamereviews #specialneedsgaming
