Mafia 2 is an open world game that I wish more developers would learn from and be informed by. It's not faultless but what it sets out to do a few things and basically nails every single one with varying degrees of success. In a world of acne-ridden world maps the six-year old Mafia 2 is a breath of air fresher than a christmas scented airwick.
Upon initial release I was put off by the reviews I'd read that seemed to imply it was quite a dull and empty game. Also, and definitely more importantly, it was an 18 and I didn't have any I.D so I'd be refused service, thanks Gamestation. I do wonder though would I have agreed with the consensus if I'd played it at launch? I think honestly, I probably would have and my love for what Mafia 2 is borne out of a frustration with the open world-ification of video games these days.
The story in M2 is quite a simple rags to riches story. It's nothing you've not seen in the 234 Martin Scorsese gangster films or the Godfather trilogy you keep telling yourself you'll watch. You play as Vito a man who starts with nothing, gets everything, loses it again and then ends up somewhere in the middle. It's not world-changing, it's not even particularly memorable but what it is, is effective and well told. It doesn't pertain to have seventeen different layers that end with it being about how biscuits are actually bad nor is it needlessly convoluted to last the entire length of an achingly padded 40 hour experience. It lasts the 10 or so hours that it needs to and that's that. Job done. Story told. Thumbs up.
This idea of being what it needs to be. The idea of leanness courses through the veins of M2. It's a delightful antidote to the modern-day game design philosophy of "More is more is more is more." What people consider dull and empty, I consider thoughtful and deliberate. Nothing in M2 is out of place, it fits in perfectly. There's no need for time trial races or real-estate mogul'ing. There are collectables, Playboy magazines, but they feel relevant, they feel like an actual real collectable that make sense within the context of the universe. If you were robbing someone and you saw a nudey mag, wouldn't you take it home for a quick one?
Adopting a less is more approach when making an open world game makes you wonder why the developers would go that route? Why not just have it be a set of linear levels that feed into each other through cut scenes. Honestly, I believe that would have hampered the experience of the game. M2 is a period piece, its world is a museum tour compared to a theme park. You can become immersed in this world because it feels real. There's something to be said about the jarring nature of being greeted by an icon for a time trial or jump over the car mini-game as you ride around modern open worlds. How can you take emotional moments seriously when you're funnelled into laborious collect-a-thons every step of the way. "please save the world! Also mate, if you wouldn't mind, please collect these flowers, cheers pal"
Big set-piece moments are few and far between in M2, but when they do happen, they feel great. They feel earned and this is normally followed by having your next mission taking place half way across the map. It's during those brief respites that you get to think about what you've done. The missions are all quite linear and whilst that may add fuel to the fire of "why is this game open world." I'd tell you to shut up and listen.
Assassins Creed has long suffered from poor mission design. It seems to insist on these awful tailing missions that take you all across the city and can turn a fun playground into the back garden of a mate who only has a half pumped up fly-away and a broken swing. Mafia 2 never wrings the open world dry. It's always fun to be driving around the city because you're very rarely forced to navigate it.
The focused nature of M2 means that when it does encounter issues they stick out. The shooting doesn't feel too great, none of the guns feel particularly weighty and all feel completely interchangeable. The driving is pretty dire and this combined with maybe the most sensitive police force in video game history, can make for some incredibly frustrating moments. These are all minor in a game so lovingly crafted, but they can and do detract at times.
The thing I'm wrestling with as I write this review is the idea that I only really like M2 because I actually hate the way modern video games are designed. Do I geniunely enjoy M2 or do I only find it a respite from the modern day game template. Regardless, M2 is a great game to play in this day and age, to remind yourself that less is more, as well as that playboy used to just be about the titties and not insightful games journalism.
