Comments on: The Mafia 2 Trailer

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:06:05 +0000

I enjoyed Mafia, as much as I played it. Two things I remember about it now:
- Trying to drive out of a small dip in the road as it went under a bridge, and being unable to because the car was too rubbish.
- Giving up because of the race that everyone is talking about!

I’ll definitely give Mafia II a go though, a bit more time and higher production values and the’ve got a great game.

By: Chaz

Chaz — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:29:30 +0000

It was the combat that I really enjoyed in Mafia, I’ll never forget that first shootout in the diner on the edge of town, and letting rip with a tommy gun. Then there was the escape from the hotel across the roof tops and that excellent shootout in the church. Fighting in the streets, trading shots with cops and robbers whilst hunkering down behind a near by car as their bullets shattered the glass and popped the tyres, was a real thrill.

Just a shame that the actual driving was a bit too stodgy for my liking, even if it was trying to be realistic.

By: Plopsworth

Plopsworth — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:25:56 +0000

A day/week-one purchase here, guaranteed, from ye local independent software retailer of course. I want a physical fold-out map for this one too. Time/studies permitting of course.
The first one had so many brilliant scenes and the meatiest-feeling gunfights for its day and age. They must’ve had the brilliant gunfight at the end of L.A. Confidential on loop during the development process.

By: Gurrah

Gurrah — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:31:16 +0000

The freeplay and collectors mode was ace, you know, after you finished the storyline. Nothing beats hunting a guy dressed in boxers with hearts on it and flaming soles.

By: Shadowcat

Shadowcat — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:22:59 +0000

The race in Mafia was great!

As was very clear from the rest of the game, the driving physics in Mafia were pretty decent. Not necessarily in a serious-simulation way, but there was some good modelling going on.

So the race was all about thinking like a race driver:

1) being aware that the cars handle at least vaguely like actual cars (of the era).

2) Most importantly, learning the track! Race drivers know the track they are racing on. They know how fast they can enter a turn, and the right line to drive.

Once you were familiar with the handling, there was really only one thing you needed to think about to win handily: How can I exit each and every turn at the maximum possible speed?

Go slow around a corner that leads into an uphill rise, and you are completely screwed, because the car just doesn’t have the acceleration to compensate.

Exit that turn at speed, and no one will catch you!

I’ve never driven a real car in my life, but I figured this stuff out and won that race before Illusion went and nerfed the difficulty in the patches (without providing options to keep the original difficulty… *grumble*), and I later went back and drove the race entirely from the cockpit view, and won easily on my first attempt (which is not to say it wasn’t a tense experience :).

So the race wasn’t unfairly hard, and it wasn’t inconsistent with the way the other cars handled. What it was, was nicely challenging, and extremely satisfying to win :)

By: Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:58:25 +0000

Oh my god! That church was horrible, you just reminded me of it! Took so many trys to do that one. I kind of liked that it was hard, obviously it was too hard in places but I hope the new one isn’t too easy with regenerating health and what not.

By: Lukasz

Lukasz — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:38:54 +0000

Mafia was one of the most enjoyable as well as one of the most annoying games i ever played. I don’t think i ever done so many reloads in one game (especially the mission where you end up in the roof and have to escape from police only to end up in church full of gangsters)

Hope they will balance the game a bit more and add quicksave.

and I hope they will keep the feel of first game. cause in Mafia you felt like a gangster, like a true member of crime organization.

By: Jive

Jive — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:32:45 +0000

Brokeness?!!

What was broken about the first one?!

…except perhaps the race was too hard. :X

By: Pags

Pags — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:37:07 +0000

@Ginger Yellow: 'Gangsters: Organized Crime' and/or 'Gangsters 2: Vendetta'

By: drygear

drygear — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:32:53 +0000

The racing mission wasn’t too hard once you figured out how to do it. It’s not played like most racing games where you are pretty much constantly accelerating; in the Mafia racing level you have to be careful and take it s l o w on the turns. Placing ahead of the others drivers should take care of itself if you concentrate on surviving.

By: BadlyNamed

BadlyNamed — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:26:16 +0000

Whenever people mention Mafia, I get a mental image of some other old mob game which was more of a real strategy thing, a bit like Republic, where you took over territory and recruited heavies to extort businesses and so on. Anyone remember what that was called?
Gangsters, I think?

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:42:40 +0000

Huzzah! Mafia was ace.

Couldn’t finish the race for the life of me, and I’m normally pretty good at driving games. Ended up taking advantage of the exploit where you drive off the track and your car resets just before the finish line.

Every lap.