By John Walker on July 21st, 2009 at 12:30 pm.
Catching up a bit here, but just before the weekend 2K released a new video for Mafia II. It’s not brand new, but rather the clip shown at E3 last… wow, it feels a long time ago, but only last month. In fact, it’s literally the E3 demo, with Denby Grace narrating it as it goes along. It’s like you’re there, man, like you’re in that stuffy little room with the uncomfortable park benches. It’s well worth a look, since it includes some really fantastic examples of the voice acting. Well, if you can hear it behind the bleeps.
I’m not entirely sure why 2K have felt the need to remove all the naughty words from this trailer, especially when you’re asked to lie to GameTrailers about being 109 years old before it starts. But still, you can see the slippy-slidey cars in the mid-40s, get some background on central character Vito, and the way action can play out. It also features some of the really smart direction in the cutscenes, interesting use of focus, and my favourite, the really awesome smoke effects.
It’s fifteen minutes of the game in action (compare it to what I wrote about it here), featuring about fourteen minutes of ear-hurting bleep sounds. But otherwise very enjoyable.
After that we need some swears:
21/07/2009 at 12:47 Stem says:
Original was great and this looks well on it’s way to being a worthy successor, motherfuckers.
21/07/2009 at 12:49 LewieP says:
Constantly breaking up the mission with cutscenes is something I really hate. Surely pretty much everything done in those cut scenes could be done in game?
21/07/2009 at 12:53 Stitched says:
You have this, undeniably, beautiful world and some interesting AI events (cops pulling over people, people arguing in the streets) yet not ONE irate driver honking his horn every time the player cuts off someone or does something to endanger an NPC. Maybe you felt this would interfere with your “narrative”?
21/07/2009 at 12:55 Catastrophe says:
I love the gun battles in this game – hiding behind objects and using your surroundings to your advantage. Rather than mindlessly running out shooting everyone.
21/07/2009 at 13:00 LewieP says:
@Catastrophe
More like “Gears of Mafia” lolz
21/07/2009 at 13:02 cullnean says:
motherfuckin mood swings
21/07/2009 at 13:03 Alistair says:
So why is it every age filter online asks you to enter your date of birth? Why not just enter your age, as in you know, the number which legislation is based on?
21/07/2009 at 13:04 Pemptus says:
Gears with, uh, tommy guns I tells you!
21/07/2009 at 13:07 coko moko says:
its the same gameplay all over again i have seen this one like 5 times
and i don’t know
its actually looks really like the first one
drive there kill that drive back
and the city looks the same
and the narrator is so full of crap
“oh winters its so awesome it gives so much”
i never saw anyone get that exited from a weather
21/07/2009 at 13:16 Pavel says:
Shooting a man point blank twenty times and watching him fall down in slow motion is okay, but saying “fuck” and seeing a gun in his mouth is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad,mmmmkay?
Otherwise, amazing and my number 1 anticipated game.
That video from Sopranos is wonderful, made me wanna watch it again : ).
21/07/2009 at 13:17 Optimaximal says:
Presumably because its easier/quicker to just lie about your age than think up a fake date of birth…
It’s like DRM – pisses off the legit viewer but all those norty 17 years olds just party like its 1901 every day!
21/07/2009 at 13:22 LewieP says:
Also, I assume that the game isn’t actually HUDless. I couldn’t work out how the player was supposed to know where to go.
21/07/2009 at 13:31 John Walker says:
They’ve yet to finalise a HUD, and so to save the entire internet exploding at any temporary versions, all the footage they’re releasing is HUDless.
21/07/2009 at 13:33 The_B says:
Fuck.
21/07/2009 at 13:42 Ed says:
@Pavel, It’s cultural dontcha know.
Deplorable mindless violence is a-okay, just so long as the kids aren’t exposed to any naughty words which they won’t be able to put into perspective. Yeehaw!
Like the Superbowl a couple of years ago, how DARE Janet Jackson interrupt their annual skull-smashing violencefest with a nipple?
21/07/2009 at 13:53 mrrobsa says:
That looked awesome, and the cutscenes are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a game (the eye movements were particularly believable). If they can keep the quality bar high throughout, and perhaps make Vito a little less stiff, give him an idle animation or something, this will be amazing.
21/07/2009 at 13:57 Rinox says:
Looks amazing!
21/07/2009 at 14:00 The Poisoned Sponge says:
Yeah, I did find it a little ridiculous that we couldn’t see a gun in someone’s mouth, but we could watch him get shot to pieces, blood flying every which way. Censorship really is silly, sometimes. NO BOOBS, MORE BLOOD!
21/07/2009 at 14:04 Squiffy says:
Sorry, “Nah-ray-tive”?!
Has this guy never heard that word said aloud?
21/07/2009 at 14:35 Wilson says:
This looks awesome. And the censorship is funny, along with the fact some swear words are ok but others aren’t…
I think this’ll be the first game I’m going be genuinely excited about since… hmm. The first game in a long time :)
Of course it will break me as a person if it isn’t as good as I’m hoping.
21/07/2009 at 14:39 Sartoris says:
It looks nice and all, but I am kinda getting tired of this wack-a-weasel approach to gunfights. But as long as there aren’t any babysitting or racing missions, I’ll forgive that.
21/07/2009 at 14:45 Howard says:
@Squiffy
Exactly. That bugged the shit outa me!
It did look good: Mafia but better looking which is a win in my book. The driving looked nice too – no pivot point crap.
One question though: Which dribbling moron was it that decided that cars explode when shot with bullets? I am assuming it is a carry over from some 80′s action flick, I’m just curious if there is a single culprit responsible for it.
21/07/2009 at 14:48 Supraliminal says:
I Love those Bleeping mid40s cars. Odd thing though: Vito’s car doesn’t have snow on the top, but the others sure have….. And frost too..
Is it like a Special car or something, eh?
‘Cause it’s bleeping red and stuff.
And Why can’t he swear!!. He kills several men, blows cars up with his machinegun, and copies cover usage from Gears O’ war and still he cant say a BLOODY FUCK…
Thats just weird, nothing else.
bleep
21/07/2009 at 14:48 Howard says:
Oh one small thing that I am holding out hope for with this game: I REALLY hope it supports PC wheels properly. The first one did but as this is being developed on 360(spits) there’s a danger it will be pad only.
Better bloody not be….
21/07/2009 at 14:48 Supraliminal says:
I Love those Bleeping mid40s cars. Odd thing though: Vito’s car doesn’t have snow on the top, but the others sure have….. And frost too..
Is it like a Special car or something, eh?
‘Cause it’s bleeping red and stuff.
And Why can’t he swear!!. He kills several men, blows cars up with his machinegun, and copies cover usage from Gears O’ war and still he cant say a BLOODY FUCK…
That’s just weird, nothing else.
bleep
21/07/2009 at 14:58 ZenArcade says:
Boo to all the naysayers – Mafia is not supposed to be the standard open world game. It’s open world, yes, but it has a very tightly scripted NUH-RAY-TIVE to help create an experience dripping in atmosphere and intrigue. Personally, a little tingle went down my spine at the driving section at the start. I can’t wait to get stuck into that world.
So far the story telling aspect seems incredibly tight, which is great. This was one of those things I loved about the original, and it seems like they’re taking the best bits of that (story, characters, atmosphere) and improving the bits that weren’t so good (combat) which was okay in the first, but far too easy to get shot to death. I didn’t mind how tough it was but i think they needed to put a bit more power into the players hands to offset how easy it was to die and they’ve done that it seems with the cover system.
I really, really can’t wait.
21/07/2009 at 15:25 Horza says:
Looks pretty nice.
Though I’d like to so see a game where cars don’t explode when shot at some day.
21/07/2009 at 15:31 Smurfy says:
It’s okay to a fat guy getting machine gunned and a guy burning to death, but “shit”? Too far.
I knew virtually nothing about this game before, and now I’m really REALLY excited. Can’t wait. I hope the missions have a lot of variety.
The cutscenes and music look awesome, really cinematic. Although, after GTA, third person games without Euphoria always throw me off.
21/07/2009 at 15:33 JKjoker says:
the driving looks really DULL, the rest of the game looks awesome tho, i hope the focus on driving is minimal
then there is the feedback, no ammo counter, no minimap, not even a signal which house you are supposed to go to, i hope its just a trailer thing
21/07/2009 at 15:36 DarthInsinuate says:
Doesn’t look like particularly original there, but it looks like there’s a decent enough grasp of storytelling, and I do like the music.
Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbsnSVM1zM#t=0m12s
21/07/2009 at 15:37 Vandelay says:
Exactly ZenArcade. The cutscenes of the first game (and by the looks of things, this one too) were wonderfully executed and exciting to watch. The old argument of you might be able to do it yourself in game maybe true but would never have conveyed them same weight as they have put into the cutscene (e.g. the killing of “the fat man” would have been strange because I probably would have tried to shoot him before he shot my buddy and then would have most likely found out that that would be impossible, breaking the atmosphere. Either that, or I would have been running around jumping on the tables.)
It is amazing to see this after watching the Bioware video of Old Republic yesterday. The contrast between the voice acting is staggering and just goes to show how poor it was in the Bioware video, no matter how much they attempted to state how wonderful it was.
On the censoring, it does seem to make the entering the birthday completely pointless when they still end up censoring the video. And I’m not to sure why putting a gun in someone’s mouth is so much worse than riddling him with bullets. Oh well, I was pleasantly surprised that the swearing was nearly as bad as the article seemed to indicate. It only really kicked in during the gun fight, so they aren’t just using it for the sake of it. The dialogue still seems to be great.
Probably the game I am currently looking forward to the most.
21/07/2009 at 15:38 Smurfy says:
Also I really like the way they’ve done New York Ci- I mean Empire Bay.
21/07/2009 at 15:48 SlappyBag says:
I’ve been replaying GTA4 on the PC of recent and even watching this video I really miss the Euphoria animation system, the cars system very rigid and their explodiness disappointed me. I think the NUH-RAY-TIVE will be great and it will definitely be an atmospheric environment but I don’t know, its not wowing me as much anymore.
21/07/2009 at 15:53 lethu says:
That “you bleeping bleep” made me laugh a good one, hehe. Nice story!
21/07/2009 at 15:56 JKjoker says:
what i love about that Sopranos clip is that sometimes it seems like they are having an actual conversation, lol
what the hell did they censor from the Mafia II trailer anyway ? when that guy’s nuts get blown off ? what about the first censored sign ?
21/07/2009 at 16:08 Collic says:
@JKJoker
I got the impression they were ramming the barrel of the gun in the fat guys mouth, and those were the censored shots from the trailer.
Suggestive violence like that often trips censors.
21/07/2009 at 16:10 JKjoker says:
@Collic: why censor that and not when he gets the hell shot out of him ? you would think he let a tit out or something
21/07/2009 at 16:13 Collic says:
EDIT: by suggestive I mean torturing/ terrorising someone.
21/07/2009 at 16:27 ulix says:
This Sopranos Video is only the first in a series of three.
How awesome is that? 30 minutes of non-stop swearing, I love it.
21/07/2009 at 16:38 MrBejeebus says:
looks purty
21/07/2009 at 16:39 ZenArcade says:
Hmm. I think because of the current open world trend, tightly scripted linear experiences have fallen out of vogue, and for good reason, because the linear shooter romps we put up with from yesteryear are comparitively aweful. But now with the advancement of technology and creativity in the industry, there’s a potential to create genuinely breathetaking narrative that only a well scripted experience could bring. Just look at Call of Duty 4, for example. nothing original there, gameplay wise, but it was so well paced that it was a genuinely enjoyable hollywood action romp.
These parts in games like Far Cry 2 et al are seriously lacking, and while still remaining a fun game I do think that a really meaningful story and set of characters are usually best plucked from very strictly linear experiences that are well paced and well written.
There are exceptions though (GTA 4, but that’s because they had a humungous budget to spend) but I am very excited for Mafia 2. Seeing the snow mount on top of parked cars like that was lovely!
21/07/2009 at 16:47 Taillefer says:
Best use of swearing goes to The Wire crime scene with Bunk and McNulty.
And, uhm… Not much of a Mafia fan, but strangely anticipating the sequel.
21/07/2009 at 16:51 Derf says:
It looks sexy. I liked Mafia I, but the interface was a bit funky. Very fun none the less.
From the movie, i dont particularly appreciate the emphasis on driving since I think they should concentrate on other aspects, like doing mafia stuff. However, the feel of driving older cars could be quite nice since its frankly a novelty.
The cinematic was very nice. Very bread and butter, not trying anything stupid. Keeping it nice and oldskool. Works for me. The action that followed with the MG42 was kind of a let down. We know that’s not how hits go down, and we also know that cars dont explode if you put 20 rounds into them. As they moved out of the building, the started to reek of console. The zoomed in view again something I dont appreciate. I’m starting to think this game is nothing like Mafia I, instead, some kind of GTA prequel.
As the body count increases, the sight of any challenge in the game decreases. Scripts kick in, revealing a possible linearity to the game. “Vito do something”… Oh dear, what is this COD? More bodies bite the dust, starting to think the AI is dated since they don’t take any cover behind the countless pillars and boxes available.
Eventually, what could have been an open-ended hit, whereby you could have basically done it your own way (up close / far away / or even failed alltogether) was infact a linear scripted mission.
Cinematics are nice, but like the driving, it seems they’ve not given proper attention to the actual game to put it on par with Mafia I.
21/07/2009 at 16:52 A-Scale says:
The first Mafia was one of my favorite games of all time. Hell, I bought it twice. It looks like they’ve kept a lot of the mission structuring, drama and inventive means to solve the “puzzles” the same (like driving through the fence instead of back the way you came), so this seems to be shaping up nicely.
21/07/2009 at 16:59 Squiffy says:
@Taillefer: Absolutely correct. Fuck, fuck, fuck…
21/07/2009 at 17:30 Ashbery76 says:
This is looking like a great in the making.
21/07/2009 at 17:30 Stupoider says:
This is starting to get me hyped. Sign me up!
21/07/2009 at 18:12 IvanHoeHo says:
The movement animation looks a little funky, and some of the shooting/mechanical sounds are annoying (e.g. pumping the shotgun). Still looking good, otherwise.
Also, I’m going to choke the shit out of whoever decided to beep out the swearing. Almost looks like they did it on purpose to advertise the amount of swearing in the game.
21/07/2009 at 18:13 EBass says:
Gonna buy this as Mafia is one of my all time favs, but that demo wasn’t for me. Looks all great, but I’ve always much preffered games that let you use the scalpel over the sledgehammer. GTA (Despite its reputation) was often quite good at this.
This mission is scripted so you have to machinegun some worthless goons, then go inside and kill more useless goons to get to a target you kill in a scripted sequence? I’m all for all out gun battles, but surely you can put them in a little bit of a better context? This guy is a nobody who hasn’t paid his protection and yet he has a fully tooled up army at his place of business ready to fight to the death to protect him?
I’m putting this down as an attempt to appeal to the console mindset, much as Bioware have (if you read between the press statement lines after the fan reaction) said their Dragon Age trailers were.
As an aside, I hope they fix the horrendous pop-up for the PC version.
21/07/2009 at 18:15 Nalano says:
I liked the stylistic nature and the plot/pacing of the first Mafia. It only occurred to me the linearity of the game well after I played through it.
I’m looking forward to this one.
21/07/2009 at 18:24 Guy says:
Looking great. I hope this bodes well for a Hidden and Dangerous 3…
21/07/2009 at 19:35 FuckMeBitch says:
What about system requirements? We all know that the game is great but is it better optimized than GTA IV? I don’t care about great graphic if it is unplayable on my computer. Is it DX10.1 game? I’m still waiting for good DX10.1 game.
21/07/2009 at 20:16 Aubrey says:
Am I the only person who finds cover systems dull as ditchwater? It’s a license to repeat the same pseudo-cinematic shoot outs ad infinitum.
21/07/2009 at 20:32 Muzman says:
Small aside: though about 9 minutes, that Sopranos video only covers the first two seasons.
21/07/2009 at 21:56 diziet sma says:
Grand Theft Mafia then? If the story works this will be good. If not… meh. It will boil down to the gunplay and controls which have been lacking in every GTA game since they moved away from the top down stuff.
Heh, I only just realised APB was by the original GTA guy.
21/07/2009 at 21:59 diziet sma says:
Oh and to double post, once again, I have enjoyed the other GTA games. The most recent one on the 360 specifically. However the controls still hamper the gameplay. The perverse thing being I have absolutely no idea how to fix that given a joypad, and no idea what it’s like on a PC with a mouse/keyboard. I played the originals on the PC and the 3D ones on PS1/XBox/Xbox360.
21/07/2009 at 23:31 MS says:
More swears from that ‘other’ HBO show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbsnSVM1zM
22/07/2009 at 00:32 Megazver says:
This bleeping bleep is bleep bleeping good. I can’t bleeping wait to bleep bleep bleeping bleep.
22/07/2009 at 00:43 airtekh says:
The world of Empire Bay looks impressive, but the gameplay doesn’t exite me.
I think enjoyment of Mafia 2 will hinge on the story.
22/07/2009 at 00:50 airtekh says:
Oh, and the Wire is bleeping excellent.
22/07/2009 at 01:46 The Colonel says:
God this looks like console-o-rama. What happened to the intelligent approach of the first one? Agree with Sartoris on the whack-a-mole thing. Cover system in this game would only work if they can work out a way to make it different every time. An AI routine which seems primarily built around “begin shooting when you are approaching the doorway they are facing (despite having no way of knowing you’re coming), empty a clip into nothing, stand very still in the open whilst reloading and don’t waver from this goal, even if you are interrupted by many bullets to the head”. Thought we’d come further than this. At least the driving looks as great at the original mafia. Better not drive too fast though, since the cars blow up massively with little or no provocation.
22/07/2009 at 01:53 Dominic White says:
What intelligent approach of the first one? The combat in the original game was ‘Run into room, and pray that you fire first’. There was no AI to speak of, just a reaction test to shoot the other guy before you got shot.
22/07/2009 at 06:18 Jambe says:
It’s been a while since I played Mafia; I don’t have my copy anymore. A search around indicates it is only available from, er, less than reputable dealers? What’s the story of Mafia’s publishing history? Isn’t it available as a download somewhere?
regards Mafia II footage: yeah, that’s hot.
22/07/2009 at 08:52 JonnyBase says:
Why is he saying ‘narrative’ that way?! Your British mate!
22/07/2009 at 11:50 jamie says:
why cant they make it 1st person? That way the aiming is better and you can peak out from behind cover yourself. It looks exactly like a bland GTA4. Why dont they do 3rd person versions for the console retardos and 1st person for the sensible mouse users
22/07/2009 at 12:47 LionsPhil says:
“Eventually, what could have been an open-ended hit, whereby you could have basically done it your own way (up close / far away / or even failed alltogether) was infact a linear scripted mission.”
^ This. Unfortunately, once again the player character is forced to be incompetent so that narrative can happen and Henry can get his balls shot off.
22/07/2009 at 19:26 bill says:
cutscenes = meh
open world + linear narrative = no no
From what it looks like this “fat man” missions plays out exactly the same way every time. You can’t kill him with the machine gun, he runs off, you chase.
Variation in how you approach each mission would help alot, and could still work with the linear narrative.
Not that this makes it a bad game, but it certainly isn’t reaching.
22/07/2009 at 19:47 Dominic White says:
Holy shit, the ‘OMG consolitis’ paranoia is hitting fever pitch here. Dear god, listen to yourselves. Now even third-person perspective is a sign of further console encroachment? Do I HAVE to provide a list of classic PC games with third-person cameras?
23/07/2009 at 14:16 Rei Onryou says:
I love you.
Seriously, @~1:25 in. Foulest language I ever did hear.