I will not back down from saying that I grew up on the Mafia franchise. This is the game that in my opinion changed a lot in the history of the video game industry in terms of story-telling, character development, mechanics. We have seen such games a lot including, San Andreas, Half-Life 2, The Last of Us, but for me, the Mafia franchise still stays the greatest game I have ever played in my gaming career – even though I have some objections towards the second part of it.
When the second part of the franchise was released in 2010 I had been waiting for it impatiently. The trailers, posters that developers were showing in advance only sparked my interest. After the first game, the anticipation was high. I cannot say it failed to live up to my expectations but there are details and features that would make the game even more interesting and authentic. In this article, I will mention some of them.
The Gambling Environment
We are talking about Mafia, illegal activities, and simply the environment which was typical for that period. In my opinion, adding some features around gambling or even a mini-game about Gin Rummy would be perfect to make the game more attractive. Gin Rummy was first created in 1909 in New York, so it’s a perfect thing to include with Mafia I think.
Car Crashing
The first thing that really annoyed me was the fact that in the game crashing of a car is very unrealistic and I did not expect it from the creators. They could come up with a better mechanic to at least make the crashing more genuine.
Routine missions
Missions in my opinion are very similar to each other. As long as you play and if you are a Mafia fan you will ignore it, but at some point, it becomes very embarrassing that all of the missions pretty much resemble each other.
Bad graphics for 2010
Even though in the past decade we saw a huge improvement in video graphics, just remember that this game is not as old as it may seem. Mafia 2 was created in 2010 – the graphics could have been better and more realistic. Animations and mimics from the characters are the main things that require improvement and in this regard, developers failed greatly.
Another complaint could be directed towards GPS. Sometimes it is not shown properly and depicts completely different directions which is a major mistake of the game. Had it been another game it may not have been a huge problem but in Mafia 2 it is really visible.
The Plot could be Better
There are people who play games simply for graphics and mechanics but considering that I am a Mafia fan plot is an utmost priority. For me, it seems that developers were lazy to make the plot more authentic and interesting. Sometimes it appears to be very straightforward, lacking originality. Dialogues are boring and character development is not what I would have wished.
The Concept is not Original
If we compare this part to its predecessor I think that a concept in this game is not original. True, it was difficult to maintain the same level as it was in the first game and coming up with something completely new but I do not think that developers were spending too much time improving something from the first game.
Besides the main character, it is always a good idea to have NPCs that have good artificial intelligence throughout the game. I think they are very similar to each other and do not offer particularly good results. When we talk about authentic gameplay, NPCs should also be organized and in this case, Mafia 2 is failing.
The Battle System is Flawed
In terms of originality, I would like to also mention that system of fighting which is definitely something that needs to be noted. You might say that it is just a game and you cannot demand a real-life fighting system from it but it can be better – without a question.
Conclusion
For some, it may seem like a total annihilation of the second Mafia game but all of the views presented here are completely subjective. I myself am a huge Mafia fan and above all, I want it to be the best game. However, these details and features to my mind cause a lot of confusion and steal authenticity from the game.
This article contains sponsored links.