So I was a little late picking up this game, one of the most anticipated sequels of what is arguably the greatest Organized Crime game ever made.
The original Mafia (The PC Version) was known for its incredible collection of cars, its deep Hollywood grade story, and still standing up to modern games in terms of playability and enjoyability.
I was very excited to pick up Mafia II for Xbox 360 the other day. I had saw some previous reviews and ratings, but I didn't really use those to judge. What did catch my eye however is the price cut that the game has saw, that other games released the same month have not. Mafia II can now be picked up for around $30 at your major retailers. This told me that perhaps the game was not selling nearly the volumes that was expected.
I popped the game in, and was surprised to see that it is not a true Sandbox game like its predecessor. I find it awefully annoying that in order to collect certain collectibles, you can't just go back to the locations, you have to reload not just the particular mission, but the whole damned chapter. Considering it can take a little over an hour to play a chapter, this is a huge pain in the rear. The other thing that seems to be really messed up is the economy. Missions earn you very little money, yet weapons, ammo, car repairs and upgrades cost a fortune. Luckily, for some easy money, you can head up to the junkyard and destroy cars, but this is also surprisingly time consuming.
The graphics are descent, although I have witnessed some anomalies while driving around. The radio station is your standard 1940s-1950s fare, and it was nice to hear a couple songs from the original game make it back in.
Overall though, my general enjoyability and entertainment factor was rather disappointing. I would definitely say that this is one of the most disappointing games for such a highly anticipated title.
