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Why Mafia 2 is still a great game in 2020
The original Mafia game was a breath of fresh air for 3rd person open world shooters. It was like GTA set in the 1940s. The cars were old and slow, and rampant theft and speeding was heavily discouraged and prevented via gameplay mechanics.
It had a great story, and the shooting, driving and the overall story line was great. Everyone thought that finally a game has arrived that can challenge the GTA dominance.
But Mafia 2 took too long to develop, and in between, GTA IV was released. In fact, Mafia 2 came out 2 years after GTA IV, and that is what made the game look much weaker than it actually is.
Had it been released in 2006, then it would have been ground breaking. Instead, EA utilized the void created by the delay in Mafia 2's release by bringing out their own mafia game based on the The Godfather movie license; which was critically acclaimed. Mafia lost in that ground, too.
Moving ahead to 2010, Mafia II is a beautiful game with gorgeous graphics, awesome characters, a nice storyline and great gameplay mechanics.
The world war II era New York city seems lively and the characters are believable. The missions are interesting; with a mixture of driving, stealth, gunplay and exploration.
However, the biggest disappointment with the game is its lack of side missions, and any reason or purpose to free roam. The open world city is gorgeous, as I've already mentioned, but there is little to no reason for moving around.
All you have in the map is some gun stores and car stores, but you will never have enough money to go on a spending spree. Also, the missions drop so much weapons and ammo that you'd hardly find any reasons to go to the stores. You can't upgrade your weapons, either.
As for cars, that part of the gameplay has never attracted me much. I do enjoy driving around, but I don't really find it much interesting to purchase expensive cars (they get wrecked anyway), nor do I find it useful to buff them up with new paint jobs, customization, etc.
So basically, apart from the storyline missions, there's nothing much to do in the game. I wouldn't mind it much had it been 2006, but here in 2014 (or even when I first saw the game in 2010), I find it painfully limited experience in comparison with GTA V, or even IV.
It really is a big shame, because the open world created by the developers is beautifully crafted. It could have been the host of hundreds of side missions or activities that could lengthen the gameplay.
Also, it is a very short game which can be beaten within 23 days. Most of the missions involve shooting, with a few deviations. The stealth missions are the most challenging, and rewarding as well.
Overall, I give the game 45, but it could easily be 55 with a bit more variety and extra length. There are some DLCs available, but I never ended up buying them.
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