As I review this game, I’m about ¾ of the way through. I love the story and world they’ve created but is that enough to get me through some arguably dated gameplay? Read on to find out more. I will try and write about both the game itself and the remaster specifically.
I loved the original Mafia 2, I’d go as far to say it’s one of my favourite sandbox games, unfortunately that was 10 years ago and as much as this remaster improves certain elements it doesn’t do enough to make it feel like it belongs in 2020. More needs to be added in to make it a game you want to spend a lot of time on, the customisation is quite limited and you don’t really have enough to spend the large amounts of money on that you’re earning through missions. They give you the bonus of Lincoln’s (Mafia 3’s protagonist) jacket and car, so why not add in more customisation from this game? The car customisation is fun but I’m not one to spend hours on this sort of thing, and the 5 outfit choices in the store didn’t do a lot to impress me. I really wanted something else put in like hair cuts, or extra shops, or something. Unfortunately the game doesn’t really give you anything to do in it’s relatively small map that isn’t anything to do with the missions, even getting in trouble with the police is….pointless, as they’re so damn easy to get away from.
Another point to touch upon is the graphics remaster and well, it didn’t blow me away. More needed to be revamped to make it current gen, there have been a few glitches such as textures popping, or even NPCs faces messing up:
I have looked back at gameplay of the original and there’s no doubt there’s an improvement but it has to be said that Vito and Joe looks so much better than everyone else and they still look very ‘PS3’ at times. Additionally the gameplay can feel very dated at times, the hand to hand combat is very limited to a few moves and finishing moves and I can’t help but feel it’s very repetitive and the stealth missions are VERY basic and clunky. Luckily the gunplay is really fun and makes good use of the classic ‘cover and shoot’ – I only wish there was more sections of gunplay.
This has all sounded very negative so far hasn’t it, however it’s not all bad because as much as there isn’t a lot of extra stuff to do and doesn’t look as good as a lot of current games I have loved every single second of the story, and if it was rated on story alone I’d give it a 9 or 10. There’s nothing better than playing through the story of a gangster who starts off in the army only to be thrown into the gangster life, playing as Vito and working my way from the bottom up the ranks has been entirely enjoyable. I’m a sucker for a good gangster movie and being able to play through one is fantastic, especially learning more about how the families worked and the rules they have in place. Coupling this are some really well written characters, the main two in particular you really start to care for and strangely empathise with although they’re doing some bad stuff! They waste certain sections such as the prison, as you’re there for such a short time, but I really did feel like I was trying to impress my bosses and just wanted what I could to get by.
The story isn’t enough to make this a remaster that truly feels loved by the developers but it is enough for me to give it a:
Don’t forget if you this review is also available in video format:
You can also see the gameplay for yourself in my stream: