Feb 2, 2011
Mafia - Valve
Fixed an issue where French, Italian, German and Spanish users would be unable to save their settings from the mafia launcher on a 64 bit Operating system.
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Italian-Americans wanted Mafia II banned because they said it portrayed offensive ethnic stereotypes. A European Parliament member wants it banned because it trivializes mob murders. I have a better strategy: STFU about banning bad games, and they'll eventually fade away.
Sonia Alfano, the MP in question, also is president of Italy's association for the families of Mafia victims. "It really, really hurts," Alfano, recently said in an interview. "We can't allow this to happen, our wounds are still too fresh." Her father was murdered by the mob. It doesn't matter that it was 18 years ago, her wounds will always be fresh.
No offense to Alfano or anyone hurt by organized crime; this is still another one of those arguments where someone assumes their victim status gives them the authority to say what is and isn't appropriate for the rest of society. We deal with that a lot in video games. The fact Mafia II was released in August and this concerns a game most people have already rented or returned smacks of a publicity grab.
Bloomberg has a longer and more thorough story whose net effect is to intellectualize whining.
Mafia Victim Families Fight Increasing Violence, Brutality in Video Games [Bloomberg via GamePolitics]
Ultimately, Mafia II suffered from too much imagination and not enough substance; "Jimmy's Vendetta," its first paid DLC extension, lacked both. But this trailer for its second, Joe's Adventures, due Nov. 23, actually looks promising.
Jimmy's Vendetta (like the PS3-only Betrayal of Jimmy) threw us into the persona of an entirely new mob character and sent us running errands all over Empire Bay in a bland casserole of rote mission design. Joe's Adventures actually looks like it has some depth and inspiration, especially that car chase on the frozen bay. It has a better story peg to work with, too, as it covers the time during Vito Scaletta's incarceration in the federal pen.
That half of the Mafia II story was easily the best part of the game, and the fact we're going to hear more out of Henry, a character who had so much potential in the original, gives me hope. I'll be reviewing "Joe's Adventures" when it hits, but I warn you, Joe, don't disappoint me again.
"Joe's Adventures," a Mafia II DLC extension whose name has been known for some time, will arrive Nov. 23. A narrative flashback, you'll play as Joe Barbaro during the time the main game's protagonist, Vito Scaletta, is in prison.
A news release bills it as a combination of "a dramatic storyline with intense arcade-style gameplay." There will be a story based progression, followed by "a slew of optional city-based quests packed with arcade action gameplay and a points-based system," i.e. what we saw earlier with The Betrayal of Jimmy and Jimmy's Vendetta.
2K Games says the extension will open up new areas of Empire Bay for exploration, including "a train station, the cathouse, a boat yard, a seasonally changing lakefront and some never-before-seen buildings in Empire Bay." It'll also feature new clothing, 20 more Playboy collectibles, and more period 1940s and 1950s music.
So it sounds more substantive than the preceding two DLC packs, and Mafia II was a very strong game up through Vito's incarceration. While it would have been nice to get this on the main disc, those with a Mafiosi fix should give it serious consideration.
The extension will cost $9.99 on PlayStation Network, 800 Microsoft Points over Xbox Live.
House Of The Dead: Overkill previously held the Guinness-certified World Record for most uses of the F-word in a video game, with 189. Mafia II has whacked that target. Rooster Teeth's Achievement Hunter compiled all 200. Language very NSFW.
Achievement Hunter: World Record F-Bombs [Rooster Teeth]
Mafia II's got some issues, but give the devil its due, it's got some nudity in it. Hot Blooded Gaming, to my knowledge, is the first to round up and gallerize all 50 of its collectible Playboy centerfolds.
A collection guide on GameFAQs has been complete since Sept. 2 and lists where you can find the 'folds, as well as identifying the women by name and month of appearance. HBG's roundup is definitely nsfw, though an age-gate will ask you if you're 18 before allowing you to proceed. As we've seen on South Park, those under age 18 always answer this truthfully.
For those curious, here's a list of all Playmates appearing in the game, in their chronological order. This order differs from the one in which you're able to collect them.
All 50 Mafia 2 Playboy Pictures Uncensored [Hot Blooded Gaming]
Mafia II's release was clouded by confusion over what "open-world" really meant. Some assumed it meant "sandbox," where Mafia II was anything but. Jimmy's Vendetta, the game's first batch of downloadable content offers more of what some had been expecting.
That means no Vito, no Henry, no Joe Barbaro. Instead you're Jimmy, a former mob hitman who, as the title suggests, got screwed over and is now repaying the favor to two gang syndicates, Irish and Italian. Light on story and heavy on gunplay, car chases and destruction, it's a color negative of the more cinematic main game. Can that bring balance to the title overall?
All About Action: Jimmy's Vendetta is the sequel to the PS3-exclusive The Betrayal of Jimmy, included free with Mafia II. The game is structed "arcade style," which means at the end of each mission you'll get a grade, a point total and a leaderboard position. You're thus encouraged to replay the missions to beat the score, either by racking up more headshots, combination kills, or finishing more quickly. Disappointingly, you can only replay these missions on the difficulty you selected at the beginning. To play on other levels requires starting over in a new gamesave. But there are 34 missions in all, 12 of them vehicle thefts.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves: OK, so it's all about action. And serving that is a set of missions whose design, at best, can be called "straightfoward," where "bland" might be less charitable but more accurate. Vehicle theft barely involves much more than just picking a lock and driving the car to a location. Occasionally you'll have to shoot someone. The main missions break down to escort protection, asset destruction and kill everyone, the latter comprising the majority of what you do, and eight of the final nine jobs. The game again spreads them at opposite ends of its large map - and of course, the only place you can buy ammo for the game's more effective guns is at Harry's, requiring constant trips to the extreme northwest end of the map to reload. Forcing you to drive all over the map is neither gameplay nor an invitation to explore.
My Kingdom For A Cutscene: Ripped for being too linear in gameplay, Mafia II was at least defended for its cinematic heft. And it uses none of it in Jimmy's Vendetta. You get two scenes, at the beginning and at the end. This makes the "arcade-style" focus of replaying a mission for a higher score the sole point of the game. If you're really committed to that, this package will provide some value for the $10. If you're playing this to extend the Mafia II story or experience, you're going to be racing through these jobs with not much payout other than a couple of paragraphs on a loading screen.
Jimmy's Vendetta is not a set of missions that extends the story of the main game. It's the side missions that should have been included with the main product in the first place. Instead, Xbox 360 and PC owners are paying $10 to get a free roam mode in a game that was touted as open-world, with the implication that meant plenty to do in it. And instead of starring Vito, who has a narrative, acting, and a story I care about, it's all carried out by some smirking Reno pit boss who just shows up unaccountably and who gets next to no narrative treatment.
Everyone's now going to say that this isn't the purpose of Jimmy's Vendetta because it's an "arcade-style" extension to the game. Fine. Some will get into the challenge of replaying a set of stock missions, shaving down the time it takes to complete them, or racking up points, or whatever. But it's a completely off-key successor to a game that, if it had anything going for it, delivered a strong story, interesting characters and well composed cinematics.
Mafia II: Jimmy's Vendetta was developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K Games for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on Sept. 7. Retails for $9.99 USD/800 Microsoft Points. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Completed the game.
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Morning. The phone rings, I answer. It's Joe, chirping the usual advice. Get dressed and get my gun. I go to the fridge instead for a Master Beer. In the bathroom I flip on the light. I flush the toilet.
None of these actions in Mafia II are from cutscenes, and that is both the novelty and the shame of 2K Czech's long-awaited gangster game noir. Shots and beers are chugged, lights turn on and off, windows open and close, tubs and faucets and the john all run water.
For what purpose? Am I going to hide in the shower and blow away someone from behind the curtain, dripping wet in my suit and hat? Am I going to interrogate a snitch by jamming his head in the commode? Do these things foreshadow any purpose in the game? No, no and no.
Like the staggeringly beautiful architecture making up Empire Bay's landscape, so much of Mafia II's details serve only a cosmetic, background purpose. It's a city that oozes the delightful charm of a richly detailed model railroad. The game's engine, however, steams along a disappointingly short and predictable track that fails all the expectations of depth such features set.
A Feast For Your Eyes: Mafia II's rich visuals are the game's calling card and provide an inspiration to immerse yourself and even roleplay through the open-ended portions, walking instead of running, buying a beer before you meet your boss. There's no clock on your heads-up display, but there doesn't need to be one: the game's amazing quality of light lets you know the time of day almost to the hour. In the dead of winter you still know it's about 2 p.m. outside the dingy bar where you're supposed to steal a car. In early autumn, you know you've finished a day's work when the action's just beginning. Cars don't just damage, they get snow and grime buildup. Cover, which you'll depend on throughout the game, is nearly always destructible. The sound is perfectly atmospheric. Playing with headphones, many times I thought a far-off siren was coming from my own neighborhood. The immersion this game provides in its set design is both its blessing and its curse, because it leaves you wanting so much more from your experience.
Acting: Rare is the video game whose characters can communicate clearly by facial expression. Those in Mafia II do, through a combination of superb film editing and extraordinarily detailed facial animations. Mob movies depend on subtle and unspoken moments and the ability of this game's rendered characters to meet the emotion of their human actors' lines is a true breakthrough. Vito, the protagonist, gets an award-winning effort from Rick Pasqualone. Games typically get you to care about the main character through the actions you share; I cared about Vito the old-fashioned way, through the acting. Sonny Marinelli's portrayal of Henry Tomasino, who veers from authority to outcast, nearly steals the show and makes you wish the game featured much more of him. Robert Costanza's Joe Barbaro rounds out the trifecta as a versatile character, swinging from violence to comedy relief. The story may get threadbare in spots, but the acting and dialogue are among the best you will ever find in this young art form.
A Sandbox With No Toys: Mafia II offers very few incentives to explore the open world its spent so much time creating. There are no side missions, like its predecessor. Unlike its predecessor, there's no dedicated Free Ride mode. If you want to explore or raise hell, you must do it before you trigger a mission at the beginning of a chapter, or after the job's over. The narrative does its best to discourage this, as nearly everything begins in the morning with an urgent phone call ordering you to a meeting spot immediately, and ends very late at night. You will make more than enough cash on missions themselves, and pick up plenty of useful weapons and ammo from the guys you kill, to make the game's barebones side tasks - robbing stores and stealing cars - utterly pointless. The saddest wastes are features like Empire Bay's replicas of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings, Yankee Stadium and the Brooklyn Bridge, whose pedestrian walkway is traversable. Such detailed renderings would seem to beg for a sequence set in or atop one, and yet all of the iconic settings in this world are ignored by the story.
Empire Bay 911: The cops in this game are as trivially useless as its toilets. Their AI is just plain bad and easily fooled. I was robbing a gas station and a squad car plowed into the pumps, killing everyone except me. Their tendency to ram is easily exploited and they rarely recover from a wreck in time to continue the chase. When your car is wanted, cops pass by too quickly on the road to fill up the light blue suspect-o-meter, or whatever it's called, that triggers a pursuit. I don't think anyone ever noticed me picking a lock to steal a car. Speeding tickets are easily outrun in most vehicles, especially if you've paid the nominal fee to upgrade the engine. Running red lights, a no-no in Mafia I, gets you only a scolding from Joe if he's riding shotgun.
Action, Packed Loosely: There is a colossal amount of interstitial time spent either on boring tasks or watching cutscenes. There is a ton of mundane, non-chase driving as a lot of the mission points are scattered throughout the map, whose navigation never seems to guide you to the freeway. The worst example of Mafia II's imbalanced design came in a chapter in which you're tasked to warn someone of an impending hit. I timed it: 7:40 combined cutscene time, 8:49 combined driving time (three minutes of that was rushing to the scene, but there was no pursuit), and just 44 seconds of action trying to help the guy escape. The amount of interactive time spent on setup is simply too high for a game this short - especially when the guts of your rise in the mob, as a skullcracking soldier and a dope dealing renegade, are literally condensed to cutscene montages. You sell cigarettes off the back of a truck in this game; couldn't one more hit, one more drug distribution job gone wrong, be included in a mission set that's largely templatized in the first place?
*Spoiler warning - plot cliches about to be spoiled*
Played Out Again, Sam: The first six chapters of this game are very well written - perhaps a bit fast paced, but still believable and compelling. And then, once you get out of prison, the game makes every grab it can for the low-hanging fruit of the mob genre. Joe, your fat Fred Flintstone of a gangster friend, plainly defines the screenwriting failure of unearned emotion. Of course he loses it when a hanger-on character, who has maybe five lines, gets killed on the game's major hit. Of course one of your associates is the FBI rat. Of course there's a late betrayal. Of course there's a reversal of that. The game's ending is plainly written to account for either a sequel or DLC, but even then it's nothing more than a shoulder-shrug that makes you wonder why this supposed buddy crime story was worth telling.
*End of spoiler*
Mafia II is eminently beatable in a single sitting, and its achievements and trophies can be plundered in the span of a rental. With no multiplayer - not saying there should be any for this type of game - I simply can't see Mafia II as worth the full fare. It would take a lot of DLC to get this game to a satisfying length. PS3 owners do get a free game extension - "The Betrayal of Jimmy" - that provides some structured-yet-open-ended mayhem that crime sandbox fans expect. Another extension, "Jimmy's Vendetta," is due for both consoles and PC in the fall. It probably won't be free.
There may be nothing broken or dysfunctional about Mafia II, but it falls well short of expectations built by three years in development and a seven-year-old hit. It's hard to shake the feeling that 2K Czech built six awesome chapters expecting to provide a game twice or three times as long as this, then had to condense it when someone cracked the whip and said finish up.
Many will marvel over the game's visual polish, destructible and interactive environment, and it is indeed impressive. But this is a mob game. I'm here to steal money and whack people, not flush the john and turn out the lights.
Mafia II was developed by 2K Czech and will be published by 2K Games for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC or the Wii on Aug. 24. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Finished the game's singleplayer campaign mode and replayed several missions; played the free DLC included with the PS3 version.
It's not exactly the Rock Band 3 tracklist reveal, but Mafia II's period-piece bonafides aren't limited to the set direction and costumes.
In the game, due on shelves Tuesday, you get three radio stations in your car. Empire Central plays the era's mainstream hits; Empire Classic is an oldies station (relatively) and Delta Radio is blues and jazz. Following is the full soundtrack, one song you might recognize as belonging to the original Mafia from 2003, set some 20 years before. Its inclusion in Mafia II is for deliberate reasons.
• Did You Ever Love A Woman - "Gatemouth"
• After the Lights Go Down Low - Al Hibbler
• Count Every Star - Al Hibbler
• My Bonnie Lassie - Ames Brothers, The
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrews Sisters, The
• Rum and Coca Cola - Andrews Sisters, The
• Straighten Up and Fly Right - Andrews Sisters, The
• Strip Polka - Andrews Sisters, The
• There'll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin - Andrews Sisters, The
• Victory Polka - Andrews Sisters, The
• Money (That's What I Want) - Barrett Strong
• Sing, Sing, Sing 3:00 minutes - Benny Goodman
• Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets
• 900 Miles - Billy Merman
• Springtime in Monaco - Billy Merman
• By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Bing Crosby
• I Haven't Time To Be A Millionaire - Bing Crosby
• I've Got A Pocketful Of Dreams - Bing Crosby
• Pennies From Heaven - Bing Crosby
• The Pessimistic Character - Bing Crosby
• Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
• Who Do You Love - Bo Diddley
• Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly
• Rave On - Buddy Holly
• That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly
• Everybody Eats When They Come to My House - Cab Calloway
• Happy Feet - Cab Calloway
• Speedoo - Cadillacs, The
• Mr Sandman - Chordettes, The
• Nadine - Chuck Berry
• No Particular Place To Go - Chuck Berry
• Framed - Coasters, The
• One Kiss Led to Another / Brazil - Coasters, The
• Sh-Boom - Crew Cuts, The
• At The Hop - Danny & The Juniors
• Ooh Baby Ooh - Dave Appell
• Ain't that a kick in the head - Dean Martin
• Let It Snow - Dean Martin
• Return to Me - Dean Martin
• That's Amore - Dean Martin
• Baby It's Cold Outside - Dinah Shore
• Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore
• That'll Get IT - Dixon Flloyd
• Belleville - Django Reinhardt
• You're Driving Me Crazy - Django Reinhardt
• Makin' Whoopee - Doris Day
• Cannonball - Duane Eddy
• Forty Miles Of Bad Road - Duane Eddy
• Movin' N' Groovin' - Duane Eddy
• Rebel Rouser - Duane Eddy
• It Don't mean a thing - Duke Ellington
• Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
• C'mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart
• Good Little Bad Little You - Edwards, Cliff and his hot combination
• All I Have to Do is Dream - Everly Brothers, The
• Ain't that a Shame - Fats Domino
• The Fat Man - Fats Domino
• Come Softly to Me - Fleetwoods, The
• Jezebel - Frankie Laine
• Why Do Fools Fall In Love - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
• Clarinet Marmalade - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra
• Riverboat Shuffle - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra
• Rock Around the Clock Singer - Hal Singer
• Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf
• Pachuko Hop - Ike Carpenter Orchestra
• Inflation Blues - Jack McVea
• Rags to Riches - Jackie Wilson
• My Guardian Angel - Jimmy Breedlove
• Beatin' The Dog - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
• Goin' Places - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
• Stringing The Blues (V.2) - Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
• Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker
• Come On And Stomp Stomp Stomp - Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers
• Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition - Kay Kyser
• Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart - Les Baxter
• I Cant Lose With the Stuff I Use - Lester Williams
• Keep a Knockin' - Little Richard
• Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
• Lucille - Little Richard
• Choo Choo Ch'Boogie - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• Ain't That Just Like a Woman - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• Caldonia Boogie - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• Friendship - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• G.I. Jive - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• Open the Door Richard - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• Ration Blues - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• That Chick's Too Young to Fry - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• What's the Use of Getting Sober
• (When You Gonna Get Drunk Again) - Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
• Che La Luna - Louis Prima
• Oh Marie - Louis Prima
• Pennies From Heaven - Louis Prima
• The Closer to the Bone - Louis Prima
• When You're Smiling - Louis Prima
• Got My Mojo Working - Muddy Waters
• Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters
• Gangster's Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw
• Happiness is a Thing Called Joe - Peggy Lee
• Why Don't You Do Right - Peggy Lee
• The Peanut Vendor - Perez Prado
• Manhattan Spiritual - Reg Owen Orchestra
• Come On Let's Go - Richie Valens
• Stood Up - Ricky Nelson
• Donna - Ritchie Valens
• Mambo Italiano - Rosemary Clooney
• Don't Let Go - Roy Hamilton
• You Can Have Her - Roy Hamilton
• Held for Questioning - Rusty Draper
• Let The Good Times Roll - Sam Butera & The Witnesses
• Teen Beat - Sandy Nelson
• I Put a Spell on You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• Java - The Big Bands Moonglow
• Tequila - The Champs
• Maybe - The Chantels
• Honey Love - The Drifters feat. Clyde McPhatter
• Ling Ting Tong - The Five Keys
• In The Still Of The Night - The Five Satins
• Chow Mein - The Gaylords
• The Best Things in Life Are Free - The Ink Spots
• Book of Love - The Monotones
• The Dipsy Doodle - Tommy Dorsey
• Mercy Mr. Percy - Varetta Dillard
UNICO National, a group that represents Italian Americans, has lodged a protest with publishers Take-Two over the portrayal of the Mafia in upcoming game Mafia II. Because, you know. The mafia are portrayed as Italian Americans.
Andre' DiMino, president of the group, says the game is "racist nonsense".
"Why would Take Two foist a game on their targeted audience of young people wherein they will indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian-Americans with violent, murderous organized crime, to the exclusion of all of the other 'mafias' run by other ethnic and racial groups?" he says.
"Take Two is directly, blatantly and unfairly discriminating and demeaning one group to the exclusion of all others. We are demanding they halt release of the game and cleanse it of all references to Italians and Italian-Americans".
Of course, DiMino hasn't played the game. Nor does he seem to be aware the game's name is "Mafia II", not "Yakuza II" or "Triads II". He also seems to be unaware that the mafia are a bunch of Italian Americans, which is surprising considering his role as head of a group of Italian Americans.
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick really didn't even need to respond, but he did, issuing a statement that read:
Mafia II tells a compelling story about organized crime in America — a subject that for decades has been featured in movies, television shows and novels. Neither UNICO nor any other organization purporting to represent Italian-Americans has seen or played Mafia II.
At Take-Two, we balance our right to free expression with what we believe is a thoughtful and responsible approach to creating and marketing our products," he continued. "Mafia II is M-rated in accordance with our industry's strict standards. It is specifically not targeted toward young people.
We will only release a title that meets our standards: as art, as entertainment and as a socially responsible product," Zelnick concluded. "We aim to distinguish creative and compelling story telling that advances artistic expression from subject matter that gratuitously exploits or glorifies violence or stereotypes. I fully and completely stand behind our creative teams and products, including Mafia II.
Italian-American Group UNICO Takes Issue With Mafia II, Take-Two Responds [Gamasutra]