Mafia 2 Megathread - Out Now

Apr 17, 2009
7,729
San Diego, CA
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Mafia II is an upcoming 2010 sandbox-style third-person shooter video game which is the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven.

Synopsis:
Mafia 2 is a gritty drama which chronicles the rise of World War II Veteran Vito Scaletta, the son of Sicilian immigrants. As the game progresses, Vito will join a crime family and become a made man.
The story begins with the player character Vito returning home on leave from World War II. Vito had joined the U.S. military as a way of avoiding jail time for a botched robbery. Vito reunites with his old friend, Joe Barbaro, and the two quickly embark upon a life of crime. Their criminal ascension starts with Mikey, a car mechanic who gets in a conflict with Joe. Mikey also needs a certain type of car to chop for parts, and will pay $400 for one that the police are not tailing. Soon enough, Vito, Joe, and Henry Tomasino (already a made man in the Clemente family) find themselves battling with, for, against, and around three crime factions: the Falconi, Vinci and Clemente families. The player is later introduced to Eddie Scarpa (a capo in one of the three crime families). Another character is Marty, a young, novice getaway driver who takes Vito and Joe to the Empire Arms hotel in the mission "Room Service" involving the assassination of the Clemente family's don.

The game will contain two hours of in-game cutscenes. The original game, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, had a screenplay of 400 pages, opposed to the 700 pages of the sequel. Daniel Vávra, the writer and director of the original and the sequel, discussed the new angle of the game stating: "The old game was a tribute to gangster films, a romantic vision. Mafia 2 is grittier, real, a darker world, and the effects are based in reality." Official PlayStation Magazine states: "A high body count is still promised in this tale set in a fictional city 'inspired by' New York of the 1940s and '50s, but those casualties will come the hard way -- through small-scale operations rather than mass firefights."

Gameplay: The game will be set from 1945 to 1955 in Empire Bay (originally called Empire City earlier in the game's development), a fictional city based on San Francisco and New York City, with influences from Chicago and Detroit. The name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State". The game will feature a completely open-ended game map of 10 square miles. No restrictions are included from the start of the game. There will also be around 50 vehicles in the game, as well as licensed music from the era.

Many firearms from the previous game will make a return, for example the Thompson M1928, the Colt 1911 and a pump action shotgun. As seen in screenshots, new WWII-era weapons like the MP40 and the M3 Grease Gun will make an appearance in the game as well as the MG42.

Interacting with objects in the environment involves two action buttons- a standard action and a "violent" action, used in context-sensitive situations. A map will be included as in the original Mafia game. The checkpoint system has been completely overhauled. New controls allow the player to hide behind objects (such as generators, walls and large crates) to shoot enemies, rather than just using a crouch while behind an object. Flanking may be a large part of the combat.

It has been stated by 2K Czech that the game's cutscenes are created by the game engine, in real time, rather than pre-rendered cutscenes.

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Box Art​

E3 Screens:

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E3 Trailer:

 
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PS3 Mafia II DLC free... If you buy the game new.

2K has revealed that punters will be able to gain access to the PS3-exclusive Mafia II downloadable content free of charge, with the mission pack being included free for first time buyers of the game.

Those who purchase the mobster sequel second hand will have to fork out for the DLC via the PlayStation Store, where it will retail for approximately $9.99 USD.

For those unaware, the mission pack – entitled The Betrayal of Jimmy – has gamers assuming control of a mafia enforcer tasked with completing a series of arcade-style missions, where players can earn reward points for their shooting and driving skills. You’ll then be able to compare your scores via the online leaderboard system.

A second DLC pack by the name of Jimmy’s Vendetta is currently in the works and will be available for all versions of the game, namely PS3
 
I know a lot of people have an issue with them doing that with DLC. But I think it's a GREAT idea. I'd rather the company get money than gamestop, who sells the game for $3-5 off RETAIL!
 
Mafia II on PS3: Your Questions Answered

Last week I attended a Mafia II preview event, armed with a list of questions you wanted me to investigate. After speaking with Director of Creative Production Jack Scalici, I left with those answers… and a tommy gun filled with tequila (seriously). Since there isn’t enough in there for me to mix margaritas for all of you, I’ll just cut straight to the interview.

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PlayStation.Blog: Why go with Empire Bay instead of New York City?

Jack Scalici: It’s New York, with a little bit of influence of Chicago, with a bit of San Francisco mixed in there. But when you do New York you have to do it right, and it has to be exact, and you’ll get some psychopaths on the forums who’ll take a map of New York City, and a map of your game and point out everything that you did wrong and bad and why go through that? And also, if you’ve ever driven through New York, it’s not the most gameplay-driving-friendly city. There are a lot of one way streets, and it’s not as much fun as it could be if you were driving around doing 90 mph in a convertable blasting 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll. So you take reality, and you bend reality into what’s going to equal great gameplay.

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PSB: How will Mafia II be connected to Mafia? (VesterDK) I haven’t played the first Mafia game, and I’m wondering if I jump right into the second installment, will I miss out on important story lines, controls or game play techniques? (luckyinlove777)

JC: It’s a completely new story with completely new characters. There are a couple of links to Mafia I, but you won’t really pick up on those unless you played Mafia I. Mafia I fans will have something that they’ll jump out of their seats when they get to a certain part of the game’s story, but you don’t need to know anything about Mafia I to play Mafia II. You don’t even need to know anything about the Mafia to play Mafia II.

PSB: What differentiates this game from other open world games? (skynidas) Is Mafia 2 just like GTA4? (asked on Twitter)

JC: You’ve played it, there’s nothing else out there like it. It doesn’t feel like anything else out there, does it? If some people did certain things right, and we wanted to do them right, instead of re-inventing them for no other purpose than being different, we didn’t do that; we did it right. So there will be some similarities to some other games. But in Mafia II, the core focus is on the epic Mafia story; Playing through it as this guy Vito, going through what he’s going through. It’s also staying true to what the Mafia is, you have to behave a certain way or they’re going to kill you. So rather than allowing the character to do silly things like “the old lady wants you to rescue the cat from a tree,” or whatever, you can’t do s— like that… because a wiseguy would never do something like that.

To me, the open city you can drive around is just icing on the cake. If, after killing [the target of Chapter 9 in the game], we just warped you back to the restaurant and Vito said “I did it,” that robs you of the magic of driving around in the 1940s and 1950s in Empire Bay. You’d really be hard-pressed to communicate “it’s the 40s” or “it’s the 50s” if you didn’t have this magic city to drive around in, and see the advertising, the fashions, the cars, the music.

PSB: How does the city change over time?

JC: The cars are completely different in the 50s than there were in the 40s. In the 40s you have these dull-colored, boxy people movers, some of which are fun to drive. But once you get into the 50s, you get this cherry-red convertable that just tears ass. You get up to something like 120 MPH, you can fly in those cars, it’s amazing. That’s my most favorite thing to do in the game, driving around in a convertable, listening to rock ‘n’ roll in the 50s.

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PSB: Yeah, the soundtrack’s great. There’s, what, 120 tracks in the game?

JC: Over 120… Nothing defines an era like the music. Goodfellas is one of my own personal favorite movies. I thought one thing they really did amazing is, I don’t remember any kind of score. I only remember that music defined every scene. That’s how you knew where you were. You start off with “Rags to Riches” in the 50s and you end up on “Layla.” Every song that they chose was perfect, and they really set the tone for every scene.

This is something we did in Mafia. There’s a radio everywhere in Mafia II… and we scripted certain tracks to be playing on the radio when I knew you were getting into a car. So you’ll see it when you kill [that Chapter 9 dude] and you steal his car, and you start driving away and there’s a song that plays and it’s like “yes!”

PSB: Will there be some sort of customization in Mafia II? Such as clothing, weapon customization, etc. (Ar4chNova89)

JC: Well the cars can be tuned for performance, you can change the wheels, you can repair them, you can change license plate, you can paint it any color you want. That level of customization we really encourage because we want people to fall in love with their cars the way America did in the 50s.

PSB: Will this game be more of a free world type of game or will you be locked in to the storyline? (Ftwrthtx)

JC: When we looked at all of our potential sidequests we looked at them and said “which ones would a wiseguy just not do, period?” “What makes sense for a guy who wants to move up in the mob?” So we removed all this other stuff and said “OK, so this is all stuff a wiseguy would do, why isn’t it integrated with the story?” Everything he does has to be integrated into the story or has to fit with his motivation to move up, get rich, and get out. So everything that did fit, fit with the story, so we made it mandatory.

There are some little random things that happen that you can get involved in if you want. You may have seen there’s a greaser who gets into an accident with [a supporting character]’s girlfriend, and if you want to intervene, you can beat the s— out of the guy. That makes sense in the story, and it’s also an optional thing. You can just let it play out like “f— it, it’s probably her own fault.”

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PSB: Will it have functionality with the Move Controller and can u just use one move or two, if so? (polo155)

JC: At this time no. Possibly in future games because I think there’s a lot of cool potential there… melee combat especially.

PSB: Will There Be any multiplayer/ co-op in the game? (Harlemz-Prodigy and others)

JC: Not currently at this time. We wanted to keep it story-based and focus on that and have that be the experience you remember. We don’t want people running around as these characters in the game world behaving as those characters never would. It just doesn’t fit with Mafia at this point in time.

PSB: Tell them thanks for the exclusive content for our system, that was really nice of them :) (Fallen_Guardian)

JC: It is really cool. We came up with the ideas of this character, Jimmy, who exists outside of the main story of Mafia II. Jimmy is just a total badass. He’s sent in by the mob to clean up the mess, like when you have a dead body or when something’s really going wrong. He’s like a combination hitman/cleaner. He’s this badass bald dude who basically does whatever the hell he wants.

The beginning of the Jimmy stuff [multiplatform DLC] is he gets out of jail and he wants to kill those people who wronged him and forced him to go to jail for them. For the PS3 [exclusive] stuff, we thought it’d be really cool to tell the story of what happened to Jimmy. How did Jimmy get here? That’s what the PS3 stuff is.
 
Mafia II "Is Not A Sci-Fi Game"

2K has released another Mafia II developer diary to get you primed and ready to enter the gritty underworld of the New York mob in the 1940s and 50s when the game releases in just a few weeks time.

Focusing on everything from the destructible environments to the story and characters, the video offers plenty of rich insight into the game and its murky world, inhabited by all manner of colourful figures and incidental period details.

In short, it's looking pretty damn fine. Any freakin' mook can see that. Check out our latest hands-on preview for more.

Mafia II is out on August 27th in the UK and Europe and August 24th in the US.

 
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Mafia II’s PS3-Exclusive DLC: The Betrayal of Jimmy

Last month, the name “Jimmy’s Vendetta” leaked out, along with a list of PlayStation 3 Trophies that appeared to be from the previously-confirmed PS3-exclusive Mafia II downloadable content.

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As it turns out, that DLC will be coming down the line. Before Jimmy can get going on that vendetta – he’s got to be double-crossed. That, as it turns out, is the source material for The Betrayal of Jimmy DLC, available at free at launch, exclusively for the PS3 version of Mafia II.

The Betrayal of Jimmy is almost an arcade-style take on the Mafia II experience. The team took the most fun elements from the game: shooting, driving, stealing, etc in a open world, and made it a point-based romp, complete with leaderboards. It’s all about fast cars, blowing stuff up, hitting top speeds, and really taking advantage of the open city. If Mafia II is an expansive story, then The Betrayal of Jimmy is instant gratification.

Unlike in the main Mafia II storyline, you’ll rack up points for drifting, high speed driving, headshots, kill combos and more. Points pop up right on the screen, arcade style and giant, flashy icons like arrows point at targets – something you’d never see in the more authentically 1940s and 50s setting from the primary game mode.

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That’s not to say it’s all run and gun – there’s some story to give the mode substance to bring it together. 2K included new cut-scenes and voice acting to keep production quality consistent from the main game.

About that story… Jimmy’s a lot different than Vito, the protagonist in the main game’s plot. While Vito is more of a Henry Hill-esque character – a good guy that gets drawn into becoming a goodfella, Jimmy’s been getting his hands dirty for a long time. With a shaved head, all-black attire, and dark shades, Jimmy’s the kind of guy who you’d cross the street to avoid.

When Jimmy gets screwed over and doesn’t know what’s going on, he starts taking on missions from different crime families to try to uncover the truth. You’ll see some new families here, but some of the characters cross over the storylines, including the main character – the city of Empire Bay.

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While you can download The Betrayal of Jimmy on August 24th, the day Mafia II hits shelves, you’ll definitely wanna play through the main storyline first. There’s not a lot of exposition in this content pack; you’re immediately dropped into a gunfight where you’re outgunned and outflanked. Unlike Vito’s slow introduction to the world of organized crime in the main game, Jimmy’s already “leveled up” and spawns initially with multiple weapons. The whole city is open to you right at the start.

Now I tried to anticipate a few questions you Blog readers would come up with when we visited 2K this week to see the game in action:

1) The Betrayal of Jimmy is not included on the disc – new copies of the game will contain a voucher to download it. If you pick the game up used, you’ll be able to purchase the DLC for $9.99.

2) While you can unlock Trophies during The Betrayal of Jimmy (we saw one earned during our playthrough for getting significant airtime in a car), there aren’t any mission-specific Trophies for this DLC.

3) The Jimmy’s Vendetta DLC will become available post-launch. No word on price.

With over 25 different missions, The Betrayal of Jimmy promises a meaty additional gameplay experience, and a nice bonus for PlayStation 3 owners looking to pick up Mafia II later this month.
 
Mafia II Demo is a 24-Hour Exclusive for PlayStation Plus Subscribers!

PlayStation Plus subscribers can get their sticky mitts all over the Mafia II demo a whole day early from tomorrow morning when the demo will be automatically pushed through the PlayStation Network pipes if you've Automatic Downloads enabled. Or you can simply go onto the Plus bit of the PS Store and snap it up from there.

The rest of the non-paying world will be able to get it from the PlayStation Store with Wedesday's update as usual, bada bing and all that. There are however, no deets on the US demo, so assume it'll come to the PS Store on Tuesday as normal.

Mafia II is out with a PS3-exclusive 'The Betrayal of Jimmy' DLC in the box on August 27th, 2010 in Europe and August 24th, 2010 in the US.
 
We can't deny that Mafia II is one of the most promising games this month. Next week, we will finally be able to put our hands on the game after three years of waiting. PS3Life had the opportunity to talk with Jarek Kolár, senior gameplay producer of 2K Czeck.

Can you tell me a little more about the story of Vito? Does it have a lot of depth?

Yes, in the development it was very important for us that the player can place himself in the position of Vito. Vito is an Sicilian immigrant, he did some pity crimes when he was young and because he wants to break out of the poverty, he doesn't want to live in the same way as his parents did. He wants to get some money and respect. This idea takes him to the way of the crime and eventually he becomes later in the game a member of an organized crime, the mafia. Then he achieves what he dreamed of, the money and the respect, but he finds out that he has to pay a high price for that. It's not an original story but we want our players to live the life of Vito with this game.


Mafia II is one of the few games that doesn't have multiplayer. What makes the game's singleplayer so strong?
First of all, there are a lot of games that don't provide a multiplayer. We think a multiplayer needs to be very good, because if the multiplayer isn't great it hasn't any sense to make one. Like if you make a multiplayer just because you want one in your game and no one plays it, then you didn't succeed. With other words, if we want to make a multiplayer for Mafia, we will take our time for it. Now we focus mainly on the story, on the atmosphere, we want to give the player a virtual experience that he won't regret.

What are the differences between the first Mafia and Mafia II?
There is the difference of time, it's also much nicer if you look at the details. The structure is almost the same, we still focus on the story and on the cutscenes. Another difference is the size of the city, we've expanded it and it's obviously larger than the city of the first Mafia. Now you can also do much more in the city, there are more shops and other buildings you can enter. The police is less aggressive than in the first one, we did that because players can now enjoy the cars and the city more.


Back in 2007 when the game was announced a developer of your team said that the damage system of the cars would be better and more realistic than Burnout Paradise's damage system. Is this true?
Well I haven't played Burnout Paradise, so I can't say if our damage system is better. It's up to the players to judge if this is true. With our damage system we wanted to achieve a realistic system. So when you hit something small, your car will also be damaged. But if you hit larger things at a faster speed, you'll probably die. If your car is damaged, you can fix it in a car shop.

Was the demo an 'older' built of the game or was it the full gaming experience?
The demo is one mission of the game, but we changed the setting. The mission is set in the early fifties, but it starts and ends in a different way. Only the middle part of the demo is the same. In the game the mission will take place in a completely different context.

Something that annoyed some PlayStation 3 gamers was that the demo for the PS3 did not have any grass. Is this a bug?
It isn't a bug, it's a technical decision. We let it out to improve the performance and we decided to leave out the grass because it doesn't influence the main experience of the gamer. But on the other hand, we are delighted to say that the PlayStation users will have an advantage of getting free downloadable DLC when the game releases. Jimmy's betrayal, which features five to eight additional hours of gameplay, is the first and exclusive DLC for the PlayStation 3 and I think it's very cool.


Can you make a guess about how long one play-through takes?

One play-through takes twelve to fifteen hours, but it depends about how you play the game. Obviously you have players that only play the missions and you have gamers that take their time to discover the city.

Can we expect a Mafia III?

Who knows, currently we're busy with making DLC. The one I've mentioned, is not the only one. Shortly after we will release another one, Jimmy's Vendetta. It will be available for all platforms, including PlayStation. And we're busy with other DLC but I can't say anything about that yet.
 
Get your hands dirty in new Mafia II DLC

2K Games today announced that it will release Jimmy’s Vendetta, the second DLC for Mafia II. Bringing with it 30 new missions and leaderboard support, Jimmy's Vendetta takes the Mafia II experience in a more action-oriented direction.

Jimmy is known as the guy others call when they need to finish the job. In the DLC, players will get their hands dirty helping Jimmy clean up other people’s messes as they deal with the Italian and Irish mobs in Empire Bay. New quests include assassination and timed vehicle pursuits ending in dramatic shoothouts and explosive car chases.

The DLC is slated for release on Sept. 7 on PSN for $9.99.
 
New Mafia II DLC focuses on Joe Barbaro, adds city-based quests

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The third add-on content for Mafia II is due out before the end of the year, not exactly the most specific release date we’ve heard lately. Joe’s Adventures puts players in the shoes of Joe Barbaro, Vito’s best friend and partner in organized crime. The add-on will bring new quests and continue the crime drama (spoilers on the original Mafia II below, so stop reading here if you haven’t played through the game, yet).

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The new add-on content will expand the original narrative of Mafia II by delving deeper in Joe’s life during the time Vito was in prison. This was a turning point in the game, and offers plenty of chances for 2K Games to tell us what happened in Empire Bay when Vito was behind bars. Joe will uncover the truth of why Vito is in prison and what is really going on with the Clemente family.

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Joe’s Adventure brings new locations, including a train station, the cathouse, a boat yard, a seasonally changing lakefront and new buildings in Empire Bay. What might be the best part of the entire add-on content is the addition of new optional city-based quests filled with arcade-style action gameplay.
 
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Mafia II Joe's Adventures Coming Late November

Mafia II Joe's Adventures DLC add-on will be available on November 23rd. A price has yet to be confirmed, but we'd expect it to sell for the same $9.99 price tag as previous Mafia II DLC.

 
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Mafia II Director's Cut Spotted on Amazon.com

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Amazon.com has listed - and subsequently removed a Mafia II Director's Cut, which features the full game plus three additional story packs - presumably: Jimmy's Vendetta, The Betrayal of Jimmy and Joe's Adventures.

The Mafia II Director's Cut looks to be the definitive edition of the game, with it's three story add-ons and four cars and clothes packs that were originally offered as pre-order incentives. However, there's currently no official confirmation of the Mafia II Director's Cut and therefore no details regarding dates and prices. Stay tuned!