Mafia II GamesCom 2009 Preview
Mafia II is the follow-up to the successful Mafia, which was originally released way back in 2002. Developed by 2K Czech, and published by 2K Games, Mafia II is hoping to build on the huge success from the first title.
Set in Empire Bay, the player takes control of Vito, a low-life thug who is connected to the Mafia. He has the whole city as his playground, and it's around 10 square miles - 10 times bigger than the city from the first game. There will also be around 100 buildings around the city which can be explored fully, and more than 50 types of vehicles driving around on the streets.
The game is a sandbox title, so Vito is free to drive around the city whenever he chooses. However, as he's going from place to place, he may encounter side missions. In the demonstration we were privy to, Vito came upon a situation involving a girl who had just left his residence. The player could just ignore the situation, or try to resolve it and these side-missions help to add depth to the story, should the player wish. They can be entirely ignored though, but due to the way they are crafted it makes them seem like more than just pointless side missions.
A new mechanic being shown for the first time at GamesCom was Vito's interactions with the law enforcement. A scenario appeared which involved two street urchins trying to threaten Vito for money. However, when he pulls out a gun to defend himself, the police become involved. After deciding to run from the police, they have a description, but it's possible to change clothing. It also means that should Vito get into a car, they won't necessarily follow the car, as they aren't aware. The same also applies if a car was spotted fleeing from a crime scene, if the police are lost and the car is ditched, it's possible to evade them more successfully.
It's a much more realistic take on how these systems typically work, as the police usually know "too much" about the assailant. This makes it much more true to life and that's something that Mafia II really promotes, a sense of realism. Although it's set between the 1940s and 50s, there is a lot of licensed music, as well as authentic clothing, and vehicles; atmosphere is key to Mafia II's success and it looks like it's been nailed completely.
It will certainly be interesting to see how all of this fits together in an overall situation. So far all we've seen are little snippets of action from the game. If it works though, this could be another hit when it's released in 2010 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
