Mafia II ready to hit retail August 24, 2010

Look again!

But yeah, can't wait. Mafia was incredible.

Obviously they are going to make 2 launch parties for everybody.

Yeah. Sorry. I looked it up and 24 is for US and 27 for the rest. But still, it's a bit misleading.

"Mafia II is ready to offer North American retail an August 27, 2010"
Still doesn't make sense coz surely the american release date is the 24th? lol

Eh... it had some major bugs at launch, and even the final version had a few significant bugs that could break your game progression. Scripted events that player actions could derail, etc. It was somewhat clunky to start out, because the vehicles handled like you would expect vehicles in the 1920s to handle. Like big, heavy pigs with poor acceleration. That was an intentional design feature though, later vehicles handled much better and had more powerful motors.

So if you're not an authenticity buff, it may feel clunky, assuming they take the same route this time. Controls aside, the first game itself had decent combat, a solid story, and above-average voice acting, so I'd recommend it. I can only hope the sequel meets the same standards.

Remember playing the first one on pc and don't remember ever noticing any bugs.

I really liked the original. It had a really great story where you actually cared about what happen to the some of the characters.

Also one great thing about the original was the driving mechanics. They felt very realistic.

Even now one thing they did which GTA has still hasn't been able to do is speeding and driving through red lights in a car. If you do this in GTA a cop couldn't care less but in Mafia a cop will try and pull you over and give you a ticket. But if a cop is on foot then all he will do is blow his whistle and try and chase you down on foot which is usually very funny.

I respect the authenticity of adding the driving laws but being chased when you run every red light annoyed me. I prefer the GTA style of "the only real crime is murder".

You could usually get away with breaking minor traffic laws, but that would put you at risk of getting caught in a series of unfortunate crimes, leading to a heavy police pursuit.

The game systems all worked pretty well together, aside from the classic 3rd person action game shenanigans (hindered navigation in cramped environments). When most cars are Model T-like buckets, someone blazing down the avenue at 90mph is going to be a bit conspicuous. Plus, it was one of the first "GTAlikes" to leave you vulnerable in the driver's seat. Anything from a nasty collision to the law's bullets could kill you in vehicle.

Oh, and don't play the console versions of Mafia. They're inferior to the PC version in almost every way imaginable.

Me neither, but I know this is gonna be fun!

Has it really been seven years. I still remember playing the original like it was yesterday.

Just a note of warning:
the first few "missions" (if you can call them that) are incredibly dull. Just get through them, it gets a LOT better.
But if you still dont then, sorry I made you play through the first couple of missions :)

I think they tried to create a sense of immersion but ended up ruining the beginning of the game instead.

Okay thanks for the tip bluesky_v2.01! I'll try to finish those missions as quickly as possible to get to the good bits! :)