Mafia II: Definitive Edition PS5 4K - Chapter 15 (Ending + Review)
0Mafia II: Definitively Frustrating Edition
+ (Positives)
+ Voice acting
+ Story
+ World Building
+ Characterization
+ Setting 1940s-1950s
- (Negatives)
- Combat is downright atrocious
- Controls are some of the worst I've played in memory
- Checkpoint system is straight garbage
- Half-Baked DLC
- Development Hell (Directly impacted the game)
- Time-based missions
- All of Chapter 14
- So much missing content from Sicily, Italy (developers touched on this)
Finally getting around to this game, I will say this. Underneath everything, there is a gem of a story to be found with interesting characters and an enticing world. Seeing Vito go from pre and post-prison was a phenomenal choice, so kudos to the developers in utilizing the passage of time with the setting. Also, the 1940s is a unique setting that is rarely done in gaming now, so that gets some points from me. Vito is likeable, but I will say Joe was more interesting, even though he was the supporting character as his friend. Voice acting was great and really highlighted the characters and their motivations.
WIth all that out of the way, this game is a chore to play. Hands down. Every time when something starts getting interesting, the game just throws everything out the window and makes sure to frustrate you at every turn. The time-based missions, such as driving to the house in time or the gas stations will leave you pulling your hair out in frustration and anger. If that wasn't bad enough, the combat is beyond terrible. Vito moves slowly, often times the enemies will come in waves while you're the only one pulling the weight, and if you happen to get hit more than twice, it's pretty much game over and restarting. Thankfully you have those checkpoints in place! Just kidding! The checkpoint system then makes you restart nearly the ENTIRE mission, wasting at least a good 20 minutes of gameplay you already completed. And you get to do it all over again with extremely frustrating controls and time-based missions.
I really wanted to love this game, but the further I played it, the more I disliked it. And by the end - especially the last two chapters, I couldn't wait to put this title down. The lack of necessary checkpoints combined with terrible handling and time-based missions made me want to never play this game again, regardless of how good the story and characters are - and that's a feat in itself. What's even worse is knowing that behind-the-scenes, this game was in development hell for nearly eight years and it was pretty much forced out due to how long the game had been worked on (initially was slated for PS2 and moved to PS3). The game certainly feels like a PS2 game in all aspects and even then, I've played games from that era that had better combat (Vice City - 2002) than this one (this game launched in 2010). The fact that an eight year old game on a prior game system had better controls is beyond pathetic and sad.
I'm so disappointed on top of the fact that the developers had a lot more planned with Sicily in the beginning, as that was one of the most unique locations in the entire game and it got scrapped for obvious reasons listed above. I don't know what exactly was going on with the development, but the lack of effort and polish is felt in every little detail. The lack of any side content with the setting, the terrible controls and the checkpoints system all add up to a broken game that should've been shelved until properly finished. The only thing definitive about this edition is the frustration and disappointment when playing such an unpolished title.
Mafia 2: Definitive Edition - 5/10
Mafia 2: Definitive Edition on PS5 - 6/10 (Bad load times and again, nothing was done to enhance this mess of a game. No 60FPS, 4K textures...just nothing)
This game could've been truly great. The story is there along with the voice acting. It's just a shame the actors potential was wasted due to developers not knowing what was going on with this mess of a title. A bare bones world filled with an amazing cast, left to do nothing but live a frustrating life with even more frustrating controls and checkpoint systems.
"Is that the fuckin' best you got!?" - Joe Barbaro
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