The last couple of years have been very successful for old-school gamers. The sequels of such famous games as Red Alert 2, Alien vs Predator 2 and of course StarCraft were released. Also in the modern world has such a monster as Champions Online. Another thing is that not all of them have turned out to match their famous “ancestors. But with Mafia 2 is the opposite: sometimes it is so similar to the first part, even too.

The main bet 2K Czech made on the story. Seeing the end result, you may as well bet on a three-legged horse in a horse race. The plot of Mafia 2 resembles a budget movie about Macedonian or Caesar: global, but boring. It’s the same here. Already the opening reel, showing the Scaletta family emigrating from Italy to the “country of great opportunities,” screams of the banality and hackneyedness of such a plot. Next, we see the best years of the life of the offspring of this family, Vito. And in them: war, prison, and the rest of the torture without the slightest hint of non-linearity. The story could have captivated the player until the end credits, but the writers screwed up and the game sorely lacks drama. Naturally, it begs the comparison to the GTA IV storyline: Nico Bellic is permanently a hostage of circumstances, which constantly pushes him forward on the narrow road of crime. Vito, on the other hand, joined the Mafia not because he had no other choice, but simply to avoid working in the port like his father. Nobody dragged him into crime for an easier and nicer life. Few people would empathize with such a protagonist.

Unfortunately, this is the biggest, but not the only problem with the Mafia 2 story. The story suffers greatly from “white spots”. For example, we know almost nothing about the life of Vito’s own sister. This is despite the fact that Italians value family ties very much, and Italians away from Italy doubly so. It also remains a mystery what Vito’s best friend and main accomplice Joe Barbaro was doing while he was “stomping on the zone”. It is clear that he was working for the mafia, but, judging by the results he achieved, not very successfully. Such thoughts are suggested by the absence of any achievements in Joe’s life during this considerable period of time.

The missions were tailored to the storyline. Let’s start with the fact that the Mafia 2 campaign is criminally short. It consists of 15 chapters, heavily spiced with plot cutscenes. Let me tell you right away that most players start skipping them starting with a third of the game. And there really is nothing to look at: unoriginal angles, boring dialogues, neurasthenic animation and pox-ridden textures. Without these cutscenes, the campaign “shrinks” down to 8-10 hours. For a game that gamers have been waiting over 7 years for, this is not serious. The missions themselves are an unrelenting mafia routine. Thinking back on the game I’ve already completed, it begins to feel like I’ve gone back in time. The GTA series (I mean its rebirth in 3D, starting with GTA III) didn’t exist back then. Variety quests? forget it! Until the end of the game we’ll be spinning the “steering wheel” and smashing faces with our fists. Even the trivial shoot-outs in Mafia 2 can be considered a holiday. By the middle of the game, Vito will have only 3-4 major shootouts on his account.

It has already become the norm that you can greatly increase the amount of time you spend with any sandbox game with additional missions. Everywhere, but not in Mafia 2. There are only two types of side quests here: carjacking and robbing stores. It’s doubtful that anyone will be interested in this.

Another “signature” entertainment of such games is the exploration of all the nooks and crannies of the virtual city. But in this respect Mafia 2 also screwed up: Empire Bay (which is the name of the game) is not just a “sandbox”, it is a dead “sandbox”. Pedestrians wander aimlessly through the streets, the police don’t catch anyone, the firemen don’t rush anywhere. It is a cardboard illusion of life, nothing more. And the city itself is practically devoid of any sights and “Easter eggs”, so dear to the hearts of fans.

It is possible to break this sleepy calm, but not for long. Lazy custodians of Empire Bay will show a genuine interest in Vito if you steal a car in front of them, cause an accident, or just greatly exceed the speed limit. It’s easy enough to get rid of the stalkers, just drive around the block in circles. There were no police helicopters in the ’40s…

But at that time there were already motorcycles and watercrafts, but 2K Czech forgot about it. Feel yourself a “great car thief” in Empire Bay is unlikely. The player has only 36 types of vehicles (plus another 10 are added with five DLC). No boats, no motorcycles (although one DLC adds biker clothes to Vito’s closet), no special vehicles (no firemen, no ambulance, only hearse). The handling of all this “happiness” is also far from ideal, but at least you can get used to it.

In the end, it turns out that Mafia 2 is a lot like the first part. It could be considered a virtue, if it were not for one “but”. Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven was released 8 years ago, and during this time the sandbox games have evolved a lot. Nowadays you can hardly be surprised by non-linear game with several endings, rich vehicle park, immensely powerful story or enveloping atmosphere. In Mafia 2 there is nothing of this. And what we have is so dull and ordinary that you want to forget about Vito and Empire Bay and Mafia in general.