Mafia II Message Board

One minute, you're talking to a sweet old Italian lady in Mafia II, the next, you're tripping balls.Read more...

A hyper-detailed historical RPG from the main folks behind Mafia? Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

Ahem. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a nonlinear role-player set in the dying days of the Holy Roman Empire, and it features precisely zero monsters, magic, or mythical overtones. Instead, the focus is on accuracy, and who better to head up that effort than the former director of Mafia and Mafia II? Developer Warhorse is made up of vets from 2K Czech and Arma powerhouse Bohemia, so expect obsessive attention to detail. Sadly (and somewhat paradoxically) insubstantial teaser trailer below.

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#rumor As ridiculous as that headline sounds, think about it for a second. Yeah, there you go. More »

#criticism In the runup to the game's release last year, Mafia II's development studio and publicity team tried, with limited success, to set reasonable expectations of the game. "It isn't Grand Theft Auto," I was told, more than once, in emails and in the game's review notes. More »

The word about the Mafia II “Director’s Cut” package has been on the street for a while, but now 2K Games has made it official: the publisher is indeed putting out an all DLC-inclusive, cheaper ($30) version of the title across all three of its platforms, the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. 

On the consoles, Mafia II "Director’s Cut" will receive the platform’s respective best seller branding, which changes its name to Mafia II Greatest Hits on the PS3 and Mafia II Platinum Hits on Xbox 360. The PC version is the only one that’ll be actually referred to as "Director’s Cut" on the packaging, but all three will combine the same content: the core game, its three content-lean downloadable add-ons, and its four, once retail-exclusive “style” DLC packs.  


Just as a refresher, here’s the boilerplate on all the DLC, provided via 2K Games:

• The Betrayal of Jimmy: Players take on Empire Bay through an alternate perspective of the mob through the eyes of Jimmy, a mercenary. Jimmy is the guy the other guys call when they need to finish the job. The Betrayal of Jimmy features dozens of intense arcade-style, city-based missions that keep Jimmy driving, shooting and rampaging through Empire Bay. 
• Jimmy's Vendetta : Once the mob's most effective ally, Jimmy is now its greatest enemy. Fueled by rage, Jimmy takes on Italian and Irish mobsters in a slew of unlockable city quests, including assassination and timed vehicle pursuits ending in dramatic shootouts. 
• Joe’s Adventures: Play as Joe Barbaro as he rampages through Empire Bay in the wake of Vito Scaletta's prison sentence. Joe must uncover the traitor who betrayed Vito while overcoming the challenges of moving up the ranks in the mob. 
• Four Style Packs [Ed. Once retailer-exclusive] including Vegas, Renegade, Greaser and War Hero - each with two cars and two suits for in-game use. 

As for when and where you can find this latest version of Mafia II, well, you can find the console versions at select US retailers right now. The worldwide release of these versions is slated to start hitting shelves later this April, while the PC version is slated to “become available in the coming months.” Here's a Quick Look of the game in action and, hey, a link to our review. 
  

#cussin While no character in Bulletstorm has the name, the game's script does seem overly concerned with the activities of someone named "Dick." Here's a compilation - by no means exhaustive - of two-dozen references to aforesaid Mr. Richard, within the span of a minute. More »

#herewegoagain Italian-Americans wanted Mafia II banned because they said it portrayed offensive ethnic stereotypes. A European Parliament member wants it banned because it trivializes mob murders. I have a better strategy: STFU about banning bad games, and they'll eventually fade away. More »

#nsfw In the Western version of crime game Mafia II, there are vintage copies of Playboy as collectible items. The game even tracks how long players stare at the centerfolds. Cut that time in half for Japan. More »

#clips Ultimately, Mafia II suffered from too much imagination and not enough substance; "Jimmy's Vendetta," its first paid DLC extension, lacked both. But this trailer for its second, Joe's Adventures, due Nov. 23, actually looks promising. More »

#dlc "Joe's Adventures," a Mafia II DLC extension whose name has been known for some time, will arrive Nov. 23. A narrative flashback, you'll play as Joe Barbaro during the time the main game's protagonist, Vito Scaletta, is in prison. More »

Hypocricy, skepticism and the subtleties of sarcasm.

More content for your gangster fantasy world.

#ruhroh Denby Grace, the senior producer for 2K Games' Mafia II has apologized for a flip answer to a rather stock interview question in which he said "gay space marines" were the biggest problem facing video games. More »

#ruhroh Denby Grace, the senior producer for 2K Games' Mafia II has apologized for a flip answer to a rather stock interview question in which he said "gay space marines" were the biggest problem facing video games. More »

#pullquote 2K's Grace answers MTV's question with surprising candour. More »

2K's period piece has something to be proud of.

#wtf Yesterday, Rooster Teeth's Achievement Hunters compiled 200 instances of Mafia II using a four-letter word that rhymes with "John Kruk." Today, Guinness World Records says it's provisionally certified the game as the all-time F-bomb champion among video games. More »

Take a ride on the wild side with Joe's Adventures.

#nsfw House Of The Dead: Overkill previously held the Guinness-certified World Record for most uses of the F-word in a video game, with 189. Mafia II has whacked that target. Rooster Teeth's Achievement Hunter compiled all 200. Language very NSFW. More »

Mobster's reign set to end as Halo reaches for your wallet.

#nsfw Mafia II's got some issues, but give the devil its due, it's got some nudity in it. Hot Blooded Gaming, to my knowledge, is the first to round up and gallerize all 50 of its collectible Playboy centerfolds. More »

Return to Empire Bay with Jimmy's Vendetta.

#gallery Crime game Mafia II is getting its second downloadable add-on called Jimmy's Vendetta. More »

Dog Days slips as the Cosa Nostra roll into town.

#2kgames UNICO National, the group representing Italian-Americans upset over the portrayal of Italian gangsters in the recently released Mafia II, have scored a win in their battle against 2K Games' mobster adventure. They claim to have unquestionably pooped their launch party. More »

Four easy achievements

A life of crime, violence and corruption. But enough about working in the games industry, what's Mafia II like?

There's a bit early on in Mafia 2 where war veteran and budding crook Vito Scaletta tries to go straight. He takes some grunt work at the docks, just like his late old man, loading hefty wooden crates onto a truck bed. After a few minutes of player-controlled hauling, he abandons his short-lived foray into working stiffery permanently.

But after playing though the entirety of his criminal career, after seeing the gameplay and narrative drudgery he was in store for, its hard to say for certain that he made the right choice.

#review Morning. The phone rings, I answer. It's Joe, chirping the usual advice. Get dressed and get my gun. I go to the fridge instead for a Master Beer. In the bathroom I flip on the light. I flush the toilet. More »

#soundtracks It's not exactly the Rock Band 3 tracklist reveal, but Mafia II's period-piece bonafides aren't limited to the set direction and costumes. More »