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[Game] Mafia II - Megathread

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#141
DraKon2k said:
GTA4 was by far the most alive sand-box game I've ever played tbh
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Eh? i can only assume you are thinking of the random NPC's there, which admittedly, they did a very good job with, but NPC's are not a sandbox activity, they are just backdrop that you can have very limted interactions with (run over, punch or shoot, basically), and the game kinda.. punishes you for having any fun with them, you gain a wanted level so quickly, and thats just not fun in GTA4, random combat is very akward in this game, and dodging the cops somehow just isen't ammusing, and less so if you're on foot.
 
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#142
The whole friend system was pretty unique and really added to the game and I've never seen a game which had something similar to this. I must admit after like 20-30 hours it was just annoying but in the time before the game didn't even feel so much like a game(where you just play mission after mission) but a really believable world. And it's not just like there were only alibi-activities. Most of the standup-comedy shows were pretty funny, tv ads+radios are hilarious anyways as they have always been, pool etc. was quite entertaining, you could even do online-dating and meet the contacts in 'real-game-life'. All this combined with the random NPC thing you mentioned made for an incredibly believable world imo. And again i've never played any sandbox game with a more alive environment and I've played pretty much any good game(well I didn't play AC2 yet but I doubt it's better in those terms than GTA4). All of the 'mission characters' were very funny and distinct from each other as well, like in previous GTAs. The only things I would maybe critize is that a) after some time you just get annoyed by some of your friends when they call you too often b) that the more you progress within the main story the missions become too much 'shoot 454353 guys' style.
 
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#143
I, and many others, hated all of thouse things, i hated all my "freinds" by the third time they called me, by the fifth time i wanted to brutally murder them, i hated all the minigames, i booted up a GTA game, i wanted to shoot stuff and drive cars recklessly, not play a crappier version of WII Sports, all the shows and TV shows had nothing to do with gameplay, this is a game, i want to interact with stuff, not sit on my arse doing nothing, i can watch real TV for that (putting them in the game was fine, forcing us to watch them however, was not), i didn't find the radio stations very funny at all (and whats with the constant transexual jokes? are Rockstar trying to tell us something?).

And the whole gameworld, whilst it looked very nice (well, personal taste in Bloom and DOF asside), and the NPC's populating it where well made, it had bugger all to do in it, and badly lacked any kind of variety, all it had was New York, more New York, some parks in New York, followed by some waterfront in New York, it all blended togeather for me, nothing really stood out, and aside from a few "stunt jumps" and such you could find, there was little reason to bother with it, driving around in slow and poorly handling cars, in the middle of heavy traffic, is about as exciting as your average drive to work, getting a wanted level in a car was just dull, the fighting mechanics where clunky and you got a wanted level very fast, so just going about causing mayhem was really unfun and usually got you killed pretty fast, i think they deliberately tried to discourage you from doing it if i'm honest, and there was nothing worthwhile to explore, see or collect, and besides, the game would quickly phone you up and tell you to come do something else.. nothing about the game really made you want to enjoy it's sandbox, but instead, punked you to go do some more missions, either via the cellphone, or out of boredom.

That is not a sandbox game, it's a story driven "choose you next mission" game that just happens to take place in a big map.
You are more than welcome to tell me that you enjoyed it, we don't have to have the same taste, it's fine that we don't, you're also welcome to tell me that you found it's gameworld an immersive and belivable backdrop to the storyline, sure, but you can not tell me that this is an "alive sandbox" when it has barely anything to do in it, aside from pre-scripted missions and pre-scripted minigames at set locations that must be unlocked by playing other missions, that's not sandbox, that's just playing missions and minigames via a HUB instead of an UI.
 
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#144
1) Then you might just as well not play any video games at all
2) You don't need to emphasize 'I, and many others'. The game has an average rating of 98% and is one of the most loved games ever, not only by the critics but by the players, so you are a very small minority in this case
3) What is a good sandbox game then? ArmA2? :rolleyes:
Give some examples!
 
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#147
DraKon2k said:
1) Then you might just as well not play any video games at all
2) You don't need to emphasize 'I, and many others'. The game has an average rating of 98% and is one of the most loved games ever, not only by the critics but by the players, so you are a very small minority in this case
3) What is a good sandbox game then? ArmA2? :rolleyes:
Give some examples!
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1) whut!? because i dont like one game i will never like any games? or what exactly are you trying to say?

2) Scores mean exactly dick, how often do you have to be told that? go dig up some real player feedback, go check out "GTAIV" threads on various forums and have a look at the comments (or the feedback of any of its competitors, it allways gets brought up), there's no shortage of people who didn't like this game, anywhere you see it disgussed (with the possible exception of Rockstars own forums, i should imagine), people seem split on this game.
You might aswell start right here on this forum and work your way out from there.

3) Arma2? really? what is your major malfunction? but ok i'll humour you: Hardwar, GTA, GTA2, GTA3, GTA:VC, GTA:SA, Mafia, SR, SR2, JC2, all of thouse offer lots of fun sandboxing (or atleast did for their time), and there's more i can't be bothered to think of, sandbox games are nothing new, and there have been plenty of good ones, i just don't think GTA4 is one of them (and had you bothered reading my post, i made it clear why aswell, a sandbox with nothing interesting to do but play pre-scripted missions is not much of a sandbox, its just a string of pre-scripted missions).
 
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#149
DraKon2k said:
You don't like the same game i do? that hurts my feelings, now i shall call you names in retribution!
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And there's not a dry eye in the house, i'm sure, well played.


Anyway, perhabs we should get back to the subject: Have they said anything about Mafia2 having the "free ride" mode from the first? i allways felt that was a great idea, it allowed for funny sillyness without it getting in the way of the storyline.
 
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#151
I don't get the 10/10 hype either. It's a great game alright, but it's overhyped as well.

Ironically, if the series had started out with GTA IV's relative seriousness (can't stress relative enough) and realism and the sequels had gotten sillier, arcadier and had less repercussions for crimes committed against NPCs we would be discussing how the series was dumbed down and how it doesn't deserve to carry the GTA name anymore.:p

Speaking of realism, one thing I really liked about GTA IV's shooting was that shots were rarely outright lethal but you crippled enemies over the course of a couple of shots until they couldn't fight back anymore and were either dead, limping/crawling away without weapons or cringing on the ground and you weren't always sure if they were hit badly enough to not pose a threat anymore. Sounds brutal, and it is, but it's also more realistic than the ol' "your tank of life is depleted and now you go from perfect health to perfect death. Good bye!" system most other games use.
I wouldn't mind seeing this in other games including (and especially!) Mafia 2.
 
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#152
Grobut said:
Anyway, perhabs we should get back to the subject: Have they said anything about Mafia2 having the "free ride" mode from the first? i allways felt that was a great idea, it allowed for funny sillyness without it getting in the way of the storyline.
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I don't think there's been any mention, but I do hope that there is realistic law enforcement. Some people found that annoying in the first game, but it really added to atmosphere of the city. It wouldn't work in a game like GTA, but it would in Mafia since more policemen were on foot rather than in cars.
 
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#155
the developers have started making it VERY clear they want to kep the realism from the original mafia game and simply make it as good as they can with next gen tech.


The newest trailer shows that off well I think.




Also speed limits where quasi confirmed via GDC interview as well as the necessity to holster a weapon.
 
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#156
Murphy said:
Ironically, if the series had started out with GTA IV's relative seriousness (can't stress relative enough) and realism and the sequels had gotten sillier, arcadier and had less repercussions for crimes committed against NPCs we would be discussing how the series was dumbed down and how it doesn't deserve to carry the GTA name anymore.:p
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I don't think it's ironic really, nobody enjoys seeing something they liked replaced by something they don't, and it doesen't really matter which camp on the realism scale it crosses over from or to.

My reputation here as a realism geek should be well established i think, but as much as i hate to see realistic franchises become arcade, because i enjoyed them for their realism, there are also many arcady games i love for their arcady gameplay, and would hate to see become more realistic, it just spoils what made them fun.

It works both ways, which is why i hate when they "change the target demographic" of a franchise, just leave it alone and go start a new franchise, don't fix what wasen't broken.

Volodnikov said:
I don't think there's been any mention, but I do hope that there is realistic law enforcement. Some people found that annoying in the first game, but it really added to atmosphere of the city. It wouldn't work in a game like GTA, but it would in Mafia since more policemen were on foot rather than in cars.
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Actually, that was the beuty of the "free ride" mode, Mafia's storyline was much more serious and also more realistic than GTA was at that time, it did have traffic rules and all thouse things, things that where good and added something to the story mode, but would have horribly broken the sandbox fun, ergo, they split the two, you could have the seriousness in the story portion, and you could have no cops, crazy ramps and supercars powered by alien technology, whilst saving damsels in distress from the Kraken in free ride, the best of both worlds!

Thats why i hope it's still in there, it was brilliant, it allowed the game to present a solid and serious story, whilst at the same time also let us run wild and **** things up when we wanted to aswell, but without one side cheapening the other in the process.
 
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#157
Murphy said:
I don't get the 10/10 hype either. It's a great game alright, but it's overhyped as well.
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That is true about the 10/10, but there's a difference between claiming that in reality a majority of people actually dislike the game because it has too many features like certain people here do(better not get another infraction) and taking an objective and critic look.

I never said the game was perfect and in fact I was even rather annoyed when I finished the game due to the mission structures, but taking the games strenghts, making them look bad and then claiming that's how many people think is kind of curious in my opinion.
 
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#158
Grobut said:
there are also many arcady games i love for their arcady gameplay, and would hate to see become more realistic, it just spoils what made them fun.
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Just like the heavier and grittier and "brown" ruined Unreal Tournament for me

Grobut said:
Thats why i hope it's still in there, it was brilliant, it allowed the game to present a solid and serious story, whilst at the same time also let us run wild and **** things up when we wanted to aswell, but without one side cheapening the other in the process.
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Its strange but in Mafia, in free ride, I never even had the urge to go crazy, it was so immersive that I took it very seriously.
 
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#160
Is it already known whether Mafia 2 is going to support steering wheels? Because Mafia 1 worked surprisingly well with one. The PC versions of GTA III and VC had digital controls so they were unplayable with a wheel, but Mafia even had force feedback! Driving with a wheel from one of the first person views felt really authentic once you got into it a bit. Is Mafia 2 going to improve on that?

Grobut said:
I don't think it's ironic really
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I think it is, because if Flashpoint 2 had been more realistic than Flashpoint 1 no one would have complained. And if someone had he would have been told to go play CoD or MW or whatever that series wants to be called these days.

And it really isn't like GTA IV is such a huge departure from the older games like certain people make it seem.
It has more realistic car handling and a slightly more tactical combat system. Other than that it's just about the same.
It still has psychotic characters, wacky radio stations and satirical humor all tied up into a pseudo-serious mock-movie story.

The perceived seriousness a) isn't that much different from GTA III, where it didn't bother anyone, interestingly, and b) it just comes with the setting. And the settings have always been more or less radically different from game to game.

The increased realism isn't a demographic or genre-changing change at all. The handling of cars got more realistic from GTA 2 to GTA III, again from GTA III to VC and yet again from VC to SA! The leap to GTA IV was mainly bigger because it was the first GTA on then-next gen consoles so they had more processing power to spare for more in-depth physics.
Same for combat. GTA III was more realistic than GTA 2, VC added aiming with rifles and was slightly more realistic than GTA III (although the *pffffff* sound of the M4 or whatever it was in full-auto will be missed:p). San Andreas changed combat radically and was more realistic than either game before it.
Again, GTA IV made a bigger leap because it wasn't a ps2 game anymore.

The comparison to a theoretical Flashpoint 2 that topped Flashpoint 1 in realism really fits surprisingly well.

It's really not a case of abandoning a target demographic to appeal to a wider audience but regardless of whether we agree on this or not: that especially you make that point when a series gets ever so slightly more realistic when you generally make it a point to claim games are dumbed down and made less realistic for that 'wider audience'... that is ironic.
As much sense as it makes to you, you have to admit that much, ya old bipolar realism gamer you.:p:)

That said, VC > GTA IV.
 
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