Mafia II

[toblix]

So this is almost out, this game over here. Anyone know if it's good? I hear there are reviews coming out, but I'm not seeing anything anywheres.

Also, PC has been the platform on which I intend to purchase this title. Anyone know some reasons why maybe I should reconsider this?

[Chris]

I've played various parts of the game on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and I would have no reservations about recommending the PC version. For one thing, if you like using mouse and keyboard, you will really benefit from that in this game. I had a lot of trouble using the controller; I'm sure people who play all their games with analog sticks won't have as much of an issue though.

Also, this is one of the games that REALLY highlights to me that we're at that part in the console cycle where, when it comes to most multiplatform games anyway, the PC is really starting to outpace the consoles in terms of basic graphical presentation. The cutscene team in Mafia II really loves to do closeups of characters' faces and hands using the same models as the more pulled-out shots, meaning on the console you often zoom in on big blurry messes of a fist, and things like that. I was pretty shocked when I first played the game on 360. On the PC it's still not the most mindblowingly high level of graphical fidelity, but it looks REALLY nice to have the sharper textures and higher overall resolution. Obviously if you turn down the graphics on the PC for hardware reasons, that advantage is not as strong.

Anyway, to answer your question directly, no I can't think of any reason not to go for the PC version if you are used to playing games on PC.

[toblix]

Thanks, I just preordered on Steam.

[miffy495]

Rather than choosing which version to get (unless its seriously hobbled or I want to play on XBL, it'll pretty much always be PC for me), think you could give me any advice on whether I should preorder this myself? The first game was intriguing to me, but came out when I was in 9th grade and didn't have a job, so I never bought it. As such, I don't know how the series feels. This one has me perked up a bit to check it out, but I'm on the fence. Most of the good stuff that I've heard about the game has been conceptual or from early preview builds. I know it has potential, but have no idea if it comes close to reaching it. Would anyone who has had a chance to see the game at press events or conventions care to throw in their thoughts?

[Nappi]

  Chris said:

I've played various parts of the game on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and I would have no reservations about recommending the PC version. For one thing, if you like using mouse and keyboard, you will really benefit from that in this game. I had a lot of trouble using the controller; I'm sure people who play all their games with analog sticks won't have as much of an issue though.

Were the console controls really bad or just not as good as mouse and keyboard? Is the aiming worse than, say, in GTA IV or Uncharted? I would buy this game on PC but I'm afraid that my Macbook Pro won't be able to run it properly. It's not plugged to an 5.1 sound system and huge TV screen, either.

  miffy495 said:

The first game was intriguing to me, but came out when I was in 9th grade and didn't have a job, so I never bought it.

The first game is still easily one of my favourite games of all time. I would still recommend it; I think it might have aged well, although it's some time since I last played it. Not sure if it's available as a download anywhere, so it might be tough to find it, though. Mafia II sure looks and sounds good but I haven't played it, so I don't know whether or not you should preorder it. I would be very surprised, however, if a game that promising turned out to be a complete piece of crap.

[eljay]

You can get the first game free if you preorder through steam

[Nappi]

Oh..

Then you should probably preorder it.

[brkl]

I expect the shooty bits of the first game haven't aged well since they sucked when the game was released. Everything else makes up for it, though.

[miffy495]

Yeah, when I saw the "preorder and get Mafia 1 free!" thing, I caved. It's done. This is, of course, stupid of me. I still want to finish Fallout 3 before playing any other PC games, and Starcraft 2 (also preordered) comes out in a matter of days, and I still have stuff from the Steam sale (notably Bad Company 2 and Metro 2033) to play, but here we are. I have really bad impulse control sometimes. Dang.

[toblix]

There's also the thing where you Mafia free without having to purchase anything.

[miffy495]

Well dang. Too late now.

[Patters]

Demo is out and is pretty good. Driving on the keyboard is fucking awful like every other game, but I can switch to a controller easily enough. The game does something which always appears to be egregious to me, pausing the cut-scenes when I open the steam overlay.

[elmuerte]

Any news on what kind of DRM Mafia 2 uses?

Also it sucks that the collectors edition of the PC is more or less canceled.

[Kolzig]

I got the demo of Mafia II dl'd through Steam, I have test it out in the next few days.

Very excited about this, I remember lots of good memories about the first one, but that might be just my memory making silver linings on things that were not that good actually. The car driving was pain always.

[Scratch]

  elmuerte said:

Any news on what kind of DRM Mafia 2 uses?

Also it sucks that the collectors edition of the PC is more or less canceled.

Huh? I just preordered the CE for PC from my local retailer just yesterday without a problem.

As for DRM, it's steamworks. The whole deal with steam achievements etc.

[Nappi]

As I suspected, the game didn't run too well on my laptop; I'll have to try the demo later on PS3. It still felt like Mafia though, and I enjoyed barely being able to maneuver my car through a corner, and being ticketed for speeding, and all the other little things like these you can't experience in GTA.

[Brannigan]

  Patters said:

Demo is out and is pretty good. Driving on the keyboard is fucking awful like every other game, but I can switch to a controller easily enough. The game does something which always appears to be egregious to me, pausing the cut-scenes when I open the steam overlay.

I'd say the driving is extra bad in this. I'm totally fine with driving in gta/just cause 2 on pc. This felt incredibly stiff.

[CaptainFish]

I had trouble with the driving on both regular and simulation modes, and the game didn't pick up my non xinput controller. Handbrake turns were always full circles for me, but using the normal brake did a decent job.

[elmuerte]

  Scratch said:

Huh? I just preordered the CE for PC from my local retailer just yesterday without a problem.

That's because you don't live on a continent that a whole of publisher hate.

It was pretty much canceled in Europe.

  Quote

As for DRM, it's steamworks. The whole deal with steam achievements etc.

Oh, that's a shame. Then I'll wait for it to go on sale.

[miffy495]

Downloading the demo now. I hope it's good, as I put in my damn preorder already. Whee, consumerism!

[Nappi]

You are thinking it wrong. It's not the controls that are bad but the cars.

[Asembo]

  Brannigan said:

I'd say the driving is extra bad in this. I'm totally fine with driving in gta/just cause 2 on pc. This felt incredibly stiff.

Have you tried changing driving to simulation? It made driving a lot better for me.

[miffy495]

I had no trouble at all with driving, actually. Felt really good. I've played through the demo twice now, once on my desktop, once on my laptop. It really told me that I need to upgrade my desktop's graphics card, and soon. Chugged like hell and made playing the game near impossible. Smooth as butter on the laptop though, so fears that the game I paid money for would be unplayable for me are put to rest. Felt really good and I now can't wait to play it. Soundtrack was perfect, too. I hope it's more than just a few songs, because it really felt right. After all my time in Fallout 3, I'm acutely aware of games that do a great job licensing music but then only license like 6 songs. I hope Mafia 2 is not one of those.

[CaptainFish]

This demo made me finally figure out the xinput emulator I had, so I was able to use my game pad. After playing the demo a few times, I'm totally used to driving on both the keyboard and controller, but the shooting is much better on the mouse. The speed limiter is a cool idea. It's a great way to let you get to missions without causing a shitstorm. I was getting an average frame rate around 35 fps, with some big drops for the fire effects and explosions. Weirdly, changing the settings all to low didn't actually help in the benchmark at all, maybe because the fire effects seemed to be just as intense.

[brkl]

I can't believe how well Mafia 2 runs on my rig considering old and ugly GTA4 still chugs if I want it to look good.