Mafia II

Mafia II is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. Most of the game is set in the fictional city of Empire Bay, based on New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and Detroit, during the mid-1940s and early 1950s. The core gameplay revolves around shooting and driving; a limited melee combat system is also included, which combines punching and dodging. There are 50 era-accurate vehicles in the game as well as licensed music.

Depending on the weather during the course of the game, vehicles handle differently. For example, during the early chapters in winter, vehicles are more likely to slip on the road due to the ice. Many firearms from the previous game return, such as the Thompson submachine gun and Colt 1911, as well as a pump-action shotgun. New World War II–era weapons, such as the MG 42 and the Beretta Model 38, also appear in the game.

Set nearly a decade after the first game, Mafia II takes place between two distinct time periods – 1945 and 1951 – within the fictional U.S. city of Empire Bay; the game's first chapter takes place in the fictional town of San Celeste in Sicily, while the sixth is set within a prison located outside Empire Bay. The city is situated on the United States' eastern coastline and divided by a river, and consists of several districts, including wealthy suburbs, slums, and tenement blocks for the city's different ethnic groups, including Irish, African-American, Chinese, and Italian, and large-scale industrial complexes, with the city supported by a large port, a railroad station, a major prison outside its city limits, several parks, and a collection of shopping malls and supermarkets.

The game's main story sees the city divided between a number of criminal outfits, including three mafia families — the Falcone family, Vinci family, and Clemente family — a Chinese Triad outfit, the Irish Mob, and several street gangs. The city's design, including the architectural styles, cultures, public transportation and landmarks, are influenced by various real-life American cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Detroit, from within the two respective time periods used in the game.

Preliminary work on Mafia II began in 2004; the work on the script began in 2003. Originally intended for a PlayStation 2 and Xbox release, the game was moved to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2005, following difficulties with the developer of the game engine. It was officially revealed in August 2007 at the Leipzig Games Convention. A playable version of the game was achieved in 2007 or 2008. Mafia II was expected to release in late 2009, but was delayed until its release in August 2010.

2K Czech wrote a new engine for the game which was named the Illusion Engine. The new engine was the successor to the IS' LS3D engine which was used to make the first Mafia game.

Mafia II received "generally favorable reviews" for the Windows and PlayStation 3 versions, and "mixed or average reviews" for the Xbox 360 version and Definitive Edition remaster from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Greg Miller of IGN gave the game 7/10, calling it "a solid little game that'll give you a fun ride – just don't expect the world." Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot gave it 8.5 and stated: "Mafia II's exciting action and uncompromising mob story make for an impressive and violent adventure." Matt Bertz of Game Informer gave it a 9.0/10, writing that "in an era when video games are moving away from relying on cinematics for storytelling, Mafia II draws on the rich mobster film history to weave a gripping drama about family, friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and pragmatism."

The most negative review came from John Teti of Eurogamer who gave the game a 4/10 and wrote that "Mafia II gets the last word by destroying the myth that the mafia is interesting at all. It contends that the mob world is a hell of boredom populated by aggressively stupid automatons. These drones wake up each morning, carry out a series of repetitious tasks, and return home."