Later this year, 2K Games invites to you to become a made man in Mafia II, the sequel to the open world smash hit. In it, you play as Vito, a World War II veteran coming back to the fictional U.S. city of Empire Bay, circa 1945. Unfortunately, Vito lives in Sand Island, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the game. Desperate for cash and power, he joins the mob and embarks upon a ten-year journey that'll involve blood, money and stereotypical wise guys.
An early mission, dubbed The Buzz Saw, takes place during February 1945. Vito, a low man on the Mafioso totem pole, receives orders to kill the Fat Man, a distillery owner who refuses to pay the mob for protection. When the mission starts, Vito, his friend Joe and a higher ranked family member named Henry are on a stakeout across the street from the distillery. As the Fat Man arrives, Vito mans an MG42 machine gun and fails to take out his target; instead, he slaughters some of the Fat Man's goons and blows up a few cars.
From there, Vito and his cronies (the computer controls both Joe and Henry) chase Fat Man into the building and engage in a firefight with various enemies. Guys unload their Tommy Guns, chuck Molotov cocktails and spew lots of dirty language. Meanwhile, our heroes take cover behind various objects, pop out and return fire. After a few seconds, Joe kicks open a door and gets the jump on the bad guys. This prompts his fellow mobsters to push their way up, eventually killing everyone in their path.
Once they reach Fat Man, the rotund businessman begs for his life (he has a wife, after all). When Henry gets too close, Fat Man fires a round into his leg. Enraged, the three men unleash a torrent of bullets into their target and watch as his limp carcass hits the ground.
Snuffing Fat Man is only part of the mission. Escorting Joe out of the distillery (while he carries Henry) begins the second half. With the place crumbling around them, they barely make it out alive and hop into a car. Now the game transitions from an on foot shooter to a third person driving experience, as the player must haul ass to the mafia doctor, El Greco, before Henry bleeds to death. The demo concluded on a bridge surrounded by cops. With no where to go, Vito revs the engine and the screen faded black, suggesting he drives off the bridge, but we're not sure how it ends.
If this is the game's first level, consider us impressed. Not only is there lots of action, but the movie quality voice acting and well animated cut scenes bring the 1940s to life. The developers even went as far as to dress NPCs in 1940s clothing and plaster walls with WWII propaganda (they even have licensed songs on the radio).
Even better, the game world evolves over time. Each mission represents a day in Vito's life, and as he moves into the 50s, the clothing, cars and music change. That's the sort of attention to detail that makes for a quality experience.
2K still has a ways to go, but thus far, Mafia II looks like a deep and immersive adventure with a unique setting and likable characters. Now all we need is the ability to slap a pair of cement shoes on someone and chuck them into the river.
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