The Official "This is not GTA in the 50's" Thread

[McGee]

For all you newcomers, and who have no idea what Mafia 2 is. Once reading this Q&A. hopefully you'll receive a better understanding as to what Mafia II is really all about.

Q: Is this game like GTA, or God Father only set in the 50's?

A: Mafia 2 is more of a linear shooter than a sandbox game, although it will have sandbox qualities. You don't really "rise through the ranks." Its already been pretty much confirmed that the highest Vito will go is being made and that's it. In the life of the Mafia, that's a huge honour and usually takes years for a person to accomplish. If you watch movies like Goodfellas, the producers have already said that the game will be very much like that.

I highly suggest that you play Mafia 1 to get a feel for the game, because I'm sure that Mafia II will be very similar. The game revolves around a film-like story-telling experience and the best way to do that is to keep it as linear as possible. The last we heard, there were 400 pages of script which is almost as much as many movies. So think Metal Gear Solid and expect alot of cutscenes. [Hope you won't mind Xardas ]

Q: Will there be side missions that we can do?

A: No. The only side missions are those that are playable through the story. They are mandatory, and give more background on the story and characters of Mafia 2.

Q: Is there Multiplayer in Mafia 2?

A: No. Mafia 2 emphasizes entirely on it's diverse characters, witty dialogue, and epic story that spans nearly 20 years of Vito's life. The men and woman at 2K Czech devoted all there energy on creating a wonderful cinematic story, and including multiplayer would've just not been up to there standard of perfection.

Q: Can you free roam during the game?

A: Yes. As Jack Scalici alluded to in the latest podcast. Vito will end his mission by going to to bed. There you can roam around the city, until you decide to move along in the story.

Q: Is there a day/night, or weather cycle in Mafia 2?

A: No. As in any movie the director tries to capture the perfect mood, the perfect atmosphere in certain scenes. With Mafia 2 it's very much the same. The weather, and time of day is controlled all by the director, and won't change until you complete the mission, and progress onto the next chapter of Vito's journey.

Q: Can we free roam after the game is finished?

A: According to 2K_Jack you can. He didn't explain how this occurs, but once you finish the game, you can still roam in Empire Bay however long you please

Q: If Mafia 2 is so linear, and there aren't any side missions, or distractions, or multiplayer for that matter, then why should I buy this game, and not simply rent it for the weekend?

A: Whether you chose to buy or rent the game is ultimately up to you. But if your avid fan of games like Uncharted 2, Bioshock, Batman Arkham Asylum, or even Mass Effect then you should seriously consider Mafia 2. If you enjoy games that tell a deep, and throttling narrative. With intelligent dialogue, and astounding voice acting then Mafia 2 is no doubt for you. For as we know that games that tell great stories are games that we can play over, and over again.

Please new members refer to this thread if you have no clue about Mafia 2. Otherwise if you want a real "taste" of how Mafia 2 plays out then I'd advise to pick up Mafia: The City of Lost Haven for the pc.

[Wiseguy88]

Please, make this one sticky so we don't get these stupid new threads about multiplayer etc.

[FulcrumX]

One thing you should mention about the multiplayer is that we don't know for sure there won't be one in the future.

I'm not saying there will (and I'm not saying I want one)


taken from an interview with Jack Scalici (Director of Creative Production)

PSB: Will There Be any multiplayer/ co-op in the game? (Harlemz-Prodigy and others)

JC: Not currently at this time.

This implies that there MIGHT be some sort of DLC or spin-off game. Highly unlikely, but due to the wording of his reply you cannot say there never will be an online mode.

[Khalil102]

Nice thread...lol

[RunningBare]

Comparisons are inevitable, what I find irritating is a lot of the comparisons are shallow, weapons, game mechanics and so on, some will not even notice the story, their only interest is how many different type of weapons and how many people they can kill throughout the game, and this is where developers have a difficulty in finding the right balance, the game needs to sell, so do you target a minimal audiance who enjoy indepth story's or go for the more popular brainless shoot em, smash em and crash em type, I think Mafia II might just achieve a balance, but I also believe it's one of those games that will peak in the ratings then suddenly become obscure.

[PG1]

Q: Will there be side missions that we can do?

A: No. The only side missions are those that are playable through the story. They are mandatory, and give more background on the story and characters of Mafia 2.

Only a few of them are mandatory. Most will give you the option to reject the job.

[Don_Vito]

Only a few of them are mandatory. Most will give you the option to reject the job.

No, they have all been made mandatory you can't reject any, and the rest has been taken out

[Cagney89]

Nice idea for a thread, though I think this would of been alot more useful if you had posted it a couple of months before the game came out.

[Gamba]

This is a really great idea, I think everyone is tired of seeing yet another "Is game like gOdfATHER/gTa?!!8" and "I can hidden dead boddies in trunck not?! Jack no is good fellow" (can't you add all of azzaulter's questions aswell, just for laughs?)

But I found two inaccuracies:
Q1 - I think the script is actually 700 pages long, if I remember correctly it was MAFIA that was 400 pages.

Q3 - The story spans 10 years not 20, 1945-55.

But it's great, I will be referring guys who post these new threads to here and maybe, just maybe, we don't have to put up with the same question over and over again.

[tgas416]

I think this is a good idea it answers lot of basic questions that new comers might have nice job!

[Spiral Static]

Nice! You used my idea for the thread name!

[Spiral Static]

Can a mod please sticky this thread?

[Dsmooth16]

If this does get sticky remove the Thread Cataloguing System no one post in that thread anymore.The first page is gonna be all stickys soon

[Jonny tight lips]

So what else can you do in the game other than drive around and punch or shoot enemies?

[McGee]

So what else can you do in the game other than drive around and punch or shoot enemies?

What do you mean?

[Sande]

Since when was this thread official? I mean someone might think this is actually official and overseen by 2K or something..

Anyways, you had some good points there but unfortunately 99% of the "it's like GTA in the fifties" people will never see this thread. And the day after release there will be riots on the streets because you can't go bowling with Joe.

[Jonny tight lips]

What do you mean?

What other elements of gameplay are there other than doing missions that involve shooting up your enemies or stealing cars?

[Don_Vito]

There are stealth missions

[packardcaribien]

What other elements of gameplay are there other than doing missions that involve shooting up your enemies or stealing cars?

There's bombing; sniping; ect. But anyway; what game has things that aren't about driving or shooting these days? It's about how you vary things that's important; driving and shooting make up entire games that are very good most of the time.

[Glue_Zombie]

I don't get why it's "so bad" that people are comparing the two games. There really are not many games that share these gameplay elements.

Let's say you are done with the game, and are done with missions. People are going to want the option to play more. This is where the GTA references come in. Personally, I'd like to know what I can do afterward. Please stop stomping on people who'd like to know.

We just would like to know if all there is once you are done is running, stealing cars, and driving around. Or if that's even allowed after you are done. It's not terrible that we ask these questions.

[Jonny tight lips]

There's bombing; sniping; ect. But anyway; what game has things that aren't about driving or shooting these days? It's about how you vary things that's important; driving and shooting make up entire games that are very good most of the time.

Bribing cops, running extortion rackets, threatening photographers, pulling off bank heists, carrying out contract hits, these are all nice touches that would add greatly to the wiseguy experience.

[packardcaribien]

Let's say you are done with the game, and are done with missions. People are going to want the option to play more. This is where the GTA references come in. Personally, I'd like to know what I can do afterward. Please stop stomping on people who'd like to know.

We just would like to know if all there is once you are done is running, stealing cars, and driving around. Or if that's even allowed after you are done. It's not terrible that we ask these questions.

Well you can actually explore afterwards I think; but the main attractions are the mission. I think that it's a little dissapointing thaey didn't leave much to do afterward; but if they used that effort to make the story mission so good that you play them over again and again; by all means. I think that even the average person will want to replay a couple missions few times; if not the entire game several times over.

And it's just that most here resen't being stuck in GTA's shadow despite obvious differences.

[packardcaribien]

Bribing cops, running extortion rackets, threatening photographers, pulling off bank heists, carrying out contract hits, these are all nice touches that would add greatly to the wiseguy experience.

Except that a story based heist would be much better planned and layed out; and all those things would too. And don't 5 of them involve punching; driving or shooting? And bribing cops IS included.
(Sorry 'bout the double post)

[Glue_Zombie]

Of course, a well scripted mission would be very fun, but in the end, it's still scripted. I'm sure many people, including myself would much rather be able to stop by any bank in the game and try robbing it, than playing the same scripted robbery over and over again. The replay factor just doesn't compare. Not that I'm saying I'm not interested in the story, because the story simply amazes me. I'd just like to see this "open world" taken advantage of.

[Mafiashock]

Of course, a well scripted mission would be very fun, but in the end, it's still scripted. I'm sure many people, including myself would much rather be able to stop by any bank in the game and try robbing it, than playing the same scripted robbery over and over again. The replay factor just doesn't compare. Not that I'm saying I'm not interested in the story, because the story simply amazes me. I'd just like to see this "open world" taken advantage of.

That's fine wanting stuff to do like that. The dev's have said there is a free roam after the game ends but they aren't going into detail on it...so who knows they may have something that pleases you in there. I'm the opposite. I find more replay in story driven games rather than doing the same side missions over and over which get really repetitive and boring imo.

[Glue_Zombie]

"I find more replay in story driven games rather than doing the same side missions over and over which get really repetitive and boring imo."

They are the exact same things, except the outcome in story driven replay is still the same no matter what. I respect your opinion though, and really hope that 2k will make the story a replayable experience.

[Arthua]

This probably has no relevance to this thread but....2K Denby confirmed that there will be no sniping missions remember?

Oh and I like scripted outcomes because if they are scripted they are more realistic. When you doing the same repetitive side mission or whatever it gets really boring. Like the Godfather series could have been awesome if they made it A HELL ALOT more realistic.

[RunningBare]

Oh and I like scripted outcomes because if they are scripted they are more realistic. When you doing the same repetitive side mission or whatever it gets really boring. Like the Godfather series could have been awesome if they made it A HELL ALOT more realistic.

That depends very much on the scripted event, to me you should not even notice a good scripted event, it should blend in seamlessly, to give a simple example of a bad scripted event would be the civilian vehicals that make a beeline for your car to rear end it in GTA IV, in my opinion that's obvious and bad scripting, if I have to look very hard to see the scripted event, then the devs have done a good job.

P.S, just thought of it this way, an obvious scripted event is like an actor over acting.

[ThaCrip]

Comparisons are inevitable, what I find irritating is a lot of the comparisons are shallow, weapons, game mechanics and so on, some will not even notice the story, their only interest is how many different type of weapons and how many people they can kill throughout the game, and this is where developers have a difficulty in finding the right balance, the game needs to sell, so do you target a minimal audiance who enjoy indepth story's or go for the more popular brainless shoot em, smash em and crash em type, I think Mafia II might just achieve a balance, but I also believe it's one of those games that will peak in the ratings then suddenly become obscure.

Agreed! (i also agree about the 'peak in the ratings and then quickly fall of the radar' comment to)

for me i think most games that even try to have a decent story etc pretty much fail as you don't really care to much what happens as you sort of go through the motions to get on with playing the game. Mafia on the other hand is very different and you actually LIKE seeing the story play out ALONG WITH it's quality gameplay/characters etc.

Mafia is pretty much about the only game that really puts you "in the moment" and you actually FEEL something when playing and especially completing the game which is ultimately where a very high percentage of other games fail completely and even the better games just don't take it to that high quality movie level that Mafia did and still does. basically Mafia left a impact on you when you completed it that made it quite memorable. pretty much all other games cannot pull that off, but it makes you wonder how many of them even TRY to do it? ...

...even the ones that attempt to either don't have the talent to do it properly or don't really go that extra mile to make sure it's top spec as i have a feeling that most game devs probably just try to get 'a decent' story etc and then mostly just focus on gameplay, and while for some games that is perfectly fine to focus on gameplay because after all the game must be fun to play, i think when your looking for something more than gameplay your pretty much screwed.

p.s. i am sure there's got to be other games that have a decent story etc but as far as i have seen nothing in the general shooter type genres even comes close to Mafia. and shooter type games covers a high percentage of games i typically like. so even if some other games have stories that are on the higher quality side it's unlikely the entire package (i.e. story/characters/gameplay) could all come together to leave that impact on you that Mafia does.

on a side note... i remember back when Mafia was new (around Aug 2002-ish), when i never heard a single thing about it, someone that i talked to on a instant messenger (who i don't even remember now. lol) said something like 'you have to try out this game, it's like GTA' and then i gave it a shot and damn was i glad that person told me about it as it basically went down as my favorite single player gaming experience ever. if it was not for him i may have never even heard of it or played it.

[FulcrumX]

p.s. i am sure there's got to be other games that have a decent story etc but as far as i have seen nothing in the general shooter type genres even comes close to Mafia.

Uncharted. Totally different since it's more like indiana jones crossed with AWESOMNESS. but still, the story, the characters, the gameplay. It could have been a script for a blockbuster movie. Extremely good games...oh, and they looked sexy as **** as well.

[McGee]

Uncharted. Totally different since it's more like indiana jones crossed with AWESOMNESS. but still, the story, the characters, the gameplay. It could have been a script for a blockbuster movie. Extremely good games...oh, and they looked sexy as **** as well.

Even though I love Uncharted 2, I felt alot of the gameplay moments were tedious, and sort of became repetitive. in a real movie those scenes would've been decreased dramatically....

[FulcrumX]

Even though I love Uncharted 2, I felt alot of the gameplay moments were tedious, and sort of became repetitive. in a real movie those scenes would've been decreased dramatically....

meh, each to their own I guess. I personally think there's a lot of games that surpass the gameplay of the first mafia game. Actually I honestly think the gameplay in the first mafia was TERRIBLE. Possibly some of the worst I've ever seen. However, the story was so ridiculously fantastic it kept me hooked in until the very end and the gameplay and all the little aesthetic problems (mini maps that don't actually show you the road >>) became inferior and didn't matter.

[McGee]

meh, each to their own I guess. I personally think there's a lot of games that surpass the gameplay of the first mafia game. Actually I honestly think the gameplay in the first mafia was TERRIBLE. Possibly some of the worst I've ever seen. However, the story was so ridiculously fantastic it kept me hooked in until the very end and the gameplay and all the little aesthetic problems (mini maps that don't actually show you the road >>) became inferior and didn't matter.

Well of course

Though for it's time Mafia 1 was pretty solid in terms of combat, though today's 3rd person shooter is a different beast than Mafia 1 was....

[FulcrumX]

Well of course

Though for it's time Mafia 1 was pretty solid in terms of combat, though today's 3rd person shooter is a different beast than Mafia 1 was....

Yeah, it's probably because I went back to it recently and therefore have been drawing comparisons to more recent games. I don't think I actually completed it when it first came out, I remember getting about half way through but that's all I remember about it from back then. I was just a kid, so to be honest I probably switched back to GTA 3 after a while lmao.

[McGee]

Yeah, it's probably because I went back to it recently and therefore have been drawing comparisons to more recent games. I don't think I actually completed it when it first came out, I remember getting about half way through but that's all I remember about it from back then. I was just a kid, so to be honest I probably switched back to GTA 3 after a while lmao.

Were you able to beat the racing mission? Or did you need to use a mod?

[FulcrumX]

Were you able to beat the racing mission? Or did you need to use a mod?

recently when i replayed it? I had a patch that made it easier.

Back then I honestly can't remember, I'm guessing either I managed to beat it or one of my mates did it lol. I definitley got past it though.

Then again it probably would have been the console version.

[McGee]

recently when i replayed it? I had a patch that made it easier.

Back then I honestly can't remember, I'm guessing either I managed to beat it or one of my mates did it lol. I definitley got past it though.

Then again it probably would have been the console version.

So I assume your from Ireland, eh

[ThaCrip]

Were you able to beat the racing mission? Or did you need to use a mod?

i know you where not referring to me but...

i did beat it without the official patch that made it much easier. but it was definitely the hardest part of the game without the patch. but after my first play of the game i installed the patch for future replays because that was not a picnic and i consider myself pretty good at simulation racing games to as i play those (i.e. Forza 3) with all assists off and that racing mission in Mafia basically made you play pretty damn close to perfect in order to win as there was little room for error as you basically had to be consistently almost perfect for all those laps as one slip up and there was a good chance someone would have passed you.

[FulcrumX]

So I assume your from Ireland, eh

ireland?

how did you reach that conclusion?

[McGee]

ireland?

how did you reach that conclusion?

You said mate

I played Bioshock recently, and your guide Atlas is Irish, and he called the character "mate" a few times. Nice to see a irish!