4/5 ★ – ElementaryGaming's review of Mafia II: Definitive Edition.

Mafia 2 is a hidden gem of the PS3 era. The game itself doesn't do much new in the way of an open world GTA-esque action adventure, but it does what it does well, even if it lacks some polish. This remaster definitely deserves credit for being uncensored, especially in an age of frequent censored rereleases of old games. It's the type of game that simply wouldn't be made today, and it's appreciated that this is a fully uncensored rerelease. This game is full of nice small touches, like interacting with restaurant jukeboxes, buying random diner food to restore health, specific details of rooms meant to evoke the 1940s and 50s, and posters advertising fictional brands. The licensed soundtrack is awesome, and the fact that it uses real 1940s and 50s music adds to the authenticity of the world, and makes driving around the city a sublime experience. The orchestral main theme is tense and perfect for the main menu. Finding playboy art as a collectable is a fun detail. The world itself is full of details which lend to the feeling that you've stepped into a time machine into a different era. Like the first game, the historical experience of a different time and place is one of its main draws. Driving from point A to point B, while listening to the excellent soundtrack, is a pleasant experience all the way through and never gets old. The writing, also like the first game, is solid, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the original. The story is entertaining but a bit haphazard with the way it jumps around different characters and crime families so often. it feels unfocused at times, but it still is a better story than most video games and has a very memorable ending. The voice acting on display is top-notch, and the characters feel like actual people. The game absolutely excels at placing you in in progressively more violent Mafia missions, carrying out a bunch of immoral tasks to move up the ranks. It's also cool how your living space changes over time as the story progresses. Towards the end, there is a story moment which connects to the plot of Mafia 1 in an awesome way. There are more things to do in its open world than Mafia 1 D.E., but not much. There are places to stop by for practical purposes, but not much else. These places are fun to stop by once or twice, but they are ultimately there to replenish your ammo and health, and not actually give you anything else to do. Like Mafia 1 D.E., the open world is beautifully designed from an artistic standpoint, and there is essentially nothing to do in it except progress through the main story. While some side content would have been nice, this results in a game that one could argue is "all killer, no filler". Instead of being filled with busywork, the player is kept on a linear route through the campaign, and there's nothing wrong with that. It would have benefitted from some fleshed-out side missions, but having no side missions is better than having a bunch of subpar ones, like many games do. The experience is enjoyably low-key much of the time. There aren't many big setpieces, and chapters often consist of just doing some odd jobs for various characters, which progress the plot in a small way. A good deal of the experience is just driving around in a car, listening to the stellar soundtrack. It's an oddly relaxing game to play. One of its greatest strengths is its pacing, with a great balance of action and chill driving. The shooting gameplay doesn't feel as smooth as it did in the first Mafia DE. The reason for this is that it was a full remake of Mafia 1, while Mafia DE 2 is simply a port of Mafia 2 with some visual improvements. In this way, it's understandable that the shooting doesn't feel as refined, as it's based on an older model. The enemy AI isn't as smart as in Mafia 1 DE, either. In spite of this, it's still fun and the shooting sections are the highlight of the gameplay. On hard mode, staying behind cover 99% of the time is an absolute necessity. A few shots will take you down instantly. A nice detail about the shooting is that your partners will actually help you- you'll still need to take down most of the enemies, but your partners aren't useless. There is a distinct lack of checkpoints at certain moments in the last missions of the game that just made me want to die, needing to replay lengthy, difficult portions of fights just for dying before a checkpoint. One of the final boss fights in Chapter 14 is not good, and places you in a ridiculously underpowered situation. However, by driving your car into the water, you will activate a glitch which gives you access to a room which gives you a much better chance of surviving. I have no shame about using this because the fight is difficult to the point of ridiculousness. It's good that this glitch exists. Like the first Mafia DE, there are serious technical issues with this so-called "definitive edition". In reality, this is a port of a PS3 game with a very minor visual upgrade. It is not acceptable for a game to be released in such a buggy state, and doubly unacceptable when it is more buggy than the original version of the game. The cutscene audio for certain scenes is way too loud, to the point that the audio itself is distorted. The game also randomly crashes, as it did once during my playthrough. It does frequently autosave after important events, but being randomly kicked out of the game and having to relaunch is still a huge problem. The frame rate also became choppy on more than one occasion. These issues don't prevent the game from being enjoyable, but they do take away from it. Mafia 2 isn't exceptionally flashy in the gameplay or visual department, but more than makes up for this with care put into the detail of its world, and is completely unconcerned with political correctness. The buggy technical issues should have been fixed, and it's a shame that they're present, especially in a newer "definitive" release. The lack of checkpoints and a bad boss fight hold it back from greatness, and the plot isn't as focused as the first game. Still, the immersive attention to detail in its world, a satisfying mix of intense shooting and relaxing driving, and solid writing are more than enough to make Mafia 2 worth playing.