At E3 we had a chance to sit in on a 30-minute showing of Mafia II in a behind closed doors meeting with 2K Games. While the game has been shown before, this was by far the most that they have revealed in regards to gameplay, story, and presentation. The game takes place in Empire City, a fictional city modeled after both New York and San Francisco, and will progress from the 1940s into the 1950s as the story plays out. Seasons change along with the times, so gamers will experience not only night and day cycles but also different types of weather. Fleeing from cops on a winter night is definitely a different challenge than a summer's midday getaway. The developers have said that these changing seasons are effective in delivering an extra level of mood to the game's settings. An example given was that in the demo we watched, it was a dreary winter day, which underscored the main character's situation as a Mafia grunt struggling to get by and survive day to day. Later in the game, when you're more of a self-made man, summer brings a brightness and comfort to compliment your character's more positive outlook.



The demo opened up showing Vito Scaletta, the game's main protagonist, and a couple of his partners are driving to where they would plan to ambush a local business owner who made some decisions that left him a marked man. Upon arriving to their destination, the three men set up in a building that overlooks the entrance to a distillery. As they wait, a quick cut-scene shows the characters conversing about how they ended up in the United States and within the mafia. What immediately jumped out to us was how cinematic the cut-scene was. Characters moved in a very realistic fashion, camera angles were on par with what you'd expect from a Hollywood production, and those creepy blank stares or static faces that often plague these sort of games were nonexistent. GTA IV was known for strong direction, but Mafia II is set to raise the bar another notch based on what he saw.

As the cut-scene came to a close, the target, who was being referred to as "the fat man" climbed out of his car as a pedestrian shouted out that he saw men up in the window with guns. The player then had to deal with the fat man's bodyguards while he slipped inside of the distillery to hide. The short gunfight led to exploding cars, busting glass, and some noticeable environment destruction. When asked about the environment destruction, the developers said that structures will take damage, but objects are all fully destructible. If you were bored, you could walk into a room and completely shoot the place to bits. This means that characters need to be wary of where they decide to take cover. Hiding behind a pallet might work for small arms protection, but someone with a tommy gun is going to make Swiss cheese of it and bring you down in no time.

After making short work of the fat man's bodyguards, Vito and his two partners ran into the building to hunt down their target. Inside the distillery there were several firefights which provided a showcase moment for the environment damage. Bottles busted, shelves collapsed, doors were shot off their hinges, boxes scattered, and alcohol caught fire as the destruction rained down. We watched as Vito ducked in and out of cover as he slowly fought through groups of gunmen that stood between him and the fat man hiding in the back of the distillery. After finally reaching the fat man, the group finished what they came for in another great cut-scene. However, during the mission, one of Vito's partners was injured, and Vito would then have to clear a way out of the distillery as more men arrived and the building burned from the recent destruction. This escape sequence was capped off by a police chase through snowy streets as the car slid around corners with the police both chasing the car and setting up roadblocks along the way. Eventually the car gets caught between two blockades and the demo closed on a bit of a cliffhanger moment for Vito.



Another strong point for the game was the audio package. The game had some nice music, deep and booming bass tones during action, and great voice work that ran through both cut-scenes and gameplay. All the sounds, voices, and music do a great job at making ties with the strong environmental ambiance in Mafia II. As the developers put it, "this will be the definitive mafia experience."

When asked about the limits of the open-world gameplay, we were told that you will have quite a bit of freedom to roam around, but that you'll be held to an expectation to act realistically within the world. There will be optional side missions to compliment the main story, but again, they'll be within the spirit of keeping things authentic and believable. 2K doesn't want gamers inadvertently shattering the game's illusion of realism by acting like a mafia boss one moment and then acting like more of a circus clown the next. All the game's actions, missions, and objectives will be directly tied into advancing your character in a believable manner.

With so many options to get your gangster fix, 2K is pushing hard to deliver an experience that feels more authentic than the rest of the bunch. While other games might offer a higher level of freedom, 2K is hoping that no other title will offer a deeper level of satisfaction. Based on what we were given access to here at E3, it seems like 2K games is on track to do just that.