As someone who’s never played the original Mafia, I was pretty eager to see what the new game was all about. During my session with the title, I initially thought it was just another addition to the long list of sandbox games, but the more I played, the more I found that there’s more than meets the eye to this particular open-world romp. What I got to play sampled a nice cross-section of the game, allowing me to witness some of the storytelling techniques along with solid gameplay, and providing a fair amount of fun.

Players step into the shoes of Vito, a soldier-turned-gangster, as they help him climb the ranks of a crime syndicate . His motives for leading a life of crime were initially noble, but as we met up with him later in the game during the demo, we quickly find that his actions have led him deeper into a dangerous hole that should prove to be difficult to get out of. While experiencing his deeds, I saw him sell cigarettes out of the back of a van, torch a bar, and slaughter an entire rival gang. It was exactly this hodgepodge of gameplay elements that underscored the potential Mafia II has.

The game's presentation was actually pretty impressive. The visuals were fairly noteworthy, not because of the sheer number of polygons they pushed, but because of how much they added to the atmosphere of the game. The developers said that they wanted to play with the time of day to help add a certain vibe to different scenes. The fictional city of Empire Bay provides a great backdrop to the game as you’ll be able to see the skyline of the downtown area while driving around, helping to give a great sense of scope to things. When you combine the narrative, the setting and the solid game mechanics, things quickly shape up rather nicely.

The gameplay has the standard mix of elements that one may expect from this type of game, but there are some interesting touches included that add to the game’s unique flavor. Cars drive a bit slower than you may expect, but considering that the game takes place in the post-WW 2 era where heavier cars were the norm, it makes total sense. You can eliminate enemies with only a single squeeze of the trigger – you won’t be arbitrarily unloading an entire clip into a foe. Just like in the real world, it takes only one or two accurate shots to make a live person into a dead one. The hand to hand combat was probably my favorite aspect of the demo, as it was just conveyed really well. Though the game uses a very basic light punch/heavy punch/dodge system, the visual cues tie everything together really well. You’ll see the heads of your opponents whip back with every blow to the face. They’ll keel over when punched in the gut, and if you land a devastating finishing attack, they’ll stumble and fall, utterly defeated.

The mission structure that I played unfolded in a really appealing way, as each mission led to a larger encounter, eventually culminating in a giant setpiece where you must infiltrate and destroy the stronghold of a rival faction. The beauty of this is that there’s always a great sense of action and urgency. You’re constantly motivated to keep moving forward through the mission structure. With this progression, things naturally get more difficult, forcing you to be more methodical in your approach, and not in any detrimental way. In fact, you’ll have to earn every step you take in the game, but not in any style that’s punishing. It’s just tough enough to provide a good challenge, and once you’re done with a given objective, you’ll definitely get that sense of accomplishment that comes with a job well done.

Mafia II has quite a bit going on for it. No, it’s not that flashy, over-the-top sort of sandbox game. Instead it really manages to nicely recreate the vibe of all those mafia movies we all know and love. There’s still some tweaks that need to be made and and some elements that could use some polish, but considering the presentation, the story and the gameplay, it’s looking like we have something to look salivate over when it releases later this year.