E3 2010: Mafia II - 10 Killer Moments
The best-of-the-best bits of this superb open world '50s crime blockbuster.

Source: IGN.com
by Narayan Pattison - June 15, 2010

In two short months Mafia II's gritty crime extravaganza will be releasing and we just got the chance to play it at E3 2010, so we thought we'd save you some time (hey, we know you're busy) and hit you with the 10 stand-out moments.

1. Random Nudity
This demo started off with a completely different bang than we were expecting. There, right on the counter of your apartment is a vintage PlayBoy magazine. And better yet, hitting the action button brings up an HD slide of a naked hottie sprawled across a desk. Oh, 2K, you had us at "nudity". Tear.

2. Rockin' Tunes
Okay, classing things up a little while you're enjoying your vintage porn are some classic '50s tunes. You'll hear Buddy Holly bopping his way out of the old school radio in your house, as well as plenty of other music that will transport you to the '50s New York setting.

3. Super Aggressive Police
After flicking through Playboy, the first thing we did was walk outside and shoot the first person walking past. What? That's how we roll. Unfortunately, the way the police roll is to charge towards us, blasting away with their guns. We limped into a nearby car and sped off but the aggressive buggers piled into three squad cars and started ramming us. Before we could get away from them, one cop lent out of his window and shot us in the head. Which leads us to…


4. Cool Death Sequences
As Vito was getting shot by the cops, splashes of blood splatter the screen. Once he dies the screen faded to black and white, and as it did we noticed that 2K had gone to the trouble to animate him so that his head slumped realistically against his seat, while the car sped out of control. 2K have nailed attention to detail in Mafia II.

5. Authentic '50s Cars
You could be forgiven for thinking this is a bad thing initially. Yes they control a bit more stiffly and aren't going to be able to match the performance of today's cars. On the other hand, they look cool as Hell and they've got terrific weight as you throw them sideways around corners. We also dug the big plumes of white smoke that surround the tires when you accelerate off heavily.

6. High Calibre Action
Normally getting behind gun turrets is reserved for military shooters but you're given one to take out the target you're trying to whack. As the guy, described as "fat bastard", gets out of the car below you jump on a MG 42 heavy machine gun and unleash Hell. Bullets tear into the car, blowing it up in a bonfire of flames, killing the two guys that just got out of it. Unfortunately Fat Bastard runs into a nearby beer distillery.

7. Great Dialogue
If you continue to use the machine gun turret after Fat Bastard runs off, your buddy Joe will tell you to "shut the bloody thing off before you deafen him." Joe lives up to the 'wise guy' stereotype by peppering banter through the game – and what really impressed us was the dynamic quips he made. For example, when we ducked out and capped someone with a single headshot he said, "Nice shot. At least they gave me someone decent for this job." Next time we pulled off a headshot he wasn't quite as nice about it and told us, "Well, at least you're not completely f**king useless!"

8. Destructible World
Okay, so Mafia II doesn't have a completely destructible environment like Red Faction but it did impress us by tearing up the scenery around us at many points. As we had our furious gun battle with Fat Bastard's cronies in the distillery, concrete would be torn off pillars, beer bottles shattered, paper was shredded and wood was splintered. This, combined with the meaty weapons, made for some great shootouts.


9. Cheeky Physics
Unfortunately we're not talking about butt cheek physics on the PlayBoy bunnies. After blasting our way through the henchmen, we gunned Fat Bastard down in a hail of bullets. As he fell, his cheeks started wobbling, and then rippled violently when his head smacked into the concrete. It's a small touch but yet another example of the attention to detail 2K has put into this epic.

10. It's On Fire
One of the cheeky buggers in the distillery flung a Molotov Cocktail at us. So, as we were leaving the building the fire had already spread across a couple of the distillery's floors. Turns out alcohol is pretty flammable. Who knew? The flames looked great as they licked up the wooden barrels and took over entire sections, causing heat haze and smoke to cloud our vision, and even large chunks of the ceiling to start falling around us.

That's a quick taste of our time with Mafia II for you. Trust us, it's got the goods to be one of the year's best action shooters. We can't wait to soak in the authentic '50s setting as we play out Vitto's struggle from a minor crim doing odd jobs to fighting his way up the ranks as he gets involved with an all-out gang war. You'll get a chance to try it out for yourself soon because the demo we just played will be available for download before the game releases in August.