I just finished playing MAFIA II, and I gotta say, I thought it was great. Some of the missions focused a little too much on menial tasks (mopping floors, cleaning toilets, loading crates, WTF?), but the rest of the game is superb. Empire Bay is a beautiful city with loads of period detail, the dialogue and music are terrific, the graphics are incredible, and the story is awesome, as well.

People have knocked the game over the fact that there isn't much reason to explore Empire Bay due to the fact that there aren't any side missions. I don't think it's a flaw at all really. The story is great, and the fact that the developers decided to focus on the narrative rather than offer up a bunch of distractions made the story that much better. The game isn't perfect, but it's a solid 9/10, for me. I loved it.