Mafia II, what next?

It does have the 30 day trial, which you could probably just keep redownloading lol.
I bought it (about £12) and it comes with a key so its yours for life and as you can see it has its own support forums etc.
It updates itself and your pin/button config profiles automatically if a better config comes up (it still keeps the other though).
There is a profile for just about every game along with a detailed image/button layout diagram showing the 360 pad and all buttons/what they do like in a manual.
I'm crap with mouse and keyboard in some games so this is invaluable for me as I didn't like having to setup my own buttons on xpadder. Also this has dual functions on the buttons and takes into account the axis sticks have different sensitivitys like push slightly to walk and push all the way to run. I do't think xpadder had that.

Also if you do use it and the game doesn't start up through pinnacle (you have to start the game through pinnacle, you just load up pinnacle and click the game) then you have to point pinnacle to your game url/exe ny startimg pinnacle, clicking game profiles in the top right and then going to edit url. simples and it only takes about a minute.:) (this works even if its a steam game)
 
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The only genre I can think of that is better if you use a m/k is FPS's and MMORPG, and obviously the old gems like Monkey Island(the new updated version is better with pad imo though) and the mighty Baldurs gate II and all the similar class of RPG's of that era.

I don't play many FPS's, if any now.
I have had to put MMORPG's on hold because if I play one then I miss out on loads of better single player experiences. Actually you just need to use a mouse for these, unless you're into the serious crap.
Again, point and click adventures are all done with just a mouse.
And the classics a mouse is just needed, which I can get away with.

So it seems it's just FPS's, which I can certainly live without(they're all basically the same)

When I got xPadder I used a piece of paper to plan out the button configs, so I knew what was what when I mapped the in game control option. It seems like stone age technology compared to the one you recommended.

If I find around 5 titles that have no native support and I want to play them, I'll invest in it.

Thanks again.

P.S.

I bought xPadder just for Beyond Good and Evil, which has massive tearing issues on my system, so I got the PS2 version.

And Psychonauts, which like I said didn't quite work very well, seemed unresponsive.
 
davewhite04 said:
What is the main difference between this and GTA? Good story, dynamic weather(I know GTA has this), good acting etc? I have a 360 so would probably use that for this game if I got it.

Cheers bud
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its much much more like the older GTA's, lots of humour and so much fun activities to do, not like gta4 which was a lot more serious than the old ones. I quite liked the story mainly because the characters are good and its very tarantino like with black comedy and violence mixed, think theres some famous ish voices in it too (Neil Patrick Harris, Keith David, Eliza Dushku and a few more. )
 
Margaret said:
The second Mafia II DLC is supposed to be better than the main game, decent reviews.
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That is crazy talk, both Jimmy DLCs are pretty bad (they can be fun, but they are bad because they are arcade without story).
Jimmy is better (several story missions, connection to main game) but still worse than main game.

It is really shame they never released DLC that would add the stuff they had to cut (several chapters, many sidemission, melee weapons..)
 
davewhite04 said:
You guys are directly comparing it to GTA. This is not GTA it is more linear, the shops are there because well there shops, its not the shops fault that your house burns down and you lose everything, in fact that is more realistic.
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So it's not the games fault that my clothes changed various times without me actually having any say whatsoever?

davewhite04 said:
What isn't realistic but is great is how you get to actually keep your cars in your garage and tune them up etc. iirc you just kept standard car parked outside your house in GTA 4 and kept changing it and never tuning it up with no incentive to get attached to it.
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The incentive in GTA4 is that some cars are extremely rare, or only spawn in certain locations at certain times, and it's good for you to be able to have access to that car all the time by parking it at a safe house. In every GTA from 3 onwards I've always had one favourite car which I always drove around and always made sure I was able to get it back to my garage after a mission, I don't think you NEED to be able to upgrade a car in order to be attached to it. :confused:

davewhite04 said:
Mafia II is different to GTA, mainly more linear, and is better for it. The game isn't full of air, do as redrooster suggested, walk around and have a chat with its inhabitants, it's teaming with life, and more importantly SOUL.
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How can the game be incredibly linear but also have soul at the same time? It's a lifeless shell and there's no excuse for it apart from lazy or greedy developers / publishers. As for having a chat with the inhabitants, well, the best you can do is stand next to people or walk into them and when I completed the game on launch the people said virtually the same things over and over, nowhere near the amount of pedestrians that are in GTA4 and nowhere near the smart and funny lines that the inhabitants of Liberty City deliver. The story missions are good and I like the cutscenes but that's as far as there is in this game, you can't really argue it has soul because it just doesn't.
 
Well I adored Mafia 1 but am finding Mafia 2 fairly disappointing, so if you enjoyed the latter then you should love the former. Number 2 is similar in many ways to the first one, but some of the missions are so banal. I mean, a mission where I have to scrub urinals, seriously?

The only things to watch out for about Mafia 1 are:

1. Its old. Like seriously old. The graphics are likely to be pretty horrid by modern standards and you may or may not struggle to get it going on a modern PC

2. Its hard. Like seriously hard. The game does not mollycoddle you with save points or regenerating health. Some of the missions are very very long and if you get killed its all the way back to the start. There are quite a few missions in Mafia that made me rage to a quite unbelievable extent. A particular mission where you have to win a race that goes on for a good 10 minutes comes to mind. It was incredibly hard and the smallest mistake would see you spin out and lose. Wasted hours on that damn mission

3. I'm not convinced you can play it on pad. It might be possible to get it working, but the game never made it to console so there is none of the aim assists that modern games (including Mafia 2) have to help compensate for softer pad controls. You need to be brutally accurate so a mouse is probably your best option. I played on mouse and keyboard without any issues.

All that said, its a great game and one of my all time favorites. Mafia 2 isnt even coming close so far.
 
No it was pretty much a port with scaled down graphics, I agree with you though it was an awesome game in its day and even though it doesn't stand up graphically anymore it's still playable. :)
 
Okay, my update.

I tried about seven missions in Mafia and couldn't play it any more, the controls might of been okay in 2002 but not now. Also, I cannot see where it is better then Mafia II in any department, except the ending perhaps, which I won't see. I did note though that when comparing a 2006 PS2 version of Scarface (which again didn't hold a candle to Mafia II), the 2002 PC Mafia game was light years ahead techilogically, except for sound.

Just shows that it used to be the PC directing the gaming evolution, now it seems it's consoles. The similarities between console games and PC games are nowhere near as far apart, time wise, and the PC titles just seem to get a few added graphical options. Whereas it used to be a difference of quality of say video tape(console) to DVD (PC) now it seems it's DVD and Blu-ray, where you only notice the difference if you have a huge screen.

So Mafia did bring back them memories, when buying a new £300 graphics card was sort of justifiable. Because it obviously had far less competition then, so it was revolutionary in a sense that is why people have fond memories of it, imo. Mafia II has far more competition, and I think it's different to most games I've played, it stands out today despite the competition and is brilliant imo.

The games recommended that I didn't already have.

The worst:

Scarface
The Warriors (No one recommended this, I just got it based on it having a good reputation)

The best:

Assassins Creed II (which I've just finished after spending 42 hours on it, 10/10 game) It had irritating moments, dozens in fact, and it wasn't just the controls, the story got so irritating at one point, and I won't continue because I don't want to spoil it for anyone else. The plus's far out weigh the minuses, obviously. A genuine classic, just started 1, but think I'll play 3 and play 1 last.

Funniest:

Saints Row 2: This is easily the funniest game I have ever played. It's mostly down to the character I created. He is male, overweight, looks... well mad and daft at the same time (insane look the game calls it) and has a womans voice, and walks like one. His favourite clothing is all pink and his favourite footwear is pink flops. He rides a bike and shoots everyone in the neighbourhood, pure class. One day he will run all crime in the city! Thanks to whoever recommended that.

Games to play:

Hitman : Blood Money
The Godfather (which looks pretty interesting)

Well I didn't find anything that was like Mafia II that shared it's quality, that makes me think that it is sort of unique at this point in time.

Thank you all.

EDIT: I have also played a bit of Saboteur, which is pretty good so far, has great potential. It has some very charismatic characters and good acting/atmosphere/driving and combat as well as climbing, good control scheme and well optimized for PC.
 
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K1LLSW1TCH said:
So it's not the games fault that my clothes changed various times without me actually having any say whatsoever?



The incentive in GTA4 is that some cars are extremely rare, or only spawn in certain locations at certain times, and it's good for you to be able to have access to that car all the time by parking it at a safe house. In every GTA from 3 onwards I've always had one favourite car which I always drove around and always made sure I was able to get it back to my garage after a mission, I don't think you NEED to be able to upgrade a car in order to be attached to it. :confused:



How can the game be incredibly linear but also have soul at the same time? It's a lifeless shell and there's no excuse for it apart from lazy or greedy developers / publishers. As for having a chat with the inhabitants, well, the best you can do is stand next to people or walk into them and when I completed the game on launch the people said virtually the same things over and over, nowhere near the amount of pedestrians that are in GTA4 and nowhere near the smart and funny lines that the inhabitants of Liberty City deliver. The story missions are good and I like the cutscenes but that's as far as there is in this game, you can't really argue it has soul because it just doesn't.
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GOD can you stop comparing it to GTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT IS NOT GTA IT NEVER WAS IN MAFIA 1 AND IT WASNT MEANT TO BE IN MAFIA 2 :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
davewhite04 - what exactly did you find old about the controls in Mafia 1 ? Why exactly cannot you play anymore?

I replayed Mafia 1 about 6 months ago (for third time) - it seems just as good as always, the controls are fine (WSAD + mouse, what is old about that?), graphics is good enough (it was years ahead when it came out), especially with draw distance mod.

The story and missions are also just as brilliant (and to be honest, I do not think many games surpassed it, if any).
 
The Mafia II team have created a city that is just as big as liberty city, but instead of driving around aimlessly and answering your mobile to have another date once you finish the game. You play the game in the city, the city just happens to be beautiful but the story is more important, and the developers obviously didn't want to create a pointless(imo) non linear game or set the story in a mediocre city.

Mafia II Story > City
GTA Story = City
 
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Paul_cz said:
davewhite04 - what exactly did you find old about the controls in Mafia 1 ? Why exactly cannot you play anymore?

I replayed Mafia 1 about 6 months ago (for third time) - it seems just as good as always, the controls are fine (WSAD + mouse, what is old about that?), graphics is good enough (it was years ahead when it came out), especially with draw distance mod.

The story and missions are also just as brilliant (and to be honest, I do not think many games surpassed it, if any).
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I found the aiming of your gun in heated battles was off, my cursor was all over the place.

The driving was the best element that is comparable to todays games, and is probably better then GTA driving, but they are slower cars I suppose. The characters and story I had played up to, including voice acting was also comparable to todays games. Actually the graphics weren't far off the graphics quality of the new Final Fantasy MMORPG, amazing for the time.

The missions I played, I think the first involved taxi driving, which is actually an excellent or even a perfect start, because it gives you an idea of how to drive and a bit of knowledge as regards locations in the city.

Was it the second mission where you destroyed 3 cars? That was okay, but not particularly memorable.

The thrid mission (i think) where you drive out to the country to get money at a gas station, that was a pain in the ass, i managed to get in the house without losing a bullet on the dog(or 6, because I couldn't shoot straight, my fault this though, obviously not good at it). 4 gangsters at the bottom of the stairs, ducking and diving, i was hitting them with head shots and all kinds, no cigar.

Combat was awkard for me (which is a shame, because I got away with the graphics fine, and obviously the other parts of the game).
The game annoyed me, because of this.

Mafia II has far superior shooting and combat controls, even using a pad is a lot more accurate then using a mouse in Mafia I for me. The combat is just better in Mafia II, and the controls in general. Running around in this type of game using a keyboard is no longer used, and even though I'm an old school gamer, I'm glad to see the back of that control scheme.

Mafia II didn't annoy for probably 99% of the game, it was just how games should be done, relaxing, interesting, satisfying and a sense of accomplishment as well as awe at times. These qualities are very rare in games today, and also games in the past come to think of it.

EDIT:

The controls aren't just AWSD, there's numerous other keys to use, like z or something to crouch, space or something to jump and many more awkward ones.
 
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I can't understand why people think Mafia II is just okay, each to their own though. I would say to anyone who doesn't want to get annoyed, frustrated, play in a graphically boring city, put up with rubbish cut scenes, rubbish voice acting and a lacklustre story to give Mafia II a try.

EDIT:

If you like to finish a game as soon as possible, rather then "get into" a game, then you probably won't like this. One of it's qualities is that it's like an interactive movie, so take your time and watch the story unfold as you play your part.
 
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