Mafia II: Definitive Edition

The worse thing about the bugs and visual oddities of Mafia 2: Definitive Edition is that the original version of the game can be modded to include a much better mesh of hi-res textures and visual upgrades than what we got here. Mafia 2 is still a game that’s worth playing, but if you own the original for PC, you’re better off just modding it. If you don’t own it, the Definitive Edition is only $20, and you get Mafia 2 Classic with it, so you don’t have anything to lose.

A poor remaster of a particularly good game, the Definitive Edition offers only but a few new things to owners of the original game and a lazy attempt to attract new buyers.

Overall, Mafia II: Definitive Edition tells a story that is gripping and while it may not be largely unique in the span of Mafia lore, it’s one of the best available in video game form. I genuinely cared about Vito and the terrifying criminals that surrounded him. I grew to love their antics and laugh at their quirks, and feel sorry for the situations that they found themselves in. I think it’s a little unfair to class Mafia 2 as an open-world game, because the city does nothing but offer the setting for the story to g from point a to point b. If you’re looking for a city that is brimming with side quests and random activities, you won’t find them here. What you will find is a bittersweet, interesting period piece that looks at time that is not often explored in video games, and it’s a pretty damn memorable one at that.

In a sense Mafia II is more like an interactive version of Goodfellas than an open-world mob experience that could only exist as a videogame. Vito’s rise is full of twists and turns that are always interesting even when they dip into stereotype and a facsimile of the classic cinematic mob epic. The expansions do flesh out the open-world setting of Empire Bay in interesting and meaningful ways, but in the end Mafia II: Definitive Edition remains an experience where the engaging story towers above all – sitting alongside the skyline of the impressive but only skin-deep Empire Bay.

Mafia II: Definitive Edition is not especially a good remaster... Avoid if the game is fresh in your memories.

A marginally prettier Mafia II with all its strengths and drawbacks. It aged quite gracefully and if you didn’t get to play it then, now’s your chance to do so on modern systems. And if you already own it, you get the remaster for free.

Returning to Mafia 2 is definitely a great experience. I have understood why it was a great game ten years ago, although I think it could be better in visual terms, because it doesn't take advantage of new technologies.

Despite not being a full on remake and still retaining the flaws of the original game, Mafia II Definitive Edition is a fairly enjoyable experience that, thanks to a good work of remastering, works decently ten years after its first release.

There's so much about Mafia II that feels like a relic of a bygone era. Video game design has long surpassed and evolved beyond this approach to storytelling. Still, I find myself oddly charmed by it. I've played Mafia II twice now, once in 2010 and once in 2020. Its foibles that irritated me a decade ago seem more forgivable now. Maybe it's because I knew to expect a flawed experience, maybe it's because I'm getting more lenient in my old age. Whatever it is, I relished blowing through a thrilling mobster drama over the course of a weekend, knowing I wouldn't have to dedicated the better part of the next month to finish it. In a lot of respects, Mafia II hasn't aged all that well; strangely, that's why I think it's a better game than it was 10 years ago.

Mafia II Definitive Edition does not offer players a significant graphic improvement that will justify a buyback, but today remains the best way to live Vito Scaletta's intense criminal career, especially in the context of the Mafia: Trilogy.

Though it pulls a lot of the punches today’s open-world games freely throw, Mafia II is a time capsule in a lot of ways. Not only because its post-World War II Empire Bay lives and breathes only to have its face driven into the dirt by enterprising individuals fixated on the American dream, but because it’s a testament to the timeless, story-driven crime drama. The kind that became extinct once substance was forced to make way for Rockstar’s frenzied brand of mania.

Mafia II stood out during the last generation of consoles for all the right reasons. This is why it is not surprising that in 2020 it is as entertaining as it was before. Sadly, Mafia II: Definitive Edition turns out to be a remaster that is far from reaching the heights of the original. It is not a catastrophic product at any means, but Mafia fans deserve more.

My new tires should have been looking better, Joe. This graphical remastering is not satisfying and brings a lot of visual glitches together. At the same time a lot of player having performance issues in a 10 years old game. This remaster is not a master's work. Hangar needs to be stopped.

The new version of Mafia 2 is more polished, cleaner and more detailed than ever before, but the problems with the plot, mission development, character development, driving and gunplay are still present. Ultimately, players who still own the original (now dubbed "classic") version of the game on Steam, had better stick to it.

Mafia 2: Definitive Edition is a decent buy for anyone that hasn't played the original (on PC, anyway). It's a more complete package with superior graphics, but there are definitely aspects of the game that haven't aged well.

A slight update to models and textures doesn’t solve Mafia 2’s myriad problems from a decade ago, nor justify a purchase if you don’t own it yet.

Mafia II: Definitive Edition is a remaster specially designed for nostalgic players fans of the original game. It is nice, pleasant visually speaking, the atmosphere is still efficient, until you see that some textures are poor, the animations are still stuck in 2010.