Mat Zelnick the CEO of publisher of Mafia II should be sentenced to play this game 24/7 for 30 days, as punishment. He may come out mentally disturbed, which might be a "step up" 

The reason I?ve never been enraptured by "The Sopranos"  "Goodfellas" or other mob fictions is the characters always seem too dumb and cruel to care about, and they say boring things that are supposed to "feel real" simply because they?re insulting.

The new video game "Mafia II" contributes to such verbal inanity. It?s a "Grand Theft Auto" copycat that follows Italian-American mobsters of the 1940s and 1950s who utter ethnic insults of the period.

Now, look. I realize such indelicacies of the tongue are quaint to the ears of we of the 21st century.

But quaint or not, "Mafia II?s" dialogue of heritage is hacky - done a million times already.

In addition to its often-weak dialogue, "Mafia II" is chockablock with cinematic film scenes, but low on action.

You portray a guy named (naturally) Vito who comes back from World War II as a minor hero, then joins his best friend?s Mafia circle.

For much of the game, you are not playing, but you are watching cut scenes of Vito dealing with friends, family, higher-ups and street punks.

Then comes the action, which is low on the totem pole of "Grand Theft Auto"  copycats. For hours and hours, all you get to do is drive around in old cars, learn how to pick locks, punch a few dudes and shoot a few enemies.

In short, this is an adequate rental if you?re into "GTA"...

In one bar, I found a woman in winter gloves writing notes at a table. I walked up to deal with her, but she wasn?t interactive. That?s how well-designed the setting is in spots: Background figures seem like foreground characters....

Then I revved up the engine, killed some cops and delved into "Mafia II?s" artistic nostalgia of brain-dead killers. Sounds like every Mafia thing you?ve ever seen, doesn?t it?

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/31/2188220/
video-game-review-mafia-ii-leaves.html#ixzz0yLzn141A
 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (With Archives) on:
[Formerly Italy at St Louis]