“'Mafia II' is a hackneyed ode to mobsters, but with a few redeeming qualities - New Orleans Times-Picayune”

'Mafia II' is a hackneyed ode to mobsters, but with a few redeeming qualities - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 12:55 PM PDT

Published: Friday, September 03, 2010, 3:00 PM

The reason I've never been enraptured by "The Sopranos, " "Goodfellas" or other mob fictions is that 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 set in the 1940s and '50s about Italian-American mobsters who utter:

"I heard about your run-in with the micks." And: "Drinkin' on the job, huh? When did you turn Irish?"

Now, look, I realize such indelicacies of the tongue sound quaint by today's standards.

But quaint or not, "Mafia II's" dialogue is hackneyed -- done a million times already.

"Mafia II" is chockablock with cinematic scenes, but low on action.

You portray a guy named Vito (naturally) 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 merely watching scenes of Vito dealing with friends, family, higher-ups and street punks.

Then comes the meager action. 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.

The worst thing: Cops ticket you for speeding, which slays momentum.

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

On the other hand, the game is fairly appealing to anyone who longs to see postwar New York. Those who designed "Mafia II's" city, cars and music arrangements did fantastic jobs.

In a bar scene, 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.

And when I first heard my favorite of the game's 135 great tunes, Peggy Lee's "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe, " I had Vito pull his car over to the side of the road so I could just listen. Man, that song blows you away.

Then I revved up Vito's engine, had him kill some cops and got back into the game. Sounds like every mafia story you've ever seen, doesn't it?

. . . . . . .

Doug Elfman is an award-winning entertainment columnist who lives in Las Vegas. He blogs at www.lvrj.com/columnists/Doug_Elfman.html.

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