Hi,

you can get Mafia II on Steam for 12.50 euros (the digital deluxe edition for 15 euros)

My question now is:
- Is the game any good? Would you recommend playing it? How good is it compared to Mafia (1)?

Thanks for any opinions!

15 bucks? dont hesitate, buy it!
I enjoyed Mafia 2 for PS3 (borrowed it from a friend).
The Story is very good
and i even thought the graphic where stunning.

sure Mafia 1 was at its time something unique and perfect. but mafia 2 can stil keep it up with its predecessor.
If you played Mafia 1 and u liked it, play Mafia 2 and even if you dont like it, which i doubt, finish the game...in the end you will know why.

i can recommend it.

It's quite a good game. It's a bit like GTA IV, but with a very linear storyline (but that doesn't mean it isn't good)... and it's in the 50s. There are some funny parts concerning the time the game plays in (like when the guards talk about TVs in a very early mission or when they talk about how healthy cigarettes are in the radio).

You can also download a demo on steam. This will prove if the game is any good for you. I'd definitely buy it.

@Uhrwerk: I played the demo. Its just one mission and mostly consists of the action part. Or is there another demo?

Anyway, I purchased the game and I like it so far. However the car handling sucks a little bit (playing or normal).

The demo is shit, really, buy it. I loved Mafia 1. Mafia 2 isn't that unique but a great game anyway. I really loved it and I enjoyed playing Mafia 2, for 12€ its great (also bought it for this price @X-Mas)

What impressed me most is the pure amount of details in Mafia2. I really could not understand how they can bring so much details to my screen while everything renders so smooth. And this does not only apply to polygons or textures. There are also many effects that are interesting. You car can be covered by snow and the snow is slowly melting in some situations, just as an example. And then there are so many animated objects in view, just impressive.

They really put a lot of love into this game. It is a great immersion and is like a good movie. But when I tried to play it a second time then it becomes a bit boring, because many jobs are to drive from A to B, see a cutscene at B and drive back to A. This is interesting when you see it a first time, but later it misses some action.

I would like to play it but when i tried the demo once it came out, it didn't really run well enough on my laptop so i'm kinda hesitating

I passed. I recently bought both Kane and Lynch games and Just Cause 2 so I probably wouldn't touch this game for quite a while. The shooting just didn't feel anywhere near as intense as Kane and Lynch 2, even if the cover system does work lol. And I got my open world fix from Just Cause 2, which is actually quite good even if the vehicle physics are a tad wonky.

I did find the car physics rather impressive in the demo. I remember the first game wanted simulator worthy physics and I think they continued in that direction. It's no simulator, but worlds better than the GTA games.

Above all I wish the game was more like the first one I played years ago. It feels like a mainstream console game which isn't my taste.

I finished it this morning, after about 10 hours total. (difficulty: middle)

Well it was good, and nice to have some connection to Mafia I. But the only reason for me to re-play it would be to find all collectables.
After all driving was ok, it just took some getting used-to.

Without wanting to spoil anything, I'd like to say that the ending was a little bit weird. And I felt a little bit sad.