Mafia II| Review

Synopsis: Mafia II has recently released and 2K Games sent us over a copy to get us hooked on the sequel to the original organized crime title that engaged over two million gamers. Though this is not your typical sandbox title, it manages to change things up with its cinematic style, story, and gameplay behind becoming a made man. You play through this game as Vito, son of an immigrant, beaten and short on his luck trying to make a name for himself living the American Dream, leaving the poverty he grew up with behind him. With criminal backgrounds, you and your childhood friend, Joe, find a way into the organized crime world to prove yourselves and work your way into one of the local families.

Praise: This game is like playing through a movie, as it is visually stunning and fires on all cylinders. On top of the graphics is a solid, engaging story that hooks you from the beginning and keeps your attention with a number of twists from start to finish, accompanied by a soundtrack featuring artists from the 40’s and 50’s to make you feel like you are in this era. 2K really did their research to have this accurate looking environment from cars and fashion to the way people talked and hot topics from that time, like World War II. The gameplay is nice and smooth, whether you are fist fighting or in a shootout, while controls handle generally the same as other sandbox titles, so it doesn’t take long to get the hang of. There is a small amount of customization available throughout the game such as your ability to go and purchase outfits and weapons, along with the option to tuning, painting, and storing your car in a garage which houses multiple vehicles of your choice. Lastly, throughout the game are Playboy magazines, which show centerfolds from those decades in high def, unfortunately, there are no articles.

Gripes: Though I did make it sound like there isn’t anything wrong, there were some things that made “my” list. The number one issue on the list is the amount of driving, there is a lot, possibly too much as it seems you drive for five to ten minutes to complete a short task and then have to drive all the way back to your place for sleep before starting the next mission. This game also has its share of bugs and glitches, one which made me miss an entire mission and others screen freezes when the game appeared to be loading while driving. Without giving away the story, I had gotten into my car with my buddy Joe and as we get in and start driving to the checkpoint, the conversation immediately changed from where we were heading to what had supposedly happened and to head back home. Lastly, it is way too easy to become wanted by the police and rather than surrendering, losing mass amounts of cash, or running, making you more wanted, it is easier and faster to open fire and get killed by the cops, leaving you to restart not to far back without penalty.

Overall, 2K Games did something they do really well, perhaps better than most, by providing a cinematic experience in video game form through a well written story, attention to detail, and just producing a fun and engaging game to play. While it is not perfect, very few come even this close to being as fun, it does offer a lot to both fans of sandbox titles and mafia movies alike. With the upcoming DLC coming out, Mafia II will have you assuming the role of Vito for a while.

Mashbuttons.com gives Mafia II an 8 out of 10.

Mafia II is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Mafia II to take care of business this summer

2K Games released the 2nd developer video for it's August release of Mafia II. 2K Czech, the studio that brought the original Mafia title is heading up this sequel and the new video showcases the weapons and cars along with vehicle customization and environmental damage in gunfights. Pretty interesting and the visuals in the video look great and I am hoping this is a good game as sandbox titles are okay in my book, but a mafia sandbox game sounds great if done right.

Just Cause 2 gets free in game ice cream truck, yes please!

As a thank you to their fans, the Just Cause 2 team thought it would be nice to give all their fans a free vehicle to help wreak havoc on the quaint little island of Panau. The free vehicle is the "Chevalier Ice Breaker", which can better be described as the ice cream truck from hell.This welcome present to accompany my favorite recent sandbox title comes fully equipped with lowered suspension, aluminum wheels, body kit, and front bull bars make it easier to drive straight up your opponents...

The Saboteur | Review

Synopsis: Our good friends at EA gave us of a review copy of the new WWII sandbox title, The Saboteur, for the Xbox 360 and after much distractions of blowing up Nazi stuff; I have got one for you. The main character, Sean Devlin, is an Irish race car driving mechanic for an Italian racing team, who has a vendetta against the Nazis occupying France when a spiral of events occur after a cheating Nazi takes him out of a race. Sean uses the French Resistance, British Intelligence, along with an arsenal of weapons and disguises to sabotage the Third Reich in open world Paris. Throughout the course of the story, gameplay comes in the forms of stealth elements, wall scaling, third person shooting, and racing.

Praise: There was a lot to this title that I had a great time with. The location, story, and gameplay work very well and it is unfortunate that this was Pandemic Studio’s final title. Like other sandbox titles, the action and controls are similar to other titles in the genre. The feature that helps this stand out from the rest are the stealth elements and the ability to disguise yourself as a Nazi to infiltrate compounds and blow them to pieces. The ability to climb buildings, whether it is to evade alerted Nazis or to get a vantage point on your next target, is a strong feature that is both fun and extremely useful to complete missions and explore new locations. Vehicles that are “acquired” can been stored in numerous garages for later use, and black market dealers through Paris can replenish your arsenal when you die or run out of ammunition. The “Will to Fight” system is probably the most unique feature I have seen in a title lately. When you start playing through the story, the colors of the city is primarily black and white, these colors are a symbol of hope for the French people, and as you complete missions, color comes back to the city, and in turn the people will also launch an underground resistance and come to your aid when needed.

Gripes: Though there was a lot in which I enjoyed, there were also noticeable issues throughout the story and gameplay. Even though sandbox titles are known for their lack of or miminal load screens, in The Saboteur, the player encounters a loading screen every time they open a door, though the load times are not long, it does get tiresome quickly. The voice acting does not really fit the characters as they sound a little over the top and portray the Irish, French, and German stereotypes through the sometimes painful to listen to accents. I experienced glitches throughout this title sporadically, such as having a vehicles spawn out of nowhere on top of me and the most common incident of having my car get stuck on railroad tracks.

Overall, there was a lot of fun to be had playing through The Saboteur. The story does not get old too quickly, however the French accents do, but there is plenty to do to keep one busy with a good sandbox game for a long time. Often times, I would throw in the game to play through the story, but found myself just blowing up Nazi vehicles, towers, and refueling stations in creative and satisfying ways. The soundtrack, cars, and weapons all fit the WWII era very well and the “Will to Fight” system looks great and plays a large roll on the mood of the game throughout the areas of Paris. Last but not least, there are cabarets.

Mashbuttons.com gives The Saboteur a 8 out of 10.

The Saboteur is available now for the Xbox 360, PC, and the Playstation 3.

The Saboteur launches today on PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3

The open world sandbox title, The Saboteur, launches today, and those console owners looking to check this title out, get a free DLC pack called 'The Midnight Show'. The content pack unlocks a V.I.P. room in the cabaret, sultry cinematics, a minigame, five seedy hiding spots in Paris,and last but not least the ability to unlock nudity.

Prototype | Review

Synopsis: In Prototype, you are a shape shifter by the name of Alex Mercer, dead set on revenge and restoring lost memories in a sandbox environment. As Alex, you have a number of abilities, from transforming your body into its own weapon, consuming, and taking on the memories and abilities of those consumed, to even scaling and leaping the buildings in very parkour-esque fluidity. In order to learn about your dark forgotten history, you must seek out those involved with the dark faction, Black Watch, and consume them to take on their memories and involvement to your past.



Praise: This is a strong 3rd person adventure game, where the player has a plethora of abilities to unlock throughout the course of story missions and side quests. The ability to not only shape shift to disguise yourself as a faction member, but to choose either claws, hammers, or whip as your weapon of choice, give numerous ways to complete missions for both the passive and destructive players out there. Moving Alex throughout the city may be the most fulfilling experience in the game as you are able to run up buildings, leap between rooftops, and glide for the longer needed distances.



Gripes: Variety in missions is a major shortcoming throughout the game. You are either infiltrating, protecting, or wiping out something repeatedly and the only difference is the location in which the mission takes place. Controls can also become a hindrance especially when you need to consume someone to replenish your health and you keep missing the intended target to help keep you alive. The player is also given the option to get into vehicles, however, if there is any baddies around you may have a problem, because the player is put into a quick time event necessary to successfully commandeer a vehicle and if you are hit by anything during the process, it is the end of the sequence.



Overall, I found Prototype to be pretty entertaining, and aside from the few moments in which I had to talk myself out of sending my controller through the television, it was a fast paced, action packed, violent romp in the park. The graphics are great, the city is huge, and with the number of side missions and military/hive territories to keep at bay, it is often easy to forget about the story missions to carry out.



Mashbuttons.com gives Prototype a 7 out of 10

Prototype is available now for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.