The latest issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine contains an extensive preview of the upcoming Mafia II.
Key Features:
- 3 families
- Cops only call reinforcements if you commited a large enough crime.
- 2 hours of cutscenes
- references to original game/easter eggs
- 3 acts
- all of the 2.5 square mile city open at the start
- can use taxi's to get around
- cars get damaged, dirty, and explode if shot in the gas tank
- can customize cars with your own license plates
- 2 types of context sensitive environment interactions: Standard and Violent
- Can buy food from vendors like hotdogs
- While buying stuff you can't be attacked
- NPC's will smoke, read newspapers, wait for buses, look through trash cans
- several points in the story you can make choices that affect the game
- multiple endings
- police go after other criminals instead of just you
- can buy houses where you store gear
- can take missions for and against competing families
- lots of interactive objects like chairs, bottles, sinks
- map waypoints including sidequests
- checkpoints improved from original game
- no on screen interface
- go to gyms to learn new hand to hand combos
- shooting through doors will possibly be added
