14 DAY TRIAL // The guys over at 2K Games want to end the year with the name Mafia II on everyone's lips and thus, they've just launched yet another DLC for the critically acclaimed game and this time around they decided to give us a changed perspective on things: from Joe's point of view.
The Joe's Adventures DLC puts Vito Scaletta's sidekick in main display, giving us a better understanding on what went on that caused Joe's sudden rise within the Italian mafia world, while Vito was in the slammer.
The DLC picks up from when Vito was being shoved inside the back of a police car and Joe feels the urge to do something about it.
Eventually, he receives a phone call and learns of a lead on who told on Vito and this is when things get interesting. Car chases, intimidating and eliminating witnesses, stealth kills and knuckle brawls are just a couple of things that the chubby (former) sidekick seems to be great at.
Don't think for one second that you go in guns-blazing in every mission. In fact, even in your first endeavor (taking out the guy that told on Vito) you need to be extra careful when eliminating heavily armed police officers that use the same “colorful” language indigenous to mobsters.
The gameplay remains the same, with no significant changes apart from some new and awesome finishing moves when you're punching somebody senseless and the way you pick out your missions.
This time around you don't have to run from one mission to another, following the narration that 2K Games intended for you, and you actually get to drive around the city picking out events that you think are interesting.
From my perspective, this is looking more and more like good old Grand Theft Auto, minus the monopolization of the entire town and picking up working girls off the street corner.
A bunch of cinematic scenes will give you some time to breath between missions and they also elaborate on Joe's rise to power. I have to say, that the DLC feels like a game itself and the eight hours of gameplay announced by the developer will prove to be more than a treat for all Mafia II fans.
What strikes me as a great incentive to charge into this new adventure is the new approach towards mission auto-saves. If the first game only saved before and after a mission (God forbid in between) this time I'm pleased to report that almost after each cinematic your progress will be saved (hallelujah).
This significantly increased gameplay experience provided by a DLC will surely raise the bar for other game developers, that from now on will think twice before releasing a DLC with a mere two or three hours of new content.
For the purchasing price of only $10 (8 Euro), compared to other DLCs Joe's Adventure is well worth the investment. But when you add it all up with to the other downloadable content packs and the game itself, the entire Mafia II experience sums up to around $80. This begs the question, are you that big of a fan?
