Thinky stuff: Mafia 2 - wasted opportunity

Mafia 2 could've been a far better game if 2K Czech ditched the American gangster story for something completely fresh and different. I've thought about this a little deeper because it would be unfair to discount the devs who clearly put effort into this otherwise abysmal sequel.

Hear me out.

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I've talked a fair bit already about my disappointment for Mafia 2's story. It's cliched and the protagonist remains largely unidentifiable. I'm also sick of the American gangster's story because that's all we ever get i.e. The Departed, American Gangster, Godfather, Mario Puzo's works, etc.

Then I also read a recent article about the new World War 2 RTS Ruse. The writer of this article considered it a wasted opportunity for the French devs of Ruse, Eugen Systems to make a war game from the American perspective because once again, that's already beaten to death. They could've instead dug deep into their own national history and done a story about the French resistance. Granted, it wouldn't have been as popular or accessible as the American story, but heck, it'd be something different.

They had an opportunity to expand our knowledge of a war that, in my mind, has been overused in video games to the point that it has lost its awesome mythical quality (and why everybody is now jumping on the modern warfare bandwagon). But I don't want to get into that debate right now. Anyway, if you're interested to read the article in its entirety, click here.


But my point is, in bringing up this Ruse story, 2K Czech should've also delved into their own history to tell a Czechian gangster story. And why not? Granted, the Czechian story may not be as peachy, shiny or as "Fergetaboutit" as the American Italian's, but brutality and grittiness worked well for Australian crime TV Underbelly and Russian mob film Eastern Promises. And the fact that very few gamers, other than perhaps Czechian ones or historians, know much about a mobster's life in the Czech Republic, I think that's good enough justification to tell a new story.

There's this funny story I was reading in the UK Daily Mail about Czechian mobs setting up sham weddings in order to beat immigration in Eastern Europe. We could have a mission in Czechian Mafia 2 where that was exactly what was happening - a sham wedding. It would be hilarious if the script was written right and then suddenly the cops bust down the church doors to break it up, and then it's shootfest that'll go down well with trigger-happy gamers.

The games industry is problematic in that it is, for now, still driven by sales, at which point, you either go indie or pander to the desires of everybody. Why doesn't anybody write a video game about being a citizen in North Korea trying to escape across the border? You can still have violence and gun play but at least that's a new story no one's ever told.

It's always the same archetypal heroes; people want their Anglo-centric Nathan Drakes and Prince of Persias with their sarcastic-slightly-cocky-attitudes-but-deep-down-are-nice-guys or the Vitos and the Scarlettis with their "Fergetaboutit" accents. And not the dirt farmer from outside Prague with 5 kids and a sick wife, who gets tangled with the wrong people in his attempt to earn a living for his family. Now THAT'S a mob story I'd like to play.