Mafia II Classic is easily one of the best action-crime games I have ever had the chance to experience. I heavily recommend it to anyone reading this, but I must also warn you about some serious bugs that can affect your enjoyment. It is a real shame, because this game is a 2010 classic that truly deserves better treatment.

The story is absolutely incredible, revolving around organized crime in Empire Bay, a fictional city set in a time period mostly between the 1940s and 1950s. The atmosphere is top-notch. Seasons change with the story, cars evolve to match the era, and the attention to small details really helps bring the world to life. I only wish there were more ways to interact with NPCs, like robbing them, threatening them, or even donating to homeless people who wander the streets. These additions would have made the city feel even more alive.
The characters and story were the real highlights for me. Vito Scaletta and Joe Barbaro are two of my favorite characters in gaming. Watching them grow, struggle, and have each other's backs made the plot feel incredibly real. Vito is not a good guy; he is selfish and can be heartless, but he is also deeply loyal to the people he cares about, which makes him surprisingly relatable. Playing as Vito was a fantastic experience, and his character development kept me invested the whole way through.
As for the gameplay, I found the gunplay very satisfying. It is simple, but it feels smooth and responsive, exactly what you would hope for from a game of this era. Enemy AI can sometimes feel like it has unfairly good aim, but using cover wisely balances things out. The sound design is decent, although I do wish there were more radio tracks considering how much time you spend driving around.

Now, onto the biggest drawback: the bugs. Mafia II Classic is very buggy. You will encounter issues like NPCs and cars flying through the air and sometimes even falling through the map. However, none of these glitches are as frustrating as the notorious slow-motion bug. When I first played this game at 9 years old, I did not know English very well, nor was I technical enough to understand what caused the bug or how to fix it. As a result, I had to stop playing the game completely, and it ruined my experience back then. Thankfully, there is a way to fix the slow-motion bug. You need to open Task Manager while the game is running, find Mafia II, and disable all but one CPU core. This will stop the slow-motion bug, especially in Chapter 2. After getting past the bugged section, you can re-enable the CPU cores.
Although the game is technically open-world, do not expect a living sandbox like GTA. The city feels fairly empty outside of story missions. However, if you are mainly here for the narrative, which you should be, this barely affects the overall experience.

All in all, Mafia II Classic is absolutely worth experiencing at least once, especially for its outstanding story and characters. I strongly recommend picking it up during a sale.

Nice old Czech game

Good fun - DLC was dull but the main game and characters were fun. Transition from winter to summer is pretty. Not quite as charming as Mafia I but still with a compelling story.