Mafia II is an action-adventure video game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K Games. It was released in August 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows; an OS X port was released by Feral Interactive in December 2011. The game is the sequel to 2002's Mafia, the second game in the Mafia series. Set within the fictional Empire Bay (based on New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Detroit), the story follows a gangster and his efforts to climb through the ranks of the Mafia crime families.
The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on-foot or by vehicle. Players control Vito Scaletta, a war veteran who becomes caught up with the Mafia when trying to pay back his father's debts. The player character's criminal activities may incite a response from law enforcement agencies, measured by a "wanted" system that governs the aggression of their response. Development began in 2003, soon after the release of the first Mafia game. At release, Mafia II received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise particularly directed at the story.
The game is set in the 1940s — early 1950s era of Empire Bay, a fictional city based on New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Detroit. There are 30-40 vehicles in the game as well as licensed music from the era.
Many firearms from the previous game return, such as the Thompson submachine gun and Colt 1911, as well as a pump-action shotgun. New World War II-era weapons like the MP 40, the M3 submachine gun, the MG 42 and the Beretta Model 38 also appear in the game.
Interacting with objects in the environment involves two action buttons- a standard action and a "violent" action (for example, when stealing a car, the player may choose to either pick its lock or break the window glass), used in context-sensitive situations. A map is included as in the original Mafia game, but the checkpoint system has been completely overhauled.[further explanation needed] New controls include a cover system that allows the player to take cover behind objects (such as generators, walls and large crates) and shoot enemies, rather than just entering an arbitrary crouch pose behind them.This feature provides tactical support against enemies and has become a crucial technique of the genre.