P. S. If you have difficulties in the walktrough, this guide will be very useful:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3561496240


Even after sixteen years, I still can't wrap my head around how they could completely neglect the game's technical side. And this goes for both the original and the Definitive Edition. I have zero interest in sorting out the DLC when the base game itself is such a mess.

Playing it turns into pure struggle with the game engine: constant crashes every half hour, flickering textures, and graphics that only look fine in cutscenes. In gameplay, all those jagged lines and stair-stepping just hurt your eyes. The funniest and saddest part at the same time? For some reason, pirated versions of the game still run more smoothly than the official Steam release.

The story in the game raises a lot of questions too, even though fans love tossing around quotes from Vito Scaletta. The first half of the story still gives some solid character development, kind of like Tommy Angelo, but by the second half it slides into GTA territory, where it's all about chaos for the sake of chaos. The mafia vibe gets really minimal — Vito and Joe are just hustling for money, doing the same hallway shootouts over and over. Where did the actual 'Mafia' go? Who knows. The game just doesn't have any truly memorable or challenging missions like the 'Honest Game' from the first one.

On the plus side, you can at least mention the bigger arsenal, a decent selection of cars, and smarter hand-to-hand combat. The car physics got simplified, but just cruising around won’t get you far – after all, 60% of the game is just driving from home to missions and back. They tried to make the open world more lively: you can buy clothes, customize your car, or rob stores, but in reality, it’s just as empty and pointless as in the first game. Besides collecting magazines and posters, there’s really nothing to do. Clearly, a ton of content got cut, leaving just a bland backdrop.

In the end, it’s a game mostly living off nostalgia and TikTok memes. Even the cops’ lines and behavior (which are more annoying here than in the first game) and the “sad” ending created an undeserved cult around it. In reality, thanks to the publisher’s greed and the developers rushing things, it’s a messy game full of technical problems. Playing it today for the first time, without rose-colored glasses, you’ll only feel frustrated.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3612049014 (Even if it's not totally trash, the game still needed a proper polish).

P. S. 2x. Did you like the review or my profile? Drop a Steam reward for the review. Thanks to your support, I don't lose the point of playing and writing reviews!

great when it works but it crashes every 5 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ seconds