Earlier this week 2K Games fully unveiled Mafia: Trilogy and surprise-released “Definitive Editions” of both Mafia II and Mafia III. Exciting, right? Well, maybe not so much. Mafia III: Definitive Edition is basically just a GOTY edition, so it’s fine, but Mafia II: Definitive Edition is a remaster of the Xbox 360/PS3 game, and apparently it's kind of a disaster. The game is glitchy and underwhelming on all platforms, but is roughest on consoles (particularly the PS4 it seems) exhibiting ridiculous glitches, blatant pop-in, and slideshow-like performance. You can check out a few "highlights" captured by various YouTubers below -- here we see the player repeatedly falling through the environment into a never-ending void…
Here a player is assaulted by blinding lights from the sky during a night drive (didn’t remember any aliens in the original game), which causes the game to slow down to about 5 frames per second.
Here we see environmental details popping in literally two steps in front of the player.
Here's a classic Assassin's-Creed-Unity-style facial glitch.
Well...the game looks like a definitive something alright. Trust me, there are a lot of these kind of videos out there. 2K Games has yet to release any statement responding to Mafia II: Definitive Edition’s issues.
Now, before you get too worried about the full remake of the original Mafia included in Mafia: Trilogy, we’re hopefully still okay – that’s being developed by Hangar 13, while Mafia II: DE was mostly handled by D3t Ltd, who has worked in a support capacity on games like The Room and Shenmue III. This was their first major remastering project, and needless to say, it seems like they dropped the ball.
You can buy Mafia: Trilogy now on PC (via Steam), Xbox One, and PS4, which will get you immediate access to Mafia II: Definitive Edition and Mafia III: Definitive Edition. Mafia: Definitive Edition will be available on August 28 alongside a physical edition of Mafia: Trilogy. All three games can also be purchased individually. Mafia: DE will cost you $40, Mafia II and Mafia III will set you back $30, while Mafia: Trilogy is $60. Buying the Trilogy seems like the best deal on paper, but given the state of Mafia II, I have a feeling a lot of people will just be sticking to the Mafia remake.