Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

With the loud noises and constant spectacle going off on the main floor of E3, it can be a bit tough to get a feel for a game when you are getting some hands on time.  All of that ambient noise can be distracting, and makes it hard to hear the developers that are chatting up their game to you.  2K Games alieviated this issue by letting us go behind the velvet rope, and play up to 30 minutes of Mafia II without interuptions.  Our room was sound dampened, equiped with soft couches, headsets and of course, copies of the game to play through a single mission in the game.  Settling in, and dropping off all my gear on the floor next to me, I took some time to visit the sequel to an old friend, Mafia II.

My mission started with my character, Vito hanging out with Joe and Henry, talking about a target that we were going to have to take out, to teach people a lesson.  Vito seems a bit hesitent about the hit, but Henry says it is necessary.  Joe is napping, taking the whole thing in stride as part of a normal day of business.

We then have to take a car to our stakeout destination, and this was the point where I was going to be worried.  When 2K Games ported the original Mafia title to consoles, the cars were the sore point for me and other players.  They did not control well, so I was wondering if the cars would control better.  Thankfully, the controls are solid for driving, with handbrake turns pulling the car nicely into a turn, without any crazy drift.  Rules of the road are still in effect with Mafia II, adding a little more realism to your driving around town.  If you run a few too many lights, or go past the speed limit, you will find yourself being chased by the cops.  You can escape them by getting outside their sight for a specific amount of time, as with the last game.  If you don’t escape, a set of steel handcuffs will be in your future, or worse, death by gunshot.

Arriving at our destination, we have a short chat with Henry and Joe, where they talk about who our mark is, and that we need to take him out before he enters the building.  We are then set up with a couple of mounted machine guns to take out the incoming caravan of enemies.  At first, I went for the people, but I did find out shortly therein that I could shoot the cars, and they would explode for an area effect.  I tried to hit the target, but he evaded my gun spray, heading into a warehouse.  Henry told us to drop the guns and head over to the other building to chase down the target.

At this point, I finally got my first taste of combat in Mafia II.  One of the bumpers on the Xbox 360 controller has us sliding into the closest cover.  Using the directional pad buttons, I selected a weapon and pulled the left trigger to aim out of cover.  You can blind fire, but as with most games, your accuracy will plummet.  I managed to clip one of the guys with a nice headshot, while Joe took out the other straggler with a hail of bullets.  The AI of my partners was pretty good.  They took cover appropriatly, and always seemed to be aware of their surroundings.

From the street, we entered the warehouse, chasing down our target that has escaped us so far.  The three of us worked through the building, slowly moving from floor to floor, fighting off enemies.  Some of the bad guys used molitov cocktails on us, using the liquor around them to their advantage.  However, I was determined to find my target, and no lackeys would stop me and my crew from finding the target.  We worked our way up to the top of the building, where we found our man.  He was trapped in a corner, begging for his life.  He cried about having a family, and it seemed like our character, Vito, had some sympathy for this guy.  However, those feeling were blown out of the clouds when the bad guy shot Henry in the leg with a hidden piece.  Henry fell over, but Joe stepped up, unloading a full clip into the mark.  Henry was helped up, and put a few extra bullets into his attacker for good measure.

As we started to make our way back to the car, the building started to shake as if an earthquake had hit.  Instead, it was the rest of the enemy crew, wanting to take us out by destroying the building.  They had set off explosive throughout the warehouse, making it structurally unsound.  We had to escape, but Joe was going to have to carry Henry back to the car, leaving me to cover their escape.  We were attacked from multiple points on the way out of the building, but I was confident that I would not die inside this collapsing building.  I took out the enemies that hindered our progress, and we worked our way out of the warehouse, only to watch it burn up like a furnace.  We jumped in our ride, now tasked with evading the police, and getting Henry to an underground doctor.

I dashed around town, weaving through alleys and backroads, frantically lookng to avoid the police.  The police were far more relentless in this sequel, constantly keeping on the pursuit after a huge event like this.  Our travels led us to a bridge where we faced a police blockage.  Mafia II switched to a cutscene at this point, with police in front of us, and more following up the bridge.  There we were, facing a massive barrage of weaponry, when the game faded to white, and the Mafia II logo came on the screen.

With the hands on time behind me, I had to admit that the controls were easy to pick up and very responsive.  The graphics are a big step up for the franchise, although the first one had visuals that aged very gracefully considering the tech that was used.  Cars were very functional on the console, and even the AI was very competent.  The original Mafia was a big game for me, as it had a great narrative, solid gunplay and captured the era quite nicely.  So far from what I got a chance to play, Mafia II has continued capturing the magic that we experienced in the first title.   Now we just have to wait until Fall 2010 to continue the adventures of Vito in Mafia II.