Mafia II to be 15 Hours Long, Looking Awesome

If anybody were to ask me right now what my favourite free-roaming sandbox game is, it would undoubtedly be Mafia : The City of Lot Heaven. More mature and story focused than the GTA games, its 1930’s Godfather and Goodfellas inspired Mafioso plot resonated more with me.

I’m glad to report that the sequel – delayed, but due later this year – looks to continue the awesomeness. It’s been confirmed by the game’s producer, Denby Grace, that the game will last about 15 hours. While some may be unhappy about it being short, I think that’s perfect. All the peripheral activities in sandbox games – while fun – detract from the storytelling.

Others might also blame the 360 and its DVD format for the game’s length – and they may be right. Asked if the medium presented any issues, Grace responded with :

“There were at one time. We’ve resolved those issues now,” he said “Not to go into too many details, because it’s not very interesting, but we had to split out languages.”

“We’re doing full localization for every language, which is pretty unheard for an open-world game, but it’s something we’re committed to because we have such a huge following in Europe.”

He further added: “So we’ve had to do that, but the English fits fine. It’s one disc. The experience is 15 hours, so it’s not too bad. But the scope is pretty huge, the script’s like 600 pages; 160,000 words; 300 speaking characters. It’s huge, but it fits on a disc.”

Either way, the game is looking goddamned incredible, judging by its latest trailer. I loved the first game, and its sequel is one of my most anticipated games for the year.

Source : Joystiq

Last Updated: March 10, 2010