Home Gaming Weighing in on The Mafia II PS3 Debacle

Weighing in on The Mafia II PS3 Debacle

2 min read
25

 Mafiablah

As a multi-console owner, I have a tough time deciding which machine to get multi-platform releases for. Sometimes, my decision – as far as multiplayer games are concerned – is based on which group of friends I’d rather play online with. Other times, it might come down to which version offers more content. More often than not though, my decision rests on performance – stability, frame-rate and graphical fidelity.

I was planning on getting the sequel to Illusion Soft’s incredible Mafia on the PS3; retail copies of the game will include a token for extra, exclusive content. After hearing about the disparity between the console versions, I figured I’d take a look at both demos to see how big – or insignificant – the differences were.

After just 10 minutes with each, my choice was pretty clear.

Honestly? Both console versions pale in comparison to the PC version. This is natural, and to be expected. What’s not quite as expected is the difference in visual fidelity and performance between the consoles.

While the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions both suffer from drops in frame rate, as well as numerous jaggies and noticeable screen-tearing, it’s really much worse on the PS3. That’s a far bigger issue for me than the lack of grass, general foliage and pools of liquid. Some people have, based on previously released screenshots, insisted that it’s because the demo is based off of an unoptimised build – and that the final retail version for Sony’s console will be much better.

According to Elizabeth from 2K though, that won’t be the case.  “"To questions about the DLC screens, they were taken from an earlier build of the game before we optimized for the gameplay experience. We had to make some alterations to the PS3 environment that resulted in the removal of grass. This allowed us to maintain an acceptable framerate and we can deliver a consistent gameplay experience across all three platforms," she said of the screenshots.

Earlier, she confirmed that the demo would be “the visual fidelity in the demo is generally representative of what you’ll see in the full game.”

Frankly, this really sucks. As a PS3 owner, I’ve had enough of ported multiplatform games that don’t match up to its 360 counterpart. Thankfully I do have the other console for ore extreme situations like this – but for those gamers who only own PS3’s, after 4 years of this nonsense it’s like a kick in the face.

With Mafia 2 joining the likes of Bayonetta and Red Dead Redemption as recent multiplatform games that underperform on the PS3, it looks like I’ll be geting this for the ol’ 360; Or maybe it’s time to get back in to PC gaming.

Last Updated: August 18, 2010

25 Comments

  1. Fred

    August 18, 2010 at 13:22

    Grass is Microsoft exclusive for 6 months.

    Reply

  2. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 13:25

    I’m still undecided, it’ll be a toss up between the PS3 and the PC (and since I’m planning on upgrading the PC this weekend, I might just go with the PC version of Mafia 2, which would make sense because Mafia 1 was originally a PC game).

    Incidentally, my software boycott for the xbox 360 still remains. :sleeping: The only xbox 360 game that I’ll buy in the next year or so will be gears of war 3.

    Reply

  3. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 13:27

    Bayoneetta on PS3 was bad though, I’m surprised no one has taken Sega to court over it.

    Reply

  4. Geoffrey Tim

    August 18, 2010 at 13:29

    Get it on Pc. honestly, both console versions are lacking, it’s just that the PS3 one is lacking even more.

    Reply

  5. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 13:34

    I might just, by the way, I downloaded the Xbox 360 Mafia 2 demo last night (actually wanted to get the NHL demo, but it’s not available for silvers yet), and yeah… the grass is really pretty. If you compare that to the PS3 demo, the PS3 version is definitely lacking…

    Truly a sad day.

    Reply

  6. eXp

    August 18, 2010 at 13:34

    I have a PC that could run Mafia II on full GFX – however I still want it on console. My PC gaming days are sadly over 🙁

    Reply

  7. AC!D

    August 18, 2010 at 13:36

    I must say i also raged a bit yesterday when i read what was going on in the 2K forums. They actually released doctored PC screens and put the playstation 3 icons and then made up some shitty excuse about them being old screens before they optimized the game even though they were sent to Gamespot on the 10 August.

    Then they lied and said the game was being optimized for each version and now it comes out that the PS3 version was outsourced for porting.

    Frankly Geof the 360 version although miles better than the PS3 version still sucks compared to the PC version. If you are a PC gamer i would opt for that version. Seriously the vids are incredible go check them out. Also no tearing, frame rate drops or jaggies.Unfortunately im not a PC gamer so 360 version it is but sucks that i cant get the PS3 exclusive DLC :cwy:

    Reply

  8. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 13:37

    Yeah.. PC gaming hasn’t seen much love by the industry in recent years… :getlost: I’ll see whether the comfort of the beanbag wins over the upright chair in my office.

    Reply

  9. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 13:38

    HAHAHAH FRED!

    Reply

  10. Fred

    August 18, 2010 at 13:42

    No grass I can take , I like a flat lawn , but hell , no water in the pools is just sick and twisted.

    Reply

  11. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 13:44

    Sounds like they’ve just lost a sale here. That’s some pretty underhanded tactics. :angry:

    Reply

  12. Geoffrey Tim

    August 18, 2010 at 13:44

    Yeah, the Pc version is seriously miles ahead of both console versions. If i still had a capable gaming Pc, there’s no doubt that I’d get it for Pc.

    Unfortunately in my old age I’ve strayed away from Pc gaming, so consoles it is.

    Reply

  13. Werner

    August 18, 2010 at 13:55

    It was? I borrowed a friend’s copy and finished the game and there wasn’t anything noticably wrong with it… and I’m sure I was playing it with my glasses on 🙂

    Reply

  14. Geoffrey Tim

    August 18, 2010 at 13:59

    Yeah, but compared to the 360 version it was definitely lacking. http://www.1up.com/news/bayonetta-360-ps3

    Reply

  15. Luigi

    August 18, 2010 at 14:43

    Don’t go giving the Xbox 360 version a pass because it’s better than the PS3 version – it still has a terrible framerate, hideous screen tearing and poor draw distances. The PC version is beautiful, but the console versions are extremely ugly for such as big release.

    2K, you FAIL.

    Reply

  16. Ryan

    August 18, 2010 at 14:45

    I was gutted when I heard this until I actually played the xbox 360 demo. To me the Xbox 360 demo drops frames regularly, has lots more jagged edges than the ps3, the colours are dull and for some reason on the 360 when you go under a shadow it puts little squares over your character. I wasn’t going to get the game but I realised the ps3 doesn’t have blood grass or as much destruction but generally the graphics are much better.
    :cheerful:

    Reply

  17. Geoffrey Tim

    August 18, 2010 at 14:46

    I didn’t.

    “Honestly? Both console versions pale in comparison to the PC version.” and “the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions both suffer from drops in frame rate, as well as numerous jaggies and noticeable screen-tearing.”

    I’m only getting it for 360 because my Pc isn’t up to scratch, and is located in an area of my house not conducive to good gaming.

    Reply

  18. Bobby Kotick adds 2KGames to his list of fail

    August 18, 2010 at 16:44

    I’m currently reading the drama on their forum boards (2K Games) http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80128&page=66

    By the way, thanks for bringing this under my attention AC!D. It’s much appreciated.

    I’ve decided that I won’t be getting either the PC or the PS3 version. It’s clear that 2k Games used doctored PC screens and tried to pass them off as PS3 screens.

    That level of deceit is inexcusable. The irony is, even if they had ported the PS3 version from the xbox 360 version (which seems highly likely) and were up front about it, I would have just shrugged my shoulders, sipped some tea, checked online to see if performance was OK and then handed over my money to them.

    But this is absolutely disgusting. Shame on you 2kGames. You’re now on my Official Fail list (2KGames officially joins Activision-Blizzard and Microsoft on Bobby Kotick’s list of Fail. 2K Games gains one star of fail, however Microsoft still leads with 9 stars of fail, which means the MS boycott continues).

    Reply

  19. Nick de Bruyne

    August 18, 2010 at 17:00

    I have to be completely honest here when I say that I wonder why everyone is getting so upset about the doctored images. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not a good thing in any way, all I really mean to say is that companies have been doing this for ages, and people are very aware of it, so why such a big fuss about Mafia 2?

    Again, don’t get me wrong, I don’t like it anymore than you do, but I remember stuff like this happening forever now. Does anyone remember the whole issue with the doctored Killzone 2 screenshots?

    http://cdn1.gamepro.com/article_img/gamepro/156868-1-1.jpg

    At the same time, I am really glad that this is getting so much attention. It’s about time that something is done to stop these methods of BS marketing which are essentially straight-out lies to the consumer.

    Reply

  20. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 17:14

    Probably because regardless Killzone 2 still looked and played phenomenal even in the final build.

    The issue here is that 2KGames released those doctored images to both gamespot and even the Official Playstation website. It gives the impression that the game looks stunning (luscious grass in the PS3 version, AA, the works) when in actual fact, it’s riddled with bugs (screen tearing, jaggies, low fps).

    2KGames is maintaining that the pictures were from an earlier build and they had to remove “graphical features i.e. blood, grass etc. to enhance performance”, however that bit of news only came out after 2kElizabeth got grilled on the forums. What is damning though is the fact that the “fake” pictures were posted still circulated as early as last week.

    The fact still remains that those screens of Mafia 2 on gamespot and the official Playstation blog are not representative of the final PS3 version, and 2kGames are yet to update those images or provide an OFFICIAL statement.

    On the xbox 360 side it doesn’t look rosy either, and I’m expecting a huge fallout, once the game is released on both major consoles.

    Reply

  21. Nick de Bruyne

    August 18, 2010 at 17:41

    We have to all realise that I guess it’s funny that we always assume that earlier code looks worse than later code lol. In this case optimising meant making it look worse to run better. Still, this is pretty unacceptable from 2K and it seems like the gamers are making sure that they understand just how pissed off they are in that forum.

    Reply

  22. Bobby Kotick

    August 18, 2010 at 17:55

    I’ll have to invoke Occam’s Razor, and merely state that it’s more likely that they merely used PC screenshots, since 2K Games had to outsource the PS3 version to Massive Bear, because their earlier code was in even worse shape.

    Anyway, all of this is rather depressing because I was really looking forward to the game. Now I’m going to turn on spotify, lie on the floor and listen to 1950s blues.

    Reply

  23. AC!D

    August 18, 2010 at 18:35

    It seems to be a culture running through 2K at the moment with sub HD console games and terrible console optimization. Red Dead was also buggy and unstable as hell in certain areas. I cant say this is making me very excited about LA Noire, Max Payne 3 and GTA5. No wonder Agent is AWOL its probably looking like crap compared to Sony’s other first party games.

    Reply

  24. Gavin Mannion

    August 18, 2010 at 21:52

    Um 2K and Rockstar are different companies :pouty:

    Reply

  25. M@GE

    August 18, 2010 at 21:54

    I think this is proof that current gen consoles are getting old….. Bring ’em new ones please!! :wub:

    Reply

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