More than two months had passed since Mafia II came out in late August. Yet it still remains one of my non-regret buy despite its poor reviews from top gaming websites.

The storyline of Mafia 2  follows an Italian on America soil who returned from World War II (yes, if you are a World War game enthusiast, you can get to use historical guns like Thompson, MP4 at the start of the game). He was released from duty with the help from a  local criminal named Joe Barbaro, an acquaintance of Vito. 

Thrown into a new world where money is everything, Vito did not intend to stay on as any cheap labour and join the Mafia gang. He then starts earning piles of cash to help his sister who is in debt and finally ended up as a Mafia member.

Editor’s note: Check out a long 8 minutes gameplay of Mafia 2 in the video above.

Personal Review:
The Pros:
-Fantastic storyline and cutscene
-If you like some extra content, the game features real 40’s playboy magazine
-Powerful voice acting
-Nice snowy and  lively empire bay
-Anyone up for a tommygun spree?
-Love the soundtracks!
-Its not always a gun ‘chiong-ing’ missions, a good mix variety
-Fully customizable car
-Too much money to handle at some point of the game progression

The Cons:
-Unlike GTA, the world/shops/gunshops is pretty much empty with nothing much to explore
-Clothing and cars do not stick with you as long as you wish it to be. The next thing you know, you will be in “pajamas” or taking another car(mission forced) for a wild ride
-The daily picking up of phone and ‘get change and go’  idea just surprised me, that they actually expect us to do it
-Didnt like the taking cover mechanic, GTA has it.
-Cops are a b*tch at the beginning, but after the game progress they are just flies
-Cars maybe hard to control at the beginning, but as the game progress, its quite easy, so just stick with the brake and do not drift.

Closing comments: Not fantastic, not bad, not worth to buy and keep but definitely worth to grab it via GameTrader.SG

Mafia 2 – ‘Zheng your car‘

Sonic the Hedgehog is back with a game of his own! After the success of Street Fighter 4, Sega is hopeful about releasing a new Sonic game base on the old 2D platformer concept. Being a fan of the Sonic series, I am quite excited about this new game. I had previously played Sonic 1, 2,3 and Sonic and Knuckles on my Sega Genesis way back in the 90s. It has been my favourite game on Sega Genesis ever since. Each new Sonic game introduced new and interesting features. In Sonic 2, you can dash (yes dashing is an exciting feature, you can’t do it in Sonic 1 -_-“) and it supports multiplayer! Ok not that kind of online multiplayer games that we see today. For the young people out there, Sega Genesis do not have an internet connection…oh man…do we even have internet at that time? Ok anyway, the second player can get to control an invincible Tails(an orange  two-tail fox). He never dies and will just keep getting respawned after he dies.

And in Sonic 3, the playable sidekick Tails can even fly and give Sonic a lift! We just love Tails…and did I mention he never dies? And in “Sonic and Knuckles”, you get to control a new character Knuckles, who can glide in the air and even scale walls. Ok so I was eagerly anticipating this game but wait, Tails and Knuckles are not in the game?!??! Unfortunately Sonic is the only playable character! It is like going back to square one! I tried my hand on the demo today and somehow feel that Sonic 4 is more of a HD remake of the Sonic 1. Enemies remain very similar to that of Sonic 1. Maybe this is what Sega associate brand manager Ken Balough mean by ‘staying true to its root‘. To me, however, Sonic’s movement feels sluggish. The only thing that I like is the new ‘homing’ feature where Sonic will home onto a target.

Bosses from this game are also taken from the previous Sonic games. Overall, the graphic certainly improved, but hey, 16-bit Sega Genesis VS PS3, Xbox 360? It just isn’t fair. This game is also facing possible Boycotting from Fans according to 1up.com. And I will be joining them too. Somehow over the years, I now prefer Sonic in a go-Kart, or Sonic with a tennis racket.

I remember watching a funny clip on Sonic and Mario from CollegeHumour. Enjoy the video below:)