The first evidence of this was in their booth at PAX East. Collections of indie studios sat clumped around the expo hall. Rockstar Games stood next door, showing off the highly anticipated Red Dead Redemption to an endless line of salivating fans. But, towering over all of it, was the 20-foot tall structure that made up the 2K booth, and the banners for the three titles they were showing off within.

The first demonstration was for the new downloadable content in Bioshock 2. This, alas, I could not touch, because I have not finished the game yet and do not want to spoil the story for myself. The second demonstration was a hands-off showing of Civilization V, a game it seems will do wonders for the realm of turn-based strategy. Jon Huie has already published an article with his impressions on Civ V, and if you have not checked that out yet, I suggest you do.

The third demonstration is the one I got a close look at. This is the sequel to the highly acclaimed 2002 release, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. 2K has lived up to the reputation of the original title and then went far beyond. Mafia II is shaping up to be a well polished title that is fun to play, beautiful to look at, and easy to become immersed in.

The player takes on the role of Vito, an impoverished Italian-American who is looking to change his lot in life. He and his friend Joe become involved in…well…some “legitimate” business enterprises, and as one thing leads to another they get drawn deeper and deeper into the sub-world of organized crime. As time goes on, they begin to see that the glamor and prestige is really just a facade for something much uglier.

The gameplay itself runs very smoothly. When you take control of Vito, you find yourself operating a familiar 2-stick, 3rd-person control scheme. Vito moves where you want him to move, and the camera is easily adjustable. Hints appear at the bottom of the screen to help new players get used to the controls. Before you know it, the tutorial segment is over, and you find yourself in the middle of a turf war that forces you to sink or swim. You learn to fire a tommy gun, throw molotov cocktails, and work cooperatively with your brothers-in-arms to make the bad guys an offer they can’t refuse.

Mafia II boasts an excellent “cover system,” that allows the player to duck and dive behind obstacles to get quick cover during a gunfight. This system is both innovative and intuitive. Vito always jumps in the direction you want him to go, and always gets behind some kind of solid mass quickly. Aiming from behind a wall is a cinch, performed with only one button and done without sacrificing cover. This system, and the solid aiming and firing controls, makes combat a blast. It’s fun, and not too easy.

Everything in the world is interactive, too. Wooden panels are destructible, as the player learns in an early segment involving a bar and some machine gun fire. You can shoot weak materials like wood apart, and use molotov cocktails to set them on fire. Vehicles are a little tougher, but if you manage to get a spark into a gas tank, you’d better stand back.

The graphics…well, look at the trailers. All the cinematics are done using the actual game engine, so the crispness you see on any release video is exactly what you’re looking at throughout the entire game. You can see the pores and freckles on the characters’ faces. You can see splinters of wood chipping off under gunfire. I thought I saw a hangnail splitting from Vito’s trigger finger, but that was just some fuzz on the screen. Nevertheless, if he had a hangnail, I guarantee I would have seen it.

I also need to mention the sound. First off, the effects do wonders for actually immersing you in the world. You feel much more like a part of the mafia if you believe the clack of your Italian wing-tip on the cobblestone street is accurate. The sounds are realistic and the gunfire is loud. Secondly, the accents are dead on. The characters sound as though they are actually from the time period, which I raved about for Assassin’s Creed II and will continue to do for Mafia II. Taking the time to find and fund skilled voice actors is important, and they have done that here. Finally, when you hop into a car (GTA syle, mind you), the radio turns immediately to authentic music from the 1940’s. This is 100% necessary for cruising, especially since, in this game, the police are out to make sure you are actually abiding by the rules of the road. Personally I don’t mind. As long as Hank Williams stays out of my car’s stereo system, we’re good.

Speaking of authentic though, I got to talking with 2K’s PR department about some of the goodies in this game (children, cover your eyes). It seems 2K struck a deal with Playboy, a well-known adult magazine that was very popular and influential in the 1940’s. They struck a deal that allowed them to publish some classic Playboy covers in game, as they appeared on the original magazines. These covers can be found throughout the game as easter eggs, and naturally you’ll want to keep an eye out for them as you play through. I asked if the classic Marilyn Monroe cover would be present, but the 2K reps were not sure. Considering Monroe did the magazine in 1953, a little on the tail end of the Mafia II time period, I’d wager not. I’ve included it here, though, just in case. Don’t want to disappoint!

Overall, Mafia II is shaping up to be a smash hit for 2010. It will not have many of the console problems that its predecessor faced, it will provide diverse and entertaining gameplay, and a deep story that will have you chipping away at it until the very end. On top of all this, 2K is working at this in tandem with Civilization V, and Spec Ops: The Line, both of which are tantalizing as well. This is a good year for 2K Studios, and let’s hope for more of them to come. A good year for 2K means a very good year for us.

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Everyone is so excited for NATAL, on all the gaming boards I venture to I hear endless clamoring for Call of Duty or Halo NATAL controls.  I mean I understand the cool factor of a motion controlled FPS but at this stage as a technology I don’t see it as being anything other than a clumsy gimmick.  From what we have seen of NATAL at the major game shows so far has honesty left me with the impression of it being nothing more than an attempt to break into that Wii dominated market.  I truly believe that hardcore gamers excited for NATAL are going to be disappointed, just like they were with the Wii.  To be honest this post is what the title suggests, it’s a question to you guys out there reading Amped Gaming.  Leave a comment telling me why your excited for NATAL or why you think it will be nothing but a disappointment.

-Ichi

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Keep in mind I only played this demo for however long it was, perhaps 20-25 minutes. Ultimately, I will be the first person to admit that I was wrong. This game is AWESOME! The fantastic blend of animation, humor, gameplay, and story provide an incredible game for anybody, but especially for us metal fans because the soundtrack is extraordinary. My expectations have been shattered and I await the game frantically, now as excited as I am for Uncharted 2.

One thing is for sure, I am going broke by the end of October (with Borderlands coming up on the 20^th as well) but I will be enjoying every second of it. I encourage any of you to download this demo seeing as how it is free.

Back to playing ODST!

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Karpyshyn, who got his start writing for Wizards of the Coast, went on from KotOR to do writing for Mass Effect, a new sci-fi universe, to write several novels in both universes (as well as some original concepts), and is now hard at work on the new MMO, The Old Republic. I recently got the chance to send Drew a few questions about his past and current projects. While he (like Lucasarts) remains very tight lipped about the new project, his answers help shine some light on the insight of one of the most creative minds the sci-fi genre has seen in recent memory.

Frank Hunter: You have become a big name in not only Star Wars, but science fiction writing as a whole. What were the early influences which shaped your tone and style?

Drew Karpyshyn: I read a lot of Stephen King as a kid, along with Asimov, F. Paul Wilson, David Eddings and Terry Brooks.

FH: How long have you been a Star Wars fan?

DK: I saw the first movie when it ran originally in theaters, back when I was
seven years old. For the next 3 years I went out for Halloween as a jawa,
so I guess I was hooked.

FH: What do you like to do in your spare time, when you are not bending science-fiction universes to your whims?

DK: I golf, watch sports and play Magic the Gathering whenever I want to unwind.

FH: What does it take to come up with a good science-fiction or fantasy character name? Do you just roll a 20-sided die, or does a lot of thought go into it?

DK: I’m terrible at names. Darth Bane was a pre-existing character, and
Commander Shepard was a name created by the entire creative team at
BioWare, so I can’t even take credit for them. Basically I just jumble
letters around until I get something I like.

FH: What are you currently reading?

DK: Back issues of Golf Digest. I’m also about to start a novel called “Go Go
Girls of the Apocalypse”, but I haven’t cracked the cover yet.

FH: Were you the person who chose to set the *Knights of the Old Republic*series in the time it was set?

DK: The main creative force behind KOTOR was a man named James Ohlen – the same man behind the upcoming Star Wars MMO. The time period was mostly his idea.

FH: In writing the plot for this game, you have been pivotal in creating much early Star Wars history. How does it feel to be responsible for so much in a universe so large?

DK: I’m honored that the backstory we created has been incorporated into the
greater Star Wars universe. It’s almost like we’ve snagged our little
piece of immortality.

FH: KotOR 2 received disappointing reviews at best. What are your comments on the game, if you played it at all? If you were involved in that project, what might you have done differently?

DK: I really felt KOTOR 2 suffered from a lack of development time. It took
several years to make the original, but the sequel was demanded in only 1
year. Games are so complicated now that a 12 month development schedule
just isn’t realistic.

FH: Do you feel any deep association with Sith culture? You choose to write on main characters like Darth Revan and Darth Bane, so one can only wonder if you sympathize with the dark side.

DK: I wouldn’t say I sympathize with them, but I do like to think I’ve given
them a fresh perspective. Remember, in most good stories the villain has
to believe that he’s the hero.

FH: Who would win in a fight: Darth Bane or MacGyver with a cortosis-laced tire iron and 2kg of sulfur?

DK: I think Richard Dean Anderson is getting up there in years, so I’ll take
Bane.

FH: The universe of Mass Effect feels very much like that of Star Wars. Was this deliberate, a result of being so involved with Star Wars projects, or unintentional?

DK: I think both Star Wars and Mass Effect evoke primal archetypes in the
sci-fi genre. It’s easy to see similarities, but on a high level you can
tell Mass Effect was influenced by movies like Blade Runner, Alien, Aliens
and Terminator more so than Star Wars.

FH: Was the project significantly more work because you created the universe, or would you compare it to KotOR?

DK: The work is different. In Star Wars, much of what we did was try to work
our own ideas into the existing universe. It required us to be flexible
and adaptable. With Mass Effect, we literally started with a blank page,
so we had to do everything from scratch.

FH: The Mass Effect universe has a number of unique species in it. Is there any race you are particularly fond of?

DK: As anyone who’s read Ascension can probably tell, I like the quarians.

FH: One of the game’s few criticisms was its underdeveloped side quests. Are you planning to address this criticism for the sequel?

DK: BioWare has a well earned reputation for both quality and listening to our fans. Rest assured: Mass Effect 2 will be better in almost every
conceivable aspect of the game.

FH: Can you talk in any detail about the work done to extend the Mass Effect universe outside the original game?

DK: I can’t say much beyond mentioning my novels, Mass Effect: Revelation and Mass Effect: Ascension. If you’re a fan of the game you should read these
novels – they really help to flesh out the universe.

FH: MMOs are notorious for not being story-driven. Plots are paper-thin and characters are rarely memorable. What are you and Bioware doing to right this for The Old Republic?

DK: BioWare has always been an industry leader when it comes to story driven games, and we’re taking all our experience and applying it to the MMO
genre. I can’t get into details (wouldn’t want to give away our secrets),
but fans are going to be blown away.

FH: What else is being done to set TOR apart from industry norms? There is a lot of hope that this game will be the something new we’ve all been waiting for.

DK: Unfortunately I’m not at liberty to discuss details of TOR. You’ll have to
wait for official press releases.

FH: The devs have recently come out about how much dialogue will be involved in this game. How much help do you get when writing dialogue for a project of this scope?

DK: The writing team for most BioWare games ranges from 4-6 people. For TOR we’re already over a dozen writers, and we’re still growing. The scope of
this game is beyond epic.

FH: How much control can you manage to keep over such a script?

DK: BioWare’s been working with large writing teams for quite a while, so
we’ve figured out how to keep everyone on the same shared vision.

FH: Have you played any MMORPG games in the past? What classes do you tend to enjoy playing? What class will you be playing in TOR?

DK: I can’t really talk about the classes in TOR. As for other MMO’s, I’ve
been so busy developing games over the past decade that I rarely get to
invest any serious time in playing them.

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