killgod
OHHHH WHEN THE REDSSSSS
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/987/987488p1.html
May 28, 2009 - Not too long ago, we got our first look at Mafia II. In that initial preview, we saw a mission about half-way into the game. The weather was nice, the '50s were in full swing. Times are quite different with the E3 demo, which takes place closer to the beginning of the game and is set in the winter.
We spoke with Associate Producer Alex Cox about what to expect from the demo being shown next week at E3.
IGN: Mafia II was just officially delayed. What is that extra time going to allow for this game?
Alex Cox: The reason for the delay was to allow additional development time for the title to maximize its full potential in terms of the quality of the player experience and market performance.
IGN: The E3 demo takes place in a different time period, correct? Tell us about when this takes place and what changes have occurred to the main character, Vito.
Alex Cox: Yep, this trailer and demonstration is actually from much nearer the start of our story. It's February 1945 so WW2 is still going on and Empire Bay is covered in snow, rationing is fully in effect, the backdrop is heavily flavored by the war. It's a bleak background for the start of the game. Vito is younger of course and inexperienced– he's fresh out of the army and keen to make something of himself. Vito and Joe are in the process of proving themselves to the Mafia, so they are basically foot soldiers at this point in the game.
IGN: Obviously it's winter in the demo. Other than the visual aspect, does the weather affect anything else in the game?
Alex Cox: The most noticeable affect is on driving. The roads are icy and slippery so it's a bit more challenging to keep your car on the road. It's a fun background detail – certainly makes for interesting police chases!
http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/957837/mafia-2/videos/mafia2_e32009_52809.html
IGN: Since this is an open world, when we're driving around the city in this era, what will we notice that's changed from what we saw in the previous demo?
Alex Cox: We have a wide range of elements that shift according to the era. The main gameplay difference is in the vehicles you'll be driving – they are all 1940s models of course. NPCs are in winter clothes, we have soldiers on the street and war posters on the billboards. The track selection on the radio is also 1940s specific, and the war theme comes through pretty strongly here also in the news and commentary from the DJ.
IGN: Will we see NPCs on the street evolve over time? Will you know that some schmuck is ten years older now or are the NPCs fairly generic, so it's not like you are seeing the same characters aging?
Alex Cox: Time will pass for the main characters for sure that's basically anyone with a name. The average dudes on the street – these guys will change in as far as there are 1940s and 1950s versions of each model, with different fashions and speech reactions. Of course we have some specific NPCs for each era – soldiers in the 1940s and greasers in the 1950s for example.
IGN: Is the dynamics of the three crime families changed from what we saw previously?
Alex Cox: Don't want to spoil the story too much here, but yes the set-up of the mafia families changes significantly between "The Buzzsaw" and "Room Service" [missions]. Put it this way – in The Buzzsaw Vito and Joe are working for the Clemente crime family. In Room Service Vito and Joe atomize the Clemente crime family. What happens in between is intriguing, no?
IGN: What is the setup for the mission we're going to see next week at E3?
Alex Cox: The setup is fairly simple – we are going to ambush a guy and tear him to pieces with an MG42 (a huge German machine gun, proverbially known as Hitler's Buzzsaw, thus the mission title). Its one of the earlier missions in the game, Vito and Joe are still proving themselves to the Mafia. They are represented in this case by Henry, the third major character in the game. Henry is a made guy already, he has been given the contract and brings Vito and Joe along to do the dirty work.
IGN: What's the deal with the guy you're going to take out?
Alex Cox: The target is simply called Fat Man. He's a small-time gangster that's crossed the Mafia once too often – the last straw is him running a distillery on mafia turf without paying protection.
IGN: Who's the fellah with the eye patch in the trailer?
Alex Cox: His name is Harry and he's a gun dealer in the city, specializing in 'unofficial' military hardware. You'll be seeing more of Harry at a later date.
IGN: A focal point of the trailer is the use of a mounted machine gun. Is this something you get just one time in Mafia II or will there be other times you get to use this?
Alex Cox: The mounted gun does feature elsewhere yes, but I can reveal no more.
IGN: Are there any other weapons introduced in the demo that we haven't seen before?
Alex Cox: The weapons in the demo are the same you'll have seen in Room Service. Apart from the MG42, it's what you'd expect from a bunch of mobsters – pistols, shotguns, Tommy Guns, etc.
IGN: Can you talk a bit about how that mission progresses? I'm assuming things don't go according to plan?
Alex Cox: No. things unfortunately don't go to plan. The guys set out to whack the fat man but killing him turns out to be more challenging than expected and he makes a run for it. This leads to the guys having to chase him through the distillery and have a shootout with his guys.
IGN: One of the things people loved about the original Mafia was that there were multiple ways to approach a situation. Are there alternate ways to tackle this particular mission?
Alex Cox: The majority of this particular mission is a full-on shooter, so the only way to solve your problems is with a gun. This isn't the case for the full game of course, but The Buzzsaw doesn't give you much time to think.
IGN: How difficult is it to balance scripted events that drive the story (or mission) and allowing players the freedom to do what they want?
Alex Cox: It's a constant challenge and finding the right balance is one of our biggest priorities. Mafia has stunning cutscenes, and sometimes that is the only way to tell the story. But first and foremost it's a game of course and wherever possible we are doing this in game, simply because we don't want to break the immersion. The guys are always finding ways of embellishing the story with background scripted events – you'll see these all the way through the demo, small bespoke color events that support the setting and atmosphere – at any point in the story Vito's actions are totally contextualized – something that is very easy to lose in sandbox gameplay.
Let's just hope now that the console versions don't control like shit.
