Mafia II (VS GTA 4)

If I wanted to summarize this game in one sentence, I'd say "fifties GTA" but I really should get into more detail, otherwise I wouldn't be much of a game critic. It was developed (surprisingly) by the Czech developer 2K Czech and is an action-adventure game with A TON of resemblances to the GTA series.

How many similarities with GTA can you count in this screenshot?

The story is about an Italian guy Vito who gets involved in all kinds of dirty mafia business with his buddy Joe and eventually it leads to all kinds of trouble. Ever played some GTA games? Well he's exactly your typical GTA main character! A quiet tough guy with big dreams who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and does any job as long as it pays. The game is somewhat linear, meaning that you only ever have one mission available but you can do some random stuff in between, like collecting old playboy magazines (WARNING: their breast standards were much lower at the time) and collect some nice vintage fancy cars for your garage.

The fifties setting was pretty impressive in this game: the radio played some weird old tunes as well as cigarette commercials about their beneficial effects on health, some guards were talking about TVs as some kind of rich man's dream before I killed them and everybody wore a fancy gentleman's hat. Honestly, this game made me reminisce about Scarface and The Godfather trilogy since the gangster storyline and the fifties setting fit so well together.

On the other hand, the gameplay somewhat lacks. The fighting and action mechanics are kind of awkward and the NPC interaction is very limited, at least in comparison to GTA IV (which I played way too much so I felt the difference right away).  I like the fact that this game is much more realistic than GTA IV when it comes to survival. You can't jump off a 50 feet building on your car and survive, nor can you handle more than one shot of a shotgun, which made it quite challenging at times, but all for the better of course. NPC AI is also rather lacking, since I could jack a car right in front of a policeman and he would just pass by. I could also rob a store, kill everyone, get out and a policeman standing outside would say "Good day to you sir."

So there are good things and bad things about this game. But if you want a simple decision, ask yourself: Do you want to play another GTA game (assuming you played one) but fifty years back in time with inferior gameplay? If the answer is yes, then go ahead, but remember I warned you.

Portal 2

Now if you've played Portal 1, you'll know what to expect from this one. It is once again a first person puzzle game from my favorite video game developer Valve. The character you play is the same girl who unfortunately didn't quite escape Aperture Science, which is what we were lead to believe at the end of Portal 1 (forgive me but it's impossible not to include a spoiler here).

Just like in Portal 1, there's an interesting twist in the storyline and I'm sure you guys will enjoy it, but I find that it wasn't as surprising as what happened in Portal 1. Nonetheless, the characters are amazing and I found myself laughing many times during the game because of Wheatley's funny comments (the thing that will follow you for a good half of the game).

From a visual aspect, the game has been greatly improved in comparison to the prequel and if you have a nice video card you will definitely take advantage of it (not to mention that the main character has smoother curves ;D).

As far as gameplay and puzzle-solving goes, you'll be surprised at all the additions Valve has prepared for us. If you think you got pretty good at Portal 1 and that Portal 2 will be a piece of cake? Well you're wrong! There are different kinds of new physics to consider (spoiler: gravity beams and catapults) and you'll need to do some serious 3D thinking for some of the puzzles. You're probably familiar with the typical situation when a good game/movie is made and later its sequel just takes advantage of its success but gives you almost nothing new. Rest assured, Portal 2 is NOT that kind of game.

Here are some other good points about the game. If you buy a PS3 version, you'll get access to its steam copy for free. That means that you'll be able to download it on your mac or pc! Also, the new coop multiplayer mode will be super fun if you have friends who are willing to participate (I suggest buying a headset for this if you don't have one already). Oh and it's much much longer than Portal 1. Single player alone took me over 5 days of on and off playing to complete so your hard-earned money from flipping burgers at McDonalds will definitely be worth investing into this and you'll get over 20 solid hours of gaming pleasure :]

In summary, this is an amazing game and it has almost no flaws. Moreover, whether you prefer RPGs, FPS or RTS, it doesn't matter: you'll like it anyway!

Portal 1

This is a first person puzzle game from the same creators that made the Half-Life series. It's pretty short and can be finished in one sitting but there is a lot of replay value and I believe that it's a good change to play an intellectually challenging game once in a while.

I really don't want to spoil it for you, but there is a very interesting and unexpected turn of events as far as story goes and I simply loved it. This is definitely not the typical dystopian future Half-Life storyline where you're a hero scientist trying to save humanity, but it IS in fact very dystopian and we can see the developers' sense of humor reflected in it.

The only thing left to say is that at the moment the game costs 9.99$ on steam and if you haven't played other Half-Life games, you might as well get the Orange Box which contains all the goodies Valve produced in the recent years at a really good price (I am kind of a Half-Life fan so you might want to get someone else's non-biased opinion on this).

Oh and one more thing. If you're planning to get Portal 2, I strongly urge you to play Portal 1 first, since it makes the story much more enjoyable and you'll understand lots of references and jokes if you do. But more on Portal 2 later.