Mafia 2: Definitive Edition, the remaster that launched in 2020, and Bandai Namco’s multiplayer survival title Dragon Ball: The Breakers will be the PS4 titles in this month’s lineup, while the PS5 and PS4 versions of Cold Iron Studios’ 2021 co-op third person shooter Aliens: Fireteam Elite is also included.

All three games will be available starting November 7, and will be free to redeem until December 4, for subscribers of PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium. That, of course, means that October’s PS Plus titles – The Callisto Protocol, Weird West, and Farming Simulator 22 – will remain available to claim for just a few more days, until November 6.

Dishonored: Definitive Edition

Arkane Studios’ Dishonored debuted in 2012 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, and despite arriving near the end of their life-cycles, it made an impact. The stealth gameplay, multiple ways to approach missions, consequences that had far-reaching effects on the story and so on established it as an excellent game. And it was all the more impressive that Arkane could deliver such a great experience with anti-aliasing, screen space ambient occlusion and depth of field on essentially outdated hardware.

So you would think that Dishonored Definitive Edition, which launched in August 2015 for Xbox One and PS4, would be a decent step up. No one expected remade visuals or heavily revamped assets but 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second seemed a given. Unfortunately, despite launching two years after the initial game – which could hit 60 fps on more inferior PC hardware – Dishonored Definitive Edition was stuck at 30 frames per second. Image quality is better, for sure, but the large amount of FXAA blurred significant amounts of details. Texture streaming issues, the lack of anisotropic filtering and other missing visual flourishes from the PC version didn’t help.

The Definitive Edition releases for both Mafia 2 and 3 have been facing their fair share of issues, but according to their developers fixes are inbound for both. Mafia 2: Definitive Edition has specifically been criticized by many for its bugs, frame rate issues, pop-in glitches, and various other technical performances, but recently, d3t ltd, the developers of the remaster, took to Twitter to address those concerns.

In their tweet, they thanked players for their feedback, and noted that alongside 2K, they are working on supporting the release with updates and fixes, and asked players to keep reporting issues. Given the many issues that players have been facing, hopefully a patch will be inbound sooner rather than later.

As we recently reported, Mafia 3: Definitive Edition also has some baffling problems, such as removing support for Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, but that, too, is something that’s being addressed by 2K.

Mafia 2 and 3’s definitive editions are available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The Mafia 1 remake will be out for the same platforms on August 28.

Thanks for your valuable #Mafia2DefinitiveEdition feedback. We’re listening and working with 2K to continue to support your experience. Reminder, if you are experiencing any issues or have questions, please get in touch with @2KSupport. pic.twitter.com/e2Q2S6b1sS

— d3t (@d3tLtd) May 27, 2020

"Vito Scaletta’s journey as he goes from crook to war veteran to a mobster rising through the Mafia’s ranks is a riveting one. It is backed up by solid characters, sharp writing, and tightly directed cutscenes. That much was true in 2010, and it’s still true today."

A lot of time may have passed, but Mafia 2’s strengths and weaknesses feel as potent as they did a decade ago. The game’s biggest strength, in true Mafia fashion, is its story. Vito Scaletta’s journey as he goes from crook to war veteran to a mobster rising through the Mafia’s ranks is a riveting one. It is backed up by solid characters, sharp writing, and tightly directed cutscenes. That much was true in 2010, and it’s still true today, to the extent that the game is almost worth a try just for the story alone.

At about a dozen or so hours long, Mafia 2 is also the perfect length, and that length is bolstered by tight pacing. Things move quickly, and it never feels like the game lingers on any narrative beat for longer than it should. At the same time, Mafia 2 doesn’t rush things either- it takes its time to develop characters, relationships, and arcs as effectively as it should, but rarely dwells on any of it for too long. The tight pacing and accomplished storytelling encourage you to keep playing and keep going forward, even when you might start losing interest in other parts of the game.

Much like Mafia 3, however, Mafia 2’s remarkable strengths in story and storytelling are not reflected in other aspects of the game. Where its narrative is concerned, the game is a standout experience, but when you get down to actually playing through it, you can’t help but feel deflated by its terribly bland gameplay.

"Mafia 2’s remarkable strengths in story and storytelling are not reflected in other aspects of the game. Where its narrative is concerned, the game is a standout experience, but when you get down to actually playing through it, you can’t help but feel deflated by its terribly bland gameplay. "

Though Mafia 2 is set in an open world environment, it would have fared far better as a linear game. For starters, Empire Bay – its fictional recreation of 1940s and 1950s New York – is pretty small (even by 2010 standards). Its size would not have been much of an issue if Mafia 2 used that space well- but it doesn’t do that. There are very few (and very unremarkable) side activities to undertake, and the world feels static and lifeless. There are some interesting mechanics at play, such as the way it handles its wanted system, but overall, the world ends up being little more than stage dressing for the story, and for driving your vehicle to get from mission to mission.

Driving is also quite frustrating in Mafia 2. Vehicles handle like they’re made of rocks, the impacts of collisions feel disproportionate at times, and driving through its relatively small map to the same locations gets boring very quickly. The game does a good enough job of injecting the right kind of atmosphere to make its city feel like an authentic period setting, but sadly, that’s the most that can be said about its open world.

The act of playing Mafia 2 is better when you’re in the midst of its linear story-driven missions, but only slightly so. They are inherently more engaging because they’re tied to the progression of the game’s riveting story, but the fact that they all rely very heavily on bland, cursory cover shooting mechanics doesn’t do them any favours. Mafia 2 came out at a time when third person cover shooters ruled the roost in the industry, but even then, it felt like just another face in the crowd as far as its gunplay was concerned. The AI isn’t particularly smart, shots don’t land with too much impact, and about halfway through the game, all firefights start blending into one another. Other than one or two standout missions every now and then, they all end up feeling the same.

"Overall, the world ends up being little more than stage dressing for the story, and for driving your vehicle to get from mission to mission."

Mafia 2: Definitive Edition’s most disappointing aspects, however, are not flaws that the game always had- it’s that the remastering work done here is pretty disappointing. It’s the most basic of efforts. Visuals look slightly sharper, textures have a little more detail, and… and that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough. Beyond these cursory upgrades to the visuals, in fact, Mafia 2: Definitive Edition actually has quite a few technical issues.

For starters, the frame rate is terrible. I played on a base PS4, and the game stuttered constantly, and often stuttered hard. Frame rate dips were especially common and noticeable when I was driving around, but would frequently show up even during combat encounters. Most remasters of decade-old games are expected to improve the original game’s performance. Mafia 2: Definitive Edition actually makes it worse.

On top of that, the game is also rife with texture pop-in issues- and I don’t say “rife” lightly. Much like the frame rate dips, they’re a constant nuisance, and once again, most common when you’re driving a vehicle, from shrubs and lampposts in your immediate vicinity to buildings and structures in the distance. Add to that audio issues and the odd glitch here and there, and what you’re left with it a shoddy, messy remaster that only does the bare minimum- and doesn’t do it very well. If you really want a “definitive edition” of Mafia 2, go play the original release on PC with visual mods.

"Mafia 2: Definitive Edition’s most disappointing aspects, however, are not flaws that the game always had- it’s that the remastering work done here is pretty disappointing."

I can’t tell you that Mafia 2 is not worth your time, because even though its story is the only part of the entire game that stands out, it’s good enough that I can recommend the game to you. If you want accomplished storytelling and a riveting mobster tale, Mafia 2 will give you exactly what you’re looking for. But just as it was ten years ago, everything around that story is bland at worst, and unremarkable at best.

What’s even worse is how lazy this remaster feels- it does very little to update the visuals and actually makes the performance worse. It’s a real shame, because – at the risk of repeating myself – the story Mafia 2 tells is an excellent one, and one I think you should experience. But just as it was let down by an uninspired game around it in 2010, it’s once again let down by a lazy remaster in 2020.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

After having recently teased Mafia: Trilogy, 2K Games have fully lifted the lid on it, explaining properly what each of the three games included are going to be like. Consisting of Definitive Editions for each game in the series, each part of the package is different in nature.

Mafia 2: Definitive Edition is a remaster, while Mafia 3: Definitive Edition adds 4K visuals to the game, while also coming with all add-on content. Both games are available right now. Anyone who owns the original Mafia 2 on Steam gets a free upgrade to the Definitive Edition, while anyone who owns Mafia 3 on any platform also gets a free upgrade to its ow definitive edition.

The most exciting part of the package, however, is Mafia: Definitive Edition, a complete ground-up remake of the first game in the series (as leaked recently), made in the Mafia 3 engine by Hangar 13. It features a reworked script with new dialogue, new cutscenes, expanded backstories, new gameplay sequences, new mechanics, and more.

Unlike the other two games in the collection, the Mafia 1 remake is not out now- it will release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 28. Mafia 2 and 3 Definitive Editions cost $30 each (if the free upgrades mentioned above don’t apply to you, that is), while Mafia: Definitive Edition can be purchased for $40.

You can, however, also purchase all three as a single package with Mafia: Trilogy, which costs the full $60, and which will also unlock Mafia 2 and 3 for you immediately. Finally, if you own a combination of any two of those three games, you can upgrade to the full collection for a reduced price.

You can check out trailers for all three games below.

https://youtu.be/ypPHHj5eDbA

https://youtu.be/X91PvcH307E

Last week we got the news that the Mafia series was coming back with a vengeance with a new trilogy pack. It would include the definitive editions of all three current games, and the full reveal for what is said to be at some point later today. But it seems like someone snitched here, because people have reportedly been able to get access to Mafia 2 earlier than anticipated, and we got PS4 footage to prove it.

Apparently, in some regions the game has already gone live. Some have reported seeing it in the Australian PSN store, with even the ability to purchase and play the game. If you want an early peek, YouTuber FA Gamez has a little over 11 minutes running on the PS4 Pro, which you can see below. Keep in mind here, that unlike the first game (which seems more in line with a full remake), this is more of a remaster so the visuals aren’t nearly as big of a jump as it looks to be between Mafia and Mafia: Definitive Edition.

The official reveal of the game is set to come at some point today, as well as presumably its launch in other regions as well as making the August 28th date for Mafia: Definitive Edition final, so stay tuned.

Following the teaser for Mafia: Trilogy, listings for Mafia: Definitive Edition and Mafia 2: Definitive Edition have emerged on the Microsoft Store. The latter is billed as releasing on May 19th, the same day as the announcement trailer for the trilogy, and will support 4K and HDR10. It will also have all of the DLC packaged with the base game.

As for Mafia: Definitive Edition, it seems to be releasing on August 28th. Both versions are handled by Hangar 13, the developer behind Mafia 3, and appear to have received some serious makeovers. Check out the screenshots below which highlight improvements to lighting, texture work, character models and much more.

It’s possible that Mafia: Trilogy will be available to purchase on May 19th and provide instant access to Mafia 2: Definitive Edition. Subsequent releases like Mafia: Definitive Edition will become playable as they release. This strategy is similar to the Yakuza Remastered Collection on PS4 which granted access to the Yakuza 3 Remastered immediately and for Yakuza 4 and 5 Remastered when they eventually launched.

Mafia: Trilogy will be coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.

The Mafia series has always had issues to varying degrees with each of its entries, but each entry has also had its own fair share of fans. Now, it seems the last two Mafia games might be in line for re-releases. As spotted by Gematsu, Mafia 2: Definitive Edition (PS4, Xbox One, PC) and Mafia 3: Definitive Edition (PS4, Xbox One, PC) have both been rated by the Taiwanese ratings board.

Mafia 2 was developed by 2K Czech and first came out in 2010, with players taking on the role of Sicilian immigrant Vito Scaletta in the fictional American city of Empire Bay during the 1940s and 1950s. Meanwhile, 2016’s Mafia 3 saw players stepping into the shoes of Vietnam War veteran Lincoln Clay in the New Orleans-inspired fictional American city of New Bordeaux during the late 1960s. Both games were criticized for various open world failings, but both received nearly universal praise for their narratives and storytelling.

We’ll keep you updated as soon as an official announcement is made for both these releases, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, Mafia 3 developers Hangar 13 are working on another new open world IP, and we should be hearing about it in foreseeable future.