Joe's Adventures - the biggest and best DLC
The gaming portal gamesradar.com had the opportunity to preview the upcoming DLC "Joe's Adventures". Here's what they shared with us about it.
Scheduled for November 23 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, the DLC "Joe's Adventures" is set to be a prime example of what true DLC should be. The expansion includes a significant missing piece of the main story of Mafia II, where you will play as Vito's best friend, Joe, and learn about his exploits in Empire Bay while Vito was in prison.
This expansion will provide new locations, new gameplay mechanics, and approximately eight hours of new gameplay, making this the largest and most complete DLC.
This will be a completely new game.
Forget your preconceived notions about DLC. Joe's Adventures is not just a few new missions. It's an eight-hour epic that fits organically into the main storyline of Mafia II, providing players with about two-thirds of the time of its predecessor. You might consider this expansion as Mafia 2.5.
Remember the long prison sentence of the protagonist Vito? And remember how Joe had it so good after Vito got out? This is, above all, a story about what the big guy (Joe) was up to during the interim period between the game’s story set in the '40s and '50s. In terms of scale, we're talking about an experience at least on par with two additional episodes from Rockstar for Grand Theft Auto IV. It's almost a sequel, but not quite. And at a reasonable price of 800 MS Points on 360 and $9.99 on PC.
This is a new direction
Don't think that you will receive a bundle of rehashed scraps from the original game in this expansion. There's significantly new content here. In addition to a full-scale campaign, "Joe's Adventures" also opens up a completely new area of the city with entirely new locations, significantly expanding the rural area to the northeast.
The part you saw – the snow-covered area by the lake in the trailer – evokes stunning memories of the atmosphere you experienced in the original game. One of the standout features of Mafia II is the sense of life in that environment, and the winter scenery truly is one of the most charming and expressive areas in Empire Bay. You might even feel a slight chill as you go through missions.
There are also new cars, new music (fantastic and comprehensive radio stations of that era), and new clothing (Joe's style has always been a bit more "daring" than Vito's). Now, the conversation shifts directly to Joe.
Joe is a very distinctive character, and this is his own game. Initially, he arrives, cleans up his tracks, and proves to be more fortunate than Vito. While Vito's punch usually results in a prolonged exchange of blows, Joe's approach, akin to an "elephant in a china shop", allows him to charge through life with breathtaking shootouts throughout the entire campaign without any breaks. And he does it damn well.
Additionally, there are now side missions based on cunning. Mafia II didn't shine with narrative choices, with some exceptions. In the DLC, Joe's story is different. Infiltrating an icy enemy hideout was truly a satisfying experience: crawling and killing, carefully choosing paths between cover and the line of sight of gangsters, rewarded with plenty of opportunities to satisfy your desires. No tired, half-asleep enemy will escape Joe. He’ll incapacitate them instantly and send them to feed the fishes.
Similarly, Joe's personality seems to relate to some of the bigger and bolder parts of the set. It’s still Mafia II, of course, with all its cool realism and smooth, well-presented slick '40s vibe, but when Joe comes into play, he makes the game feel more epic and cinematic than his more modest best friend.
If Vito was involved in car chases, Joe's car chases happen across the frozen lakes, skidding through icy streams to drop his quarry to their doom. When he is doggedly pursuing a rat, it’s a long road that culminates in a potentially explosive truck crash (events in the development stage). This is the Mafia II everyone has been waiting for, the excitement, a hero with some new tricks, and you will undoubtedly be very thrilled at the thought of returning to that beautiful world to dive back into that era. Additionally, new magazines will also appear.
Translated by - Mafia2\_the\_best