Mafia II

Mafia II was a rough gem, a title with a ton of promise that executed wonderfully on some of its concepts and fell (excuse the pun) criminally short on others, hamstrung by some fairly basic issues. The third pack of downloadable content, Joe’s Adventures, hit your favorite online service recently and while it shares the main title’s strengths, it’s also vulnerable to its weaknesses...

This week, we’re giving away fresh copies of Mafia II along with a ton of mob-tastic t-shirts. Entering is easy, but supplies are limited. Find out how to win inside…

By now, it's possible you've finished Mafia II's story. You may have even scrounged around and found all 50 of its hidden Playboy centerfolds, giving you a complete set of what might be the best collectible whatsit ever dropped into an open-world game. But you can't really say you've exhausted Mafia II's potential until you've hunted for its ultimate collectibles: the whopping 159 developer portraits disguised as wanted posters...

Mafia II is great. Between its deep, epic plot, warm, likeable characters and brilliant set-pieces, it's an absolute winner if you're after a thrilling slice of cool crime and smooth storytelling. And also, it has boobs. One hundred of them in fact.

Not in some horrendous Cronenbergian flesh parade, you understand. No, Mafia II contains 50 original vintage Playboy spreads as collectables, littered around the game world for your ogling pleasure. We've already told you how to find them, and believe us, it's worth the effort. The huge, HD prints look great onscreen, and even better, they're zoomable. You know, for appreciating the quality of the lighting in each composition. And stuff. But if, however, you're too lazy or impatient, or just want a sneak preview before you go and collect them all for yourself, we've captured the lot of them and spread them decadently across the next few pages. Click on! Click on now, for the love of God!

If you picked up the PS3 version of Mafia II last week, then you've probably already had a taste of playing as Jimmy, the bald, mercenary protagonist of the "arcade-style" Betrayal of Jimmy DLC. Enjoy your exclusive claim on the guy while it lasts, because next week - Sept. 7, to be exact - Jimmy's Vendetta, the follow-up to Betrayal, will be available to 360, PC and PS3 owners for $9.99 (or 800 Microsoft Points)...

Metroid: Other M, Mafia II, Tim Schafer drops by to talk about Costume Quest, and Paul Ryan returns!

CheatPlanet may not be able to teach you how to dougie, but we can help you get better at your games, or failing that, cheat. On deck this week we've got some studying material to help your feeble attempts at beating the Koreans in Starcraft 2, and an in-depth guide for collecting every single Playboy in Mafia 2. Ahh it reminds me of those desperate pre-internet days of tearing through your Dad's stuff looking for his porn stash. You kids today have it easy, get off my porch!

It’s hard to imagine a less dignified or mobster-like activity than continually dropping everything to search every inch of every room for pornography, but that’s exactly what Mafia II asks you to do – assuming, of course, that you’re trying to collect all 50 issues of Playboy scattered throughout the game and net the Ladies’ Man Achievement/Trophy. Stop. Don’t waste time and/or ruin the tension of every action scene by scrounging for naked  pictures of women now old enough to be your great-grandmother.  We already did it for you, and now we’ll save you the guesswork by pointing out where to find every last one...

In a move intended to bring "sophistication and classic imagery" to the upcoming Mafia II, publisher 2K Games today announced a licensing agreement with Playboy, enabling it to use more than 50 covers and centerfolds from the magazine in the game. According to 2K President Christop Hartmann, the mags will "add a unique element of authenticity to the game," which is set in the 1940s and '50s, and "illustrate the power of Playboy's

We absolutely know that you've been waiting with eager anticipation for a feature to come along that catalogues examples of new games that share an identical name with an old game. It doesn't happen very often, so it's genuinely exciting when it does. Anyway, we've written that feature, and this is it. Direct all messages of thanks and amazement to the comments thread. K? Cheers.

Afrika | PS3 | 2009

The new Afrika: Is