ArchangelSKT

Yeah you might be right about that maybe it was the BIS-Codemasters relationship that made them restart the project. I`m not sure about it, I just remember reading something about it on the OFP2 forums. It may have been restarted more then once though for all I know but I`m not sure.

The new screens look quite nice to me. I like that we seem to have a 5 man group in the missions, maybe ARMA2 will be a bit more stealth focused then OFP (not that there wasn`t any there though).

They have confirmed that they have scrapped the project only to start it over again. Remember OFP2 was talked about years ago. I think they got of to a bad start and re-started the project and was comfortable enough to go public with it in August last year. Remember they have already said they have the biggest team on this that they have had on ANY game, I have no doubt they will do their best. How do you think it will look if they cancel the game in which they have the biggest team as of yet in the companies history, only for that reason alone they will fight it to the door I believe. And as I have said before, for once we might see a whole bunch of information getting released not that far away from the actual release date. In my opinion that would be clever marketing and I am surprised even if it does not happen in this case that we don`t see more of it. Ask yourself what you would prefer : - Having alot of WIP, screens, some render etc and to be told release is about 18-20 months of. - Having in-game videos, screens etc released and to be told it is released in about 6 months. I would for sure prefer the latter. Remember OFP2 is NOT in my opinion that much dependent on a very solid PR campaign for the very reason that ARMA 2 at this moment is the only competitor, this genre is not riddled with titles that figth for the consumers $$. In order to capture new players, yes, but on the name alone you get alot for free. Believe me I really want to see some in-game stuff, and personally I think we will during the summer on the games convention (the one last year was in Leipzig, not sure if it is there this year as well, it was when the game was confirmed). I have high hopes for the title, only by looking on the renders, which they have said are target-shots shows that they go after the right atmosphere at least. We can already get visual hints on how the game might look, since GRID will use the same engine (EGO) as OFP2 will, only of course I expect the engine to be polished further towards the releae of OFP2.

I think there are at least a few reasons they haven`t released so much info yet. - They are not fully content with what they have to show, not because it looks bad, but because they want to improve on it before they release anything. Releasing material that is WIP may put some people off. - Another reason is that they might want to avoid throwing out information as the game is a long way of yet. I higly doubt the 2008 release hinted at earlier. - Grid is coming out very soon so they don`t want to market two titles at the same time, so they maintain the focus on one.

Not sure if this is old news or not, but at the official forum there was posted an interview with some of the developers and they mentioned a few good things like : - PC is the mainplatform so there will be no console ---) pc port. - Ability to play the main campaign in CO-OP - New \ good AI ( though all developers say that )

Yeah I saw that, looks like GTA IV is a nice game, though even if I admit I am more of a Mafia fanboy then GTA I seriously hope Mafia II will get the credit and attention it deserves in relation to GTA IV. (hard to say as it is not out yet ). But Mafia still got very little attention as compared to GTA III back in 2002, I just hope the same does not happen again. More people seem to tune in on Mafia 2 this time around though, hopefully it will make more people get the original as well as they wait on the release.

Alot of the features that some preview talk about like that you can drink,eat, buy a house, wash your car etc... But they have not specified if this is freeroam features being separated from the main story or if it is included as a posibilty in-between as you asked in your question. I don`t see a problem if we have freeroam in between missions, as the people who would want the main story seperated from it could just complete it without using the possibility to freeroam anyway. It would just be an extra drive to this games "Salieri`s" anyway for the people that want to avoid it. Â More options as I see it. Besides that owning an own house, car etc in the mainstory makes it a little bit more lose in a good way I think. Like I always wondered where Tommy lived in the original, it adds a bit of character in my opinion. I hope we can buy and store some weapons there as well. It has already been confirmed that we will have more choices as to which weapons we want to carry in missions, as the originals method was a bit to narrow in my opinion. I`m sure the mainstory will be tight no matter what added options\features we get on the side. MP though there will not be, it is a strictly SP experience which I think is a bit sad, I would have loved if Mafia 2 would have MP. I posted on a suggested method on the official boards where you have a "heist-mode" which would be like : Two teams, cops and mobsters The mobsters have to pull of a heist, but there would be like 5 banks to chose from (or randomly assigned as a target) in that way it would not be the same place to rob everytime. So the ones playing the cops would not no where to go. And as long as the mobsters (who could have random skins for each turn for example) would do there best to blend in they would be very hard to single out from the NPC. Sure there would be alot of other possibilities, but it would have to have a mode which was a bit "real" and not totally anarchistic in its nature, but of course with mature players you can get that anyway I guess.

As I understand in Mafia 2 the cops will not only go after you but also others that break the law. And I don`t agree it losts it fun in obeying the law, it added another dimension to the game in my opinion.

Oh thats great. There already has been alot of new information this week (if you check the Take2 forums for the game) and it all sounds very promising. I love that the city "Empire City" will be about twize the size of "Lost Heaven", though we will not get that much countryside this time as the total map is about 70% of the original. Though alot of the countryside map in the original was tied up and only had some small roads. We will also be able to story guns in the trunk of the car for example, and to get a house of our own where we can store guns etc I guess. Some gamers have complained about that it seems to move into GTA territory but I disagree as long as the mainstory stays very solid. In my opinion it looks like Mafia 2 will have alot more things on the side in addition to a great story. Replayability is always important for me and to be fair Mafia didn`t have alot of that besides the freeroam and freeroam extreme which in itself was ok, but this time I expect a bit more and I think we will get it as well. The car damage is said to be equally\more advanced then the one in the latest burnout game, besides that I assume they keep up the driving physics from the first game as I mentioned in my previous post. Looking at those screens, thinking about a beautiful city twize the size of "Lost Heaven" to drive around in all those cars , wheels\pedals is a must for me in this game. And the car tommygun thing, there is some shooting from the car in the official trailer and it is also shown in a few screens so far so I would not worry about that

Yes if GTA IV will be released on PC, which I believe I will seriously consider getting it as I enjoyed GTA III in a way. But for me GTA III was like "blah just play to get it over with" in the end. With Mafia it is entirely different. As I have said many other times on other forums, GTA is cool, but Mafia is a real class act. Mafia 2 is my most highly anticipated game for the moment ( along with OFP2) and I haven`t felt this anticipation for a game in a long time. Last time must have been "Hidden and dangerous 2" in 2003\04. That being said Mafia 2 also looks to be tailored as an mature game, which I appriciate as I become increasingly more picky as I get older. I will for sure give the original another spin before the release of Mafia 2, probably watch "The Godfather" as well. Speaking of which, I am now rewatching "The Sopranos" The graphics on the screens that have been released look to me alot better then I imagined to be honest, everything seems to be so "alive" and nothing seems just to be "pasted" into the screen as a mere empty object. For me "Mafia" is first and foremost about a good story, and driving. The Car has always had a central place in any mobsters life and that is why I am a bit surprised to read that alot of gamers held the driving in "Mafia" to be prolonged and negative. For me it was one of the truly great things about the game as you can think about the mission going there, and also you have to behave and watch out for the cops. The issue of having to drive to the mission and then return to Salieri`s in the original added alot of non-linear action inside a linear story, couse afterall you had to get back home possibly escaping the cops. Sometimes I had success in my missions but get cought up getting attention from the police and from there it could often escalate into me getting killed in a roadblock after many carchases I have no doubt that we will have the same core playability in "Mafia 2" but with added features that make the game more interesting as in regards to replayability. A great story I almost take for granted, and I am also very eager to see how the driving physics will turn out as it was one of "Mafia`s" strongpoints.

Yes for me as well. Last year I was basically giving myself two options : 1) Buy a console and a Tv couse not much I was interested in was coming out on the PC 2) Run my PC as long as I could just playing old favorites and then probably stop playing alltogether. But when Mafia 2 was announced I decided to get another gaming pc which probably will be my last one (I`m getting older ). So now I have decided to hold it off until we get the specifications for the game so I will build it around Mafia 2, and also OFP2. If those two games (and ARMA2) delivers I may never need another PC anyway And Mafia 2 truly puts GTA IV to shame from what I have seen, Mafia 2 is developed primarily for the PC platform though I believe which is awesome.

Geforce 6600 GT 128 mb 1 gb ram Sempron 2.0 Ghz (3000+) cpu I run one of the early Shuttle models so I`m not sure about the mainboard and the soundcard (it is an integrated one). New system over christmas I guess.

If that turns out to be true then it will be one of most "quiet" games I have seen coming out on the market, especially thinking about the fact that it is indeed a big title for Codemasters since they have said that they have never had a bigger team working on a game before. They better start making PR soon if they aim for a fall 2008 release. On the other hand though as I have mentioned before it will be nice for once to see alot of info and screens, videos etc from a game knowing it is only a few months away rather then the usual 18+ as is more normal. So in that sence you can create a rapid interest in a title and get instant payback, and of course the brand name doesn`t hurt either I guess. Personally though I expect a 2009 release.

I don`t think that they are, all are renders that represent "target shots" as they call them in the sense it is what they are working towards. At least that is what they have said. And about the fog thing, I don`t think you have to worry. Maybe it just is really foggy , I say it is part of the atmosphere. I`m sure the viewdistance is acceptable, there are other "target shots" that look better in that respect. Especially one with a tank overlooking a lake or coastline.

First one was featured in an article some time ago I think. The second one I haven`t seen before

For my part I have to mention the Hidden and Dangerous series (of course along with OFP) as being some of the best on atmosphere. But I might pick Mafia as the best one. The music, story and setting is ubercool. As for scary there are mainly two games, both that I haven`t finished and it would be Undying and Silent Hill 2, if I have ot chose it will be Silent Hill 2 for sure, I got really scared while playing it and it has got a very nice soundtrack and in my opinion one of the most effective graphic\visual styles of any game I have ever played.

Renders get nicer for each time I think, is that an airtraffic control tower in the background on one of the pics ? And by the way, why are alot of the info on OPF2 coming from german sites, I can`t understand the comments

Aren`t those scans from a preview from September ?

Well I just take it as information

That is probably true but I think he was also refering to the fact that ignoring OPF2 is not the way to go. And while alot of games have not held what they promised some have, like OPF, Mafia, H&D etc , and that is what I continue to play. So as long as there are some that do I remain optimistic. As a matter of fact in regards to OPF2 I am very optimistic

Well if that would be the case it wouldn`t really reflect good on the forum in my opinion. However don`t forget that the release dates as they stand today I believe Arma 2 to be released in Q2 2008 while OPF2 is Q4 2008 so I guess we won`t have to face them "against" eachother. I believe alot of gamers initially will get both games, over a longer period of time...I don`t know.

I have heard about this somewhere but as I understand he only interviewed US veterans and no UK, German or Japanese. If that is true ( I don`t know ) I consider it to be a major drawback even if the point of view of the documentary is from US, as a matter of fact I might go so far to claim it to be narrow minded and a discrase.

Good with some new info, the game is high on the list for me.

Hm don`t know what to think about that. Initially I would have hoped for an Island maybe twize the size of the original OPF Islands. However with nice graphics etc I realize you can`t go on endless with the terrain. Anyway as a single island it sounds ok, but it leaves food for thought if OFP2 only will have about 1\3 of the land mass compared to the original as it means less replayability in my opinion.

Just a tip but someone better rename the thread since people are discussing the full game and not only the Demo it seems. In order to avoid spoilers that is.