New screenshots
Since the trailer was released, the lead animator at 2K Czech, Tomas Hrebicek has spoken out about the question asked of many fans of the series: Is the trailer in real-time?"All the scenes were completely created in our editor the same way we create cutscenes for the game. Our cutscene editor is a very powerful tool. Besides, we can see it all real-time which makes our work a lot easier. There was absolutely no need to modify the resulting video in the postproduction," says Hrebicek.
"Because everything was created solely in our editor, only our in-game scenes and models were used. So what you see here is great representation of the quality of work that you will see throughout Mafia II. Of course, this is not the end yet, and frame rate and other technical issues are still being tweaked in order to have the game working smoothly on all the platforms we create it for.
The common theme found in the trailer is the same common theme found throughout the entirety of Mafia II; strong interpersonal relationships. Of course, when playing you will experience all kinds of shootouts, car chases, and fights, but what I think is the most important is to identify yourselves with the main character and those close to him. Every single thing you do in the game causes a corresponding reaction. And it is only up to you what you do.
In the trailer, the relations are hinted at in the church sequence. However, we would not really like to reveal any more important facts; you have to experience it yourself with Vito from the beginning to the end.
I would like to emphasize that the game has a very dark humorous side to it. It definitely is not a superficial comedy. The story as such is quite varied so you could look forward also to a true, mafia atmosphere and strong emotions of all kinds. I can’t wait to see the first players actually play it."
For more information on Mafia II stay tuned, we should be going hands-on very shortly.
Mafia II is expected to be released in the Autumn 2009.