Gameplay

The player character engaging in a gunfight with the authorities. Police awareness in the game works in a similar manner as with the previous game, although the player can now bribe after committing an offense.

The game is set in the 1940s-1950s era of Empire Bay, a fictional city based on New York City,Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Detroit.^[8][9] There are 30-40 vehicles in the game (45 withDLC) as well as licensed music from the era.^[10]

Many firearms from the previous game return, such as the Thompson submachine gun and Colt 1911, as well as a pump-action shotgun (though it was changed from a Winchester Model 12 to aRemington 870). New WWII-era weapons like the MP 40, the M3 submachine gun, the MG 42and the Beretta Model 38 also appear in the game.

Interacting with objects in the environment involves two action buttons- a standard action and a "violent" action (for example, when stealing a car, the player may choose to either pick its lock or break the window glass), used in context-sensitive situations. A map is included as in the originalMafia game. The checkpoint system has been completely overhauled.^[11] New controls include a cover system that allows the player to hide behind objects (such as generators, walls and large crates) to shoot enemies, rather than just using a crouch while behind an object.

It has been stated by 2K Czech that the game's cutscenes are created by the game engine, in real-time, rather than pre-rendered cutscenes. For example, if the player is riding in a car and a cut scene starts, the player will be driving the same car and if the car is damaged, that too will appear in the cut scene.^[12] Certain scenes, however, such as the opening sequence and the Empire Arms Hotel explosion, were presented as pre-rendered Bink videos.