The combination of all the tweaks is noticeable but not distracting, and you're only likely to be swayed if you've already played the 360 version extensively. The reality, however, is that the Czech division of 2K Games has done a fairly good job of making cutbacks in areas that you're unlikely to notice as you go about the business of actually playing the game.
#MAFIA 2 MAPS PC#
There's no doubt that if you treat the PC version as the template for the console conversions, the Xbox 360 is definitely the closer game.
#MAFIA 2 MAPS PS3#
There's a high probability that we could play through the entire PS3 game and pick out many, many more tweaks and compromises made. Tiny differences such as the precision/resolution of the shader on the glass in this shot have no real relevance to the gamer, but do demonstrate how the development team tweaked, changed and downscaled in places even on extremely minor, throwaway detail. For example, in this shot you can see that the shaders on the glass are either of a lower resolution or less precisely generated compared to the Xbox 360 game. It's difficult to shake the impression that the engine couldn't consistently deliver what the developers wanted from it - a theme you can see repeated throughout the whole experience of playing Mafia II.Īnd yet, even in the most insignificant areas, there's evidence that the engineers continued to nip and tuck at the PS3 version of the game. However, tearing also seems to occasionally appear in these scenes too, suggesting that to maintain something approaching a fluid frame-rate, v-sync is dropped if the frame-rate dips below, say, 20FPS. This is what happens when v-sync is engaged on a double-buffered game (one frame being drawn while the other is displayed) when the engine is put under load. Any given shot within a cut-scene either renders at 30FPS, or when detail-heavy characters are shown close-up, drops to 20FPS. It's clear both consoles have issues with this. The extent of the changes and compromises grow as you progress, and this applies to the cut-scenes too. Missing, too, is a subtle motion blur effect employed by the Xbox 360 game when your car is travelling at high speeds. There's also a blur filter added to distant parts of the cityscape to create some semblance of depth, but again this is dialled back on PS3.
Both the Xbox 360 and PC versions apply their own custom (and somewhat selective) anti-aliasing, which is absent from the PS3 version. The more you play, the more minor tweaks you see. The 360 and PC's distance blur is also dialed back a touch on PS3. Textures are lower resolution and lacking specular maps in these shots.