A lot of people are pointing out that GTA4 had even less saving and more vulgarity and got a 10 out of 10 on Eurogamer. Which I agree with.
On top of that they seemed to miss the entire point of the game, just as they did the first one. I can't believe anyone is reading that review and putting faith into it.

What, game reviewers are bashing it? Cool, maybe it's good then.
My one and only trusted shop for good reviews, gamer.no, gave it an 8/10 which is rated as a must-buy for fans of the genre. It really helps having mature reviewers in their 20s and even 30s instead of doped-up l33tkids who can't believe it's not GTA.
Gotta try this one. Hope my local shop stocks the collectors. If it exists.

WTF!?
Eurogamer: 4/10
Eurogamer.fr 10/10

This x101.118

I played Mafia 1 multiple times. Didn't find it hard. Had to restart the racing several times, but got it in the end.
There's a mission where a guy took off in car in an abandoned gas station I think, and you had to chase him and kill him. I had problems with that mission, in the end I killed him chasing him. But turns out you could shoot his tyres before you went in to confront him, which made the mission 3x easier.

Yup, exactly, BUMP BUMP BUMP!

Damn that's horrible, same thing happened to Alpha Protocol. They should submit reviews after being vetted and checked by several other reviewers.

I love you. Just getting that out there right now. That site is amazing.
EDIT: When put through a translator.

This is what happens when 2K forgets to send out the bribe money. Don't worry, little reviewers, I'm sure Rockstar or Eidos will have another game out soon.

Truth.

Playing the game now and a 4 is even more laughable. I could see 7-8 if you are someone who thought open world games peaked with the rocket pack in San Andreas and were raised on Mario Bros., but for fans of immersive and mature games this is easily a 9 or more.
A 4 though is just bad reviewing.

You're alright, you're alright. I'll add it to the list then. :D

I picked it up today, and am really enjoying it. I'm kind of stuck on the first stealth mission, though. I should also note that I'm playing on Hard mode, and to a lesser extent, that I'm playing the 360 version. My PC is not powerful enough to run it, and I like achievements.
Anyway, the only person I thought completely missed the point was Brad Shoemaker of Giant Bomb. He normally has excellent gaming sensibilities, but with Mafia II, he was just upset because there's "nothing to do", aside from the story. Which, given the setting as a rarity, and the coolness of the city, I can understand that. Still, he gave it a 3/5, which on their scale is not a bad score. It's middling.

No, GTA is a piece of DIFFERENT when compared to Mafia, they share many of the same traits but are radically different where it really matters. Sort of like how OFP compares to Battlefield 2, they're basically the same when described as modern (IE: not WW2) military shooters where you can control any of the vehicles in the game but you take a dedicated BF2 player and drop him in front of OFP and he'll die in seconds, likewise dump a dedicated OFP player into BF2 and he'll be shredded by the other players before he spots them
I suspect its more a destructoid level of click generation through controversy. Act like a dick and people will look, I'm pretty sure thats the only reason that destructoid exists, trashing popular things just to get attention

It seems like almost all reviewers missed the point (except Game Informer, who gave it a 9/10). Reading the press up to the release of the game, it's not hard to see why. Even I thought it would be an open-world game filled with side missions and the like. Maybe if I go in expecting nothing of the sort, I'll have a good time.
Even then, I could see why Shoemaker would like the game less than most open-world games. When you listen to him on the Bombcast and read his reviews of open-world games, he raves about how much time he and Vinny spend on side stuff. Without said side stuff, it's easy to see why Brad might think Just Cause 2 is a better game.

Giantbomb tend to focus on the big booms and action style of gameplay too. If you listen to their casts and watch their walkthroughs they always make comments about seeking pure gameplay and fast-paced experiences, they're not really driven by narrative, simulation or immersion.
Which is fine, I'm not knocking them for it really, but I am a different type of gamer and Mafia (1 and 2) is aimed at a different kind of gamer.

Too true. by the way, someone who was slightly soured by the lack of side-missions, but who still loved the hell out of the game is Mikel Reparaz of Gamesradar. I suggest you read his review, as he makes a lot of solid points for and against the game. He ended up giving it an 8/10, despite the flaws he mentioned. And trust me, the dude knows what he's talking about.

Different taste, maybe. Personally, I can't stand GTA's ganstas / American pimps / b.tches / rap / crap or whatever other bullshit kids speak / behave like in the USA today.