The Mafia has long been the target of much interest. Films, books and video games often attempt to capture the essence of this brutal and extremely romanticised organised crime syndicate. Each of us will have some idea as to what we imagine the Mafia to be like, our impressions drawn from the glamorised images we see through the media.

It’s been a long wait for the sequel to the award-winning game, Mafia. Mafia II doesn't muck about in this respect, coming in guns blazing to plug gap left by the original and to pander to most of the classic mob stereotypes we’ve come to expect on screens.

Your channel to those stereotypes is Vito Scaletta, a Sicilian who came to Empire Bay as a young boy with his parents when they were looking for a brighter future. Empire Bay itself is a loose allusion to New York. The game is spans nearly a decade, from 1943 through to 1951, and the setting undergoes sweeping change throughout, from a city depressed by the war to the booming ‘50s.

 

Activision New Zealand is giving away five return trips for two to see Metallica play in Sydney on the 10th of November.

The competition is to promote Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which is to be released here on the 1st of October. The game is coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Anyone who pre-orders the game and pays the required deposit between now and 11.59pm on the 1st of October will be in the draw.

 

Spicy Horse’s American McGee has said that Alice: Madness Returns is seeking an M Rating, meaning you won’t find extreme gore.

Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, McGee said that the original Alice was about trying to be true to Lewis Carroll’s books.

“This time around it's the same thing: we're trying to be true to this version of Alice that we've created and the world in which she lives and the problems she has,” said McGee.

 

SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza 4 will see a Western release in spring [southern hemisphere] 2011.

The game will be a PlayStation 3 exclusive and is the sequel to this year’s Yakuza 3.

The press release reads, “Set in a fully realised, authentic recreation of Tokyo's 'Sin-City district' the deep and interweaving crime drama of Yakuza 4 unfolds through the eyes of four unique and dangerous characters.

 

UK ratings authority The British Board of Film Classification has out Blood Drive, an arcade-style racer from Activision.

The game, now also listed on Amazon, is described as “Motorized Vehicles on Steroids.”

The blurb goes on to read, “THE CARS ARE THE STARS! Battle-hardened & itching to be modded with killer weaponry and armor pick-ups.”

 

Gearbox ‘s Randy Pitchford has confirmed that the studio is working on Duke Nukem Forever and that it will be released some time next year.

The announcement was made at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle.

A press release from 2K Games reads, "The alien hordes are back and only Duke can save the world, again. Pig cops, alien shrink rays and enormous alien bosses won’t stop our hero from accomplishing his one and only goal: to save the world, save the babes and to be a bad-ass while doing it.

Here’s a roundup of today’s news found elsewhere on the internet:

Report – Medal of Honor yanked from GameStop military stores (vg247) - All GameStop stores on US military bases are to stop taking pre-orders for Medal of Honor, according to a Kotaku report.

DJ Hero 2 gets RZA (vg247) - RZA is to feature in DJ Hero 2, Activision said today.

 

Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand has announced that the MUBI film service will be available here before Christmas.

MUBI emphasises quality films over quantity. Via the service you’ll be able to stream independent, festival and art-house titles by the likes of Tarantino, del Toro, the Coen Brothers and Kubrick (the directors of Pulp Fiction, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Big Lebowski and A Clockwork Orange, respectively).

Some of MUBI’s films will be free, but by and large, the service will be pay-per-title, with weekly rental or annual subscriptions also available.

 

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 reminds me of the late ‘80s arcade flier Afterburner: While I’m spinning around gunning down enemies I’m never quite sure if I’m performing an aerial ballet or wobbling through the air while my wingmen laugh up their sleeves.

Like the aforementioned arcade classic, most of H.A.W.X. 2 sees you playing from a third person perspective, controlling one of many technologically advanced flying machines from Mr. Clancy’s near-future.

Like all action-orientated flight sims, missions can quickly become stagnant. Fly to check point A, encounter bogies, track them until your lock on goes red, fire missiles, fist pump, tell Goose he’s buying the first round, rinse and repeat.

 

SEGA have released a free demo for their sci-fi shooter Vanquish on Xbox Live and PSN.

The demo features a tutorial and several combat encounters designed to give prospective purchasers a good handle on the finished product.

We've been playing a fair bit of early code in the office this week - you can read more about our experiences in our hands-on article.

 

Despite the dozens of different imaginings Batman has endured in popular culture over the past 70 years, he's always remained the quintessential crime-fighting superhero.

Good news for Wii owners then, as The Brave and The Bold doesn't seek to supplant your perception of Batman with a newly-minted take on the legacy of Bruce Wayne. Rather, developers WayForward (A Boy and his Blob, Contra 4) have attempted to faithfully reproduce the comic styling of the television series bearing the same name and produced for the Cartoon Network.

More than just replicating the humour and madcap action from the TV series, the object is to extend the experience and open it up to all-comers. To that extent, the Wii provides the perfect platform, and handles the 2D side-scrolling co-op gameplay with ease.