So I finished both Jimmy's Vendetta and Joe's Adventures. You already saw what I thought of Jimmy's Vendetta...it was a series of missions (almost invariably of the steal that car, kill those people kind) with no cutscenes and with a character that didn't even appear in the original game. So yeah, it was uninspired to say the least, and absolutely not worth the money (maybe 50 cents). The only thing it had going for it was Mafia II's beautiful city, and that wasn't exactly thanks to the DLC. 0.5
out of 5.
Joe's Adventures fares a lot better. For one, Joe is an actual main character of the game and so the DLC not only revolves around a familiar face but you also meet a lot of familiar faces. What's more, it's set to fill the gap in Mafia II during Vito's imprisonment, and it does it well. You find exactly how things went during Vito's absence, and how Joe became thick with some people (Eddie, the Falcone family and Henry) and despised by others (Luca Guerini).
Unlike Jimmy's Vendetta, Joe's Adventures offers a balance between run-of-the-mill missions and Mafia II-like cutscenes and story missions. I think it can be reduced to 4-5 big and nice story missions with cutscenes and voice acting and 15-20 missions where you're told what to do and how. The DLC starts out exceptionally well with a new area, a crazy car chase over loose ice shelfs in the winter and good cutscenes...so it's a little disappoint to see that that is only one little aspect of the DLC and he majority isn't that new. But it must be said, all the story missions are very good and set in some really nice locations - a shootout in a cathouse for example. Really cool. All in all, with some aspects of the main game's brilliance (voice acting, cut scenes) and a likeable main character like Joe, the DLC stands out way better. It's not perfect by any means, but if you can nab it at 2€ or less, by all means. It's worth it. 3
out of 5
On a more general note: having played through these DLC's which involves a lot of driving from mission to mission, I have come to appreciate the magnificence of the Mafia 2 engine once more. It really is a tour de force how easily the engine handles such a beautiful city. I sincerely hope the engine gets used by other firms. It looks highly moddable (ie, like it doesn't take long to build new areas using the existing tools) and it is simply gorgeous. I can only imagine what it would be like if a game like New Vegas used to Mafia 2 engine, which seems perfectly capable of handling huge areas without loading screens and looks a lot better. For all Mafia II's lesser points, the city of Empire Bay continues to wow even by just driving around in it.
P.S. because I was a bit fed up by car chases by guys leaning out of the window shooting me when I can't do the same, I decided to jack an armored van (money transport) and wanted to take it to the tuning shop...no luck.
You can't get a van or any other large vehicle into a bodyshop, so you can't change their color or tune them up. By the same accord you can't store them in your personal garage. Sucks pretty hard.
I did end up using it on a few missions, and God is it awesome. Bullets from anywhere but the driver's window just bounce off, and it seems nearly indestructible.
