Mafia II: Definitive Edition, the new version of the 2010 game available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, opens with a message that primed me for a game that might not have held up well. It reads:
"Mafia II: Definitive Edition presents the game's narrative content in its original form from 2010. The game includes culturally sensitive content and themes, and is intended only for mature audiences."
In some ways, this feels like an abdication of responsibility for some elements of the game that have aged poorly. And indeed, as I replay the game on my PS4, there are many such parts. Mafia II was never the most sensitive game, and in 2020 the "culturally sensitive content" made me squirm more than it might have 10 years ago. The game's plot contains few women with any real agency, and the script is full of slurs against them, as well as various racist slurs. When your character goes to prison, there are the prerequisite homophobic jokes about the showers.
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