Sometimes, just sometimes, the ridiculous struggle of having Best Buy price match a competitor pays off. This was certainly one of those times.

As some of CAGs may recall, last week Toys R Us had a promotion which gave you the option of buying Mafia II for $5 with the purchase of another game. Given that I had Best Buy credit and that I wanted MLB 11 The Show, I decided to endure the Best Buy customer service desk. Eventually, (about 10 minutes later) they agreed to the price match.

Over the last week, I played the hell out of my $5 purchase. What I'm sure many think is a poor man's GTA 4, is actually one of the more engaging games I have played in some time. The story is tremendous. You play as Vito Scaletta, a poor young Italian guy, during the 1940's and early 50's. There is very little in the way of side missions but that is preferable given how strong the main story is.

The game has a limited number of guns, but they all do feel different. The gun play/shootouts are enjoyable and truly help fill out the story. The graphics are also a strong point. The city is beautiful and the utilization of classic cars from that era really helps suck the player into the game.

The game has 15 chapters which are divided into entirely different stories involving the main characters. It'll probably take the average player about 13 hours or so to complete.

You can find this game for about 20 bucks at a number of places. Even though I only spent $5, I strongly recommend picking it up for $20.