Mafia II mimics the original pretty well, but doesn't have the courage to do its own thing, nor the strength to punch as hard. As it stands, it's a competent game, but one that never leaves the original's shadow.
Pros: Great music, detailed city, good story and writing, occasionally funny, solid driving and gunplay, some great/cool moments, plenty of ideas to spruce up the gameplay...
Cons: ...but none of them are implemented in an interesting/meaningful way, wooden animations and flat voice acting bring many important scenes down, melee combat is extremely basic, dumb AI, city's potential is severely underused, not much to do in the city and the city itself feels artificial, poor pacing and plenty of padding