The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Set within the fictional city of Empire Bay from 1945 to 1951, the story follows Vito Scaletta, a young Sicilian-American mobster and war veteran, who becomes caught in a power struggle among the city's Mafia crime families while attempting to pay back his father's debts and secure a better lifestyle.

The game is a standalone sequel to 2002's Mafia, and the second installment in the Mafia series. It was released on 24 August 2010 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360.

Mafia II is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K.