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Mafia II Cultural References can be seen and heard throughout Mafia II.

The city of Empire Bay is a vast and culturally diverse city that serves as the setting for the Mafia II game. As such, various historical and cultural references can be seen and heard as you play through the game. Many of these references come in the form of Press Radio News reports or other broadcasts heard on the radio.

Entertainment[]

Movies and Television[]

Psycho House

Psycho house side by side

Music[]

  • Chapter 14 is called Stairway to Heaven, which is the title of a famous song by British rock band Led Zeppelin.
  • In The Wild Ones, when a greaser gets killed, occasionally Joe will say, "another one bites the dust!", which is a title of a popular song by British rock band Queen.
  • News report on rebellious teenagers and the dangers of Rock and Roll music can be heard on the radio.
  • A WWII news report mentions German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel.

Art[]

The Mona Lisa Icon

The Mona Lisa

Video Games[]

  • Vito Scaletta is mentioned in the video game The Darkness II, another title made by 2K Games. A character named Jimmy "The Grape" will say "I knew this guy, Vito Somethin'-or-other. Me an' him did some time in the fifties. Boy, could that kid jack a car."
  • Before Vito hits the showers in chapter 6, a prison guard says "Would you kindly?", a reference to another 2K game, BioShock.

Pop Culture[]

  • The title of the mission Murphy's Law comes from Murphy's law, which states, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong".
  • While driving or walking through Empire Bay, you may come across a hobo. If you stand in front of him for a while he will say "Family kidnapped by ninjas, need money for Karate lessons". This is a reference to a once popular internet meme.

Historical Figures[]

World and Military Leaders[]

Politics[]

  • The 1952 race between presidential candidates Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson is mentioned in news reports from the 1951 segment of the game.
  • The same news reports also mention former Vice President Richard Nixon, who later became President of the United States in 1969.

Law Enforcement[]

Mafioso[]

Crime[]

World Events[]

Press Radio News

Press Radio News

World War II[]

1951 News[]

Many of the news reports in 1951 we about futuristic sounding inventions or ideas that would be commonplace when the game was released in 2010, and were geared more towards humor than actual news. The subjects of these reports include the following.

Other[]

RMS Titanic

Titanic

  • There is a ship in the ocean off of Empire Bay that resembles the RMS Titanic. The ship was on her maiden voyage to New York City when it sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
  • A cut location from Joe's Adventures known as the Printery shows a newspaper being printed that references the Spanish–American War Battle of Manila Bay, which took place in May of 1898.
  • Multiple news reports on the 1950 study of the dangers of smoking can be heard in the 1951 segment of the game.
  • The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are mentioned in news report about the implementation of nuclear energy as a power source.
  • A news report mentions the Treaty of San Francisco, which marked the end of Allied occupation of Japan after WWII on September 8, 1951.
  • A news report mentions a new counting device known as a computer that will be used by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • A news report mentions the invention of the hydrogen bomb by the U.S. government.

Easter Eggs[]

  • On the side of both the Clemente & Co. Fresh Meat and the SeaGift Fishing Co. trucks there is a city named Brno listed. Brno is a city in the Czech Republic where 2K Czech was headquartered.
  • The Wanted Posters found throughout Empire Bay feature names and pictures of 2K staff members.
  • A book can be found in the Scaletta Apartment entitled "Attack From Black Morass" by author Robul Ynrec. Black Morass is a location in World of Warcraft, and Robul Ynrec is the backward spelling of Lubor Cerny, the 2K Czech employee found on Wanted Poster 59.

Anachronisms[]

  • A considerable portion of the Mafia II Soundtrack is anachronistic to the time period in which they are played. While about 20 of the songs from the 1945 segment of the game came out later, nearly all of the 1951 songs were released much later in the 1950s or 1960s, with some as late as 1964.
  • A news spot from the 1951 segment reports on the introduction of drive-through and take-out restaurants, both of which are out of place for the time. Take-out, or food prepared to be eaten elsewhere, dates back as far or further than restaurants themselves. As for drive-thru's, they would not begin to appear in the U.S. until the mid 1970s. What would have been coming into fashion at the time were drive-in restaurants, where customers would park their cars and a waitress, or "carhop", would serve them while they sat in their cars.
  • The news report on the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the 1951 segment of the game did not take place until June of 1953.
  • The presidential campaign between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson is anachronistic to 1951 due to neither candidate having announced their intentions to run, or won their respective primary election until 1952.
  • The appearance of Playboy Magazines in Mafia II is anocronistic due to the magazine not being founded until 1953. The images appearing in the game range in date from 1953 to 2007.
  • A Press Radio News report mistakenly states that God Save the Queen is the British national anthem. Great Britain was under the rule of King George VI until 1952, making the anthem "God Save the King" at the time the game takes place.

Definitions[]

  • Pop culture references are ideas that relate to specific real world pop culture, music, television shows, or movies that are mentioned or inserted into the game.
  • Historical references are mentions of real world historical events mentioned in the game.
  • Easter eggs are items or messages hidden in the game that reference past Mafia games, other works known to fans of the series, or items related to the game's developers.
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