Either way you look at it, Mafia II is still getting decent reviews. Sure 7/10 isn't astounding but I think we're now in a gaming era where we only expect to buy ground-breaking games, which just isn't realistic. Whatever happened to buying a game because you'll enjoy it, it may not be as playable as Call Of Duty or as stunning as BioShock 1, but a game can still be enjoyable to play. So, I understand where you're coming from on the review front, but I wouldn't really pay attention to it all as we've all learnt that reviews can be very misleading *cough* GTAIV *cough*. A 7/10 isn't a bad score, probably not one that merits a £35 purchase, but one that still merits a very playable game at some point.
I'm definitely with you on this one Blade. GTAIV for me was too "jigsaw" in the sense that the story was quite scattered, and trying to build it up and piece to together at times was just a pain. Hence why I got to around 45% I think before stopping completely and moving onto a more enjoyable game. As for nothing else to do, is this in the way of side missions or in general? I'm not expecting a whole array of mini-games anyway with it being quite a cinematic Mafioso game, but I've only played the demo three times, and only twice ventured out into town, and I saw a couple of things I think, I definitely noticed a body shop and clothes shop. There was more also but I can't remember. As I say though, I'm quite used to not having huge amounts of extra-curricular activity anymore, the last game which implemented it perfectly was San Andreas some 5+ years ago. I wouldn't expect the same level of comedy and rude minigames from Mafia II.
With the missions purely being story, I do reckon it might be more enjoyable and easy to follow. Sure it'll probably mean it's a shorter game but for me I'd consider that a positive considering I've never finished a big sandbox game before in my life.
I won't be buying it upon release, definitely not as I've still got Lego Harry Potter to complete. I've finished the main story but I'm not far of completing the game 100% which I rarely do with any game so I'll be happy to achieve that. Then I'll probably play through BioShock 2, or finish off Batman Arkum Asylum since I'm halfway through that. I might give it a month or two before purchasing Mafia II, by then I reckon the collector's edition of the game will be down to a pretty reasonable price. Plus, it's re-sale value will be similar also meaning once I've completed it I can sell it on if I desire and look at only losing a few quid.