10.5.2009

Mafia spans a period of eight years and chronicles how Tommy Angelo's life takes a dramatic upswing as he becomes a respected - and feared - member of the local Mafia. Tommy enjoys the thrill of fighting alongside his fellow mobsters, which he likens to being a soldier in a war, but is also concerned when innocents are harmed in the course of their business. As the years pass, the city grows and changes, more advanced cars come out on the market and Tommy realises his soul is being eroded as the once-romantic vision he had of life as a Mafioso is replaced by the hard, cold reality of a life of brutality, blood and treachery.Mafia was released in 2002 and dismissed by many as a GTA3 clone.However, the game remains one of the more underrated titles of the last decade. Mafia does resemble GTA: you control a character who gets into gunfights and is able to use transport such as cars, buses and trams to get around the city. However, Mafia is very different in both tone and structure. There are real consequences to running around and mowing civilians down with tommy guns, and the fact that you now take injuries if the car crashes or flips over means that high-speed insane stunts are discouraged. The police are also much more on the ball, and will fine you for speeding or running red lights. Whilst you can 'jack' cars on the road, doing so is risky (the offended driver roaring off and dragging you under the wheels is a real danger) and it's not really a core part of the game. The overall idea is that as a member of the Mafia and on the surface a respectable guy you're supposed to be keeping a (relatively) low profile.Structurally, the game is also different. In the GTA titles it's up to you when you do a mission and if you don't, you can just drive around and cause mayhem. Mafia is primarily mission-based and you move from one story-driven mission to the next with no break to go off and explore the city. As the game progresses, however, you unlock various stages of the 'free ride' mode which loads up as a separate game and allows you to go exploring by yourself if you wish.These elements feel like sops by the developer to the publisher, who was perhaps keen to cash in on the "GTA-in-1930!" angle. The heart of the game lies in the story and the story is stellar. Anyone who's seen a Mafia movie or read a Mafia novel will likely predict most of the story turns before they happen, but the plot unfolds with verve, confidence and expert pacing, delivered by exceptional voice acting (fans of The Sopranos and The Wire will spot some familiar voices) and some strong writing. Mafia is, at heart, a study of violence and what turns good men into criminals. It avoids cliches - Tommy is inducted by steps into a life of violence but is never 'seduced' by it or has a "What have I become?" moment of corny realisation - and remains, even on a fourth or fifth replay, a compelling experience.As with many games with very strong writing and acting, it does impact on the freedom of the player's choices. In particular, it can be a bit odd if Tommy's just been in a two-minute cut scene regretting the innocent people who were harmed in his last job and then he goes out and runs over two old ladies and crashes into a wall.The graphics are still good today, but at the time of release they were astonishing, light-years ahead of the contemporary GTA3. Whilst they're not as jaw-dropping today, they can now be run on modern PCs with everything switched up to maximum with no problem aside that the viewing distance isn't all that it could be. Sound and music are also strong. The handling of vehicles is also excellent, with the cars feeling very solid and heavy. The way new, faster cars are introduced periodically throughout the game and the city changes over time (buildings under construction in one mission are completed in another set three years later) is also well-handled.On the minus side, there are a number of niggles. The quantity of cut scenes in the game is very high, exceeding 400 pages of dialogue, and although it's excellently acted and well-written, having to skip through it once you've seen it once can be annoying. Also, the save system saves the game before the cut scenes, not after them, meaning that replaying missions can involve a lot of irritated hitting of the space bar at the start. And whilst the cops being more on the ball than their Liberty City/Vice City/San Andreas State counterparts is initially very impressive, there are times when you wish you could take off the speed-limiter and go roaring through the city at 120mph without worrying about hearing police sirens in the distance. Finally, the fourth mission involves you have to take part in a motor race which is insanely difficult. Seriously, I know people who've given up on the game in disgust at how tough this mission is. Luckily, the later patches introduce a difficulty meter for the level which makes it much simpler, so this is no longer such an issue.Mafia (****) is a very strong, compelling and even literate computer game which is more than just a meaningless exercise in violence and mayhem. It has some interesting and intelligent themes going on, but is also a highly playable action title. It is available now on the PC (UK, USA). The far inferior PS2 and X-Box ports are also available. A sequel, Mafia II, which picks up on the world in a new city with different characters ten years later, will be released on the PC, X-Box 360 and PS3 at the end of the year.

28.1.2004

My sister's former boyfriend recommended me to buy this game, and as soon as I launched the Czech PC version of the game - which is the version that I started with - I found it totally amazing. I am proud (and jealous) of my fellow Czechs who were able to construct this game - a game chosen as the best game of the year 2002 (at least in many European countries). The amount of data (contained on 3 CD's) that the creators had to put together is shocking, and initially it seemed to me that a team of 20 people would need several centuries to finish this task. Well, fortunately they have used a lot of modern technology, for example a system to scan the motion of the real actors which is subsequently translated to the motion of the artificial humans,and therefore the task was doable. There are many hours of "movies" in between the different scenes, and there is a lot of audiovisual effects everywhere. The individuals in the game have pretty good artificial intelligence, and you will be impressed how realistic all these objects and their motion are (unlike the cartoonish style of GTA, for example).The Lost Heaven City is a completely realistic city, designed according to the actual buildings in the New York City and Chicago of the 1930s. Everything seems to work perfectly in this city - including the gas stations, public transportation, banks, hotels, shops, restaurants, prisons, car races, ships, small airport, and so on. Imagine more than twenty squared miles of the urban architecture where everything responds in a realistic fashion, including a plenty of things that are unnecessary to fulfil the game's twenty main missions (e.g. you decide jump from the bridge in order to see the ship from another side). There are 60 different models of the cars - that you can steal on the street if you learned how - that were carefully copied from the real cars in the 1930s (but they were renamed). All these cars respect all the laws of physics and they are described by approximately 100 physical parameters each. If you shoot at the car (or use some explosives), it's getting destroyed in a very realistic way.Moreover, there are about 30 fan web sites dedicated to the game, and the people who understand computers well enough can have a lot of additional fun with modding the PC version of the game - changing the cars, textures on the buildings, music, sounds, and so on. The PlayStation2 version does not allow you to do it, I guess, but it has other advantages over the PC version. The speed limit has been increased, for example.The game has a tutorial where you learn how to control Tommy (which is you). On the PC version, the arrow keys and other keys on the keyboard are used for motion (and changing the weapons, jumping, and so on) while the mouse allows you to change the direction where you look (or shoot), and this combination is very natural. You can practice as the taxi driver - you will learn geography of the Lost Heaven City after some time (the map is recommended). The main game has 20 main missions with 106 checkpoints or so where the game is saved, and afterwards you may continue with the "free ride extreme" - 19 special tasks. Nevertheless, I needed about 50 hours to complete the main missions.The story seems as a good piece of literature - you are a taxi driver who accidentally becomes a member of Mafia - an offer you can't refuse - and you are getting increasingly difficult tasks. Well, you will have to shoot a lot of people, but from a moral perspective, I am sure that at the end you will agree that being a mafioso is not the best (and easiest) option for your life - especially because your friend will betray you, and you will have to kill him. After the war, they will kill you anyway.The game was banned in Italy for some time in 2002 because the authorities viewed it as a perfect textbook to become a criminal. The most natural audience for this game are almost definitely Americans, but the publisher company of the PC version did a bad job when they promoted this game in the U.S. and the success in the U.S. was much weaker than the game's achievements in Europe. Therefore you are sort of lucky to read this review. Mafia might be the best game ever (so far, as of January 2004), and it is much less known in the U.S. than it should be (so far). Don't get manipulated by the advertisements of various less perfect games. Buy Mafia, and you will be impressed.

30.6.2010

After playing the first few missions, I admit I was about to turn it off. There was no variety and it was all very slow. I stuck with it though due to the good reviews it's received as well as having an interest in the story. Really glad I did now.Plot: This is where the game excelled. Every minute I got free, I wanted to progress some more on Mafia simply due to the plot. I felt a real bond with characters which for me is rare in a video game.It's the 1930's and you play as Tommy Angelo who accidentally gets involved with gangsters while working as a taxi driver. You then end up rising for a common foot soldier to one of the top dogs within the Salieri family.It sounds very much like a Grand Theft Auto game and due to a lot of people going in to this game thinking that,they come away disappointed. Mafia is its own game and it knows it. The game is a lot more linear and plot driven then GTA while lacking in the likes of the game play.Graphics: A little dated now but doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the game.Sound: One thing that stood out for me in this department is the way the sound altered due to where you stood. You stand by the sea and you'll hear seagulls but yet walk a few steps away and the sound quietens. I would expect it from this generation of consoles but seeing it in the last was a bit of a surprise.Game play: It's a third person shooter with some driving thrown in too. The main beef of the game is the shooting parts but to get to a mission as well as a couple of missions in themselves, involves driving. When shooting, you're using the typical gangster weapons of the time and when driving, you're driving the vintage cars too. Not only do you get to sit within a vintage car but they've made it so it's like driving one too with everything that much more stiff.Controls: I found these a little awkward to begin with as you have to use one analogue stick to move forwards and backwards and the other to turn around. It's what I would expect from a first person shooter but as a third, the character was fairly difficult to control. I got use to it but it took a while.Lifespan: Mafia too me around 15 hours to complete. A couple of the harder missions I had to redo a couple of times so if you're a fairly good gamer then you could probably knock a couple of hours off of that time.There isn't much replayability to Mafia. You can repeat any mission throughout the game that you enjoyed and there's an option of a free ride mode where you can pick a car and drive around to your hearts content but that's about it. Once the missions are done, the city isn't really engaging like GTAs for you to want to simply drive around in.Overall: Although it may not quite be up there with the best from the generation, it's not too far off and with the price you can pick it up for nowadays, it's definitely worth a play through. I think it's got to be one of the few PS2 games where I could say that I would enjoy watching it as a film or a book the plot is that enjoyable.

4.3.2004

As a huge fan of both Italian-American gangster movies ('The Godfather', Goodfellas, etc.) and gritty action games (like the outstanding 'The Getaway'), I thought this game was a match made in heaven. Although it has its odd flaws, it's still a absolutely cracking game.'Mafia' is a game based on the life of Tommy, who was high up in one of City of Lost Heaven's mafia families. The present day in the game is actually 1938, when Tommy is reviewing his life to a cop/journalist, and using flashbacks, the action levels take place in the early 1930s, when Tommy moved from a humble taxi driver to the right-hand man for the Don.Firstly, the negatives.The game does have an annoying feature when it has to load up every time you cross over from Central Island to the east side of the city to cater for the heavy detail - strange really, considering 'The Getaway' had even greater detail (of London) yet didn't need additional loading-up. Also, the controls aren't the easiest to get used to - I suppose this is personal preference, but up-down-left-right are not combined into the L3 button, which just gives more work for your fingers. The health issue is also a minus - there are occasional health boxes situated on the walls of some buildings in every level where you improve your health meter, but it would have been better to adopt 'The Getaway's' approach and gain health by leaning on a wall. This would have been more realistic, but when you die after spending ages on a level, it gets a little frustrating.However, with the flaws come the plus points. The story is fantastic, sort of like a 'Goodfellas' storyline as it follows one man's rise and fall in the mafia, and our hero has a conscious, unlike many of his counterparts. The individual levels are never boring, combining everything from setting cars on fire to defending a pretty broad against some punk kids; from stealing classy 1930s sport cars to assasinating a senator in public. The detail is also worth a mention - the City of Lost Heaven is clearly based on New York, with its different sections clearly distinguished (Little Italy has a 'Bronx' feel to it, while the typically WASP area on the east side reflect the posher area just outside New York). The cars aren't as quick and easy to manouvre as on 'GTA' or 'The Getaway', but this is the 1930s!I really enjoyed 'Mafia', mainly because it aims to be a realistic game and succeeds. The story is constantly appealing, throwing in unexpected twists and turns, and at the end of the day, it's more satisfying being on the Mafia's side rather than on the side of the law! Once you accept its flaws, you can sit back and indulge in fighting for the Mob. Buon Appetite!!

12.2.2004

...considering the amount of times this game has been labelled a "GTA3 rip-off", it's irronic that Mafia is actually a much better game.Yes, you read that - this game is superior to (the highly over-rated) GTA3. Yes, there are similarities (the three-island map structure, and some of the surroundings), but this game draws you in the further you go, and varies the missions, while GTA3 pushes youaway with it's repetitive structure and the level of enjoyment you get for mowing down your 87th bus queue.So many details improve the game, but a few are worth noting.* The shooting missions are far more involving than randomly spraying a machine gun in the general direction of the opponents,

27.7.2012

This is a 'very believable' gaming experience. Mafia was released to consoles in 2004. I managed to obtain a copy of it from my Uncle, who no longer wanted/needed it. Lucky me!You play Thomas 'Tommy' Angelo, a Cab Driver in the 1930s City of Lost Heaven who becomes a member of the Salieri Crime Family - The Mafia. Tommy turns to The Mafia by chance - he picks up two of Salieri's men - Sam and Paulie - while driving his Cab. Impressed by Tommy's quick getaway, he is offered a 'shot' by Don Salieri, and the rest is History.The gameplay is extremely varied - you will be driving, shooting, bootlegging and even racing your way around Lost Heaven, all while rising to the top of the city's most feared criminal organisation.Quite frankly,

20.7.2003

I love this game more than the PC version!The controls have been well adapted to console format, making movements easier ( using the arrow keys became quite tiresome).This game is simialar to Grand Theft Auto 3, but Mafia is set in the 1930's in the city of Lost Heaven. You get dragged into the storyline from the beginning (where it's basically join the mob or die) all the way to the end, after the main character - Tommy, has made friendships and lost them too.The storyline takes a giant twist towards the end, which makes this game worthy of being a film!In this game, you can travel on foot, in cars and even on trains! There is a huge variety in the cars (more than GTA3),you go from the small,

19.2.2008

Barcode: 5026555301503"I still remember when i first got this game and how wowed i was by the beautiful the storyline and environment is in this game. While it is far removed from obvious comparison GTA's wild fun this game is equally entertaining. The story is film-class as is the voice-over acting. You really feel for the characters which is vital when you get to the later stages of the story - seriously, this is one of the most moving games i've ever played.As for the gameplay, on a good computer the city and characters move slicky, an immensely fun and realistic thriller. Missions are varied, tense and just hard enough that you feel a great feeling of accomplishment when you complete them.Forget about the infamous racing level,

21.3.2007

I bought this game for my PC a couple of months ago and must say it's the most fun ive had playing a game for years.The graphics and sounds are very good I think, but that's certainly not the best part, the gameplay is outstanding.When the game starts you are Tommy a regular cab driver and you begin by picking up passengers and dropping them off where they request, until that is by chance you end up picking up two mafia guys who are fleeing from some rival gangsters.If you help them escape, the don then takes a shine to you and eventually you start helping him out with small favours, like breaking into cars etc, this then escalates as your prove yourself to the family by handing out beatings,

5.1.2008

I had this game and literaly spent 12 hours on week days and 15+ hours on weekends. The graphics are amazing the length is so long I didn't even finish and I can be very, very, very, very, quick at completing games. The cars are so realistic that if you felt like taking a random drive you could go on Mafia start the car (if it will work) and take a drive stopping at traffic lights and not going over the speed limit as to avoid being arrested or fined. OR YOU COULD GO CRAZY AND GO OVER THE SPEED LIMIT, SHOOT CARS WHILST DRIVING AND END UP WITH EVERY COP IN THE CITY AFTER YOU!!!!The missions are not impossible or too easy but are long and more on the difficult side, I guess.

25.2.2004

All in all, this is a v good game. The graphics are good to look at and the city is massive. I wouldnt say it is as good as vice city, but nothing is. Vice City was alot of fun to play but Mafia is a much more realistic game. In Vice You could fly along a backstreet at 80 mph and the cops wouldnt bother, in Mafia you get driving tickets and fines. Many people have been slagging off the driving and how "The cars are too slow". Well all you can say to that is ITS THE 1930S WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? Many of the early cars you get in the game almost struggle to get up hills but you arent gonna get a porsche no matter how much you want one. The storyline is very good, but maybe I only like it because it's the 1930s mafia.

20.2.2004

Okay, so it isn't as good as GTA Vice City. How many games are? If everyone STOPPED COMPARING THIS GAME TO GTA VC they might realise it's not a bad game at all.This is a decent game - the levels are varied, with a decent learning curve, and they reward perseverance. It has a good, engaging story, with believable dialogue, and plenty of interesting characters....Those who slag off the performance of the cars have obviously not played much of it, as most levels give you a progressively better performing car, so as you get further into the game, and better at it, you have better cars. So, those of you that want instant gratification with the best possible cars, and unchallenging combat look else where.

21.6.2007

This is a brilliant game, absolutley amazing scenes missions and graphics!Overall there is 20 missions set in the 1930s era You are a Taxi Driver aka "Tommy Angelo" who later becomes A MAFIA Mobster! Each Mission isn't easy sailings, so don't expect to get through by using 1 life! After each mission is complete certain cars are unlocked and freeplays + bonus extras! Each mission is varied around the city, in the country, farm houses, shipping port,onboard a ferry, bank heists, whore houses, churches, hotels, assasinations, car stealing etc... there's even a car racing mission(yes you actual take part in a race) and you gottta get 1st place....2nd or 3rd is not good enough..it took me 10 attempts to get 1st place!

20.5.2004

I am a bit of a sucker..yes, I believe advertising. A new game comes out, I see the shop blurb and buy it...my life it is littered with such failures (mortal kombat, socom, prince of persia...the list goes on)However I may just have broken my trend, found my niche in strategy type games.Probably my favourite two games in recent time were Splinter Cell and Hitman 2 (Hitman Contracts is even better .. wheee) and if you liked those you may well like MafiaThere are sceptics who say 'turn based...mission based..blah blah..' and if you dont like that sort of game then you are in the wrong place.If however you want a mission based game in the mould of Grand Theft Auto 3 then this is for you.

17.2.2004

I know that some reviews of Mafia haven't been that good. I know that the waiting for the game to load during play can be very frustrating. I know that the targeting in shooting scenes can be very frustrating. I know that the lack of opportunities to repair health can be very frustrating.But, overall, this is a very enjoyable and addictive game. It could be described as a cross between Grand Theft Auto and The Getaway, in a 1930's Chicago type city. The sense of the 1930's is good, with the enjoyable background music adding to the atmosphere. Some of the cars ain't too good, but what do you expect for the 1930's?! Some little things add to the game's enjoyment, like when you get onto the overhead railway,

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