Mafia Details

Take-Two dropped by the GameSpot offices today to show us more of Mafia: La Costa Nostra, a third-person action game in which players struggle to rise through the ranks in a mob family. The game takes place in Lost Heaven, a fictional 1930s American city that mixes elements of both New York City and Chicago. A 12-mile swath of the city has been modeled in exacting detail, and the game's missions give players a great deal of freedom in moving throughout this city.

In Mafia's 20 story-based missions, players will do Don Salieri's bidding, who will order them into mob hits, car chases, and shoot-outs. A number of missions will require players to switch between going on foot and driving one of the game's 60 period cars and trucks, including several types of roadsters and the distinctive Model T.

Mafia's graphics are quite detailed, and feature high-fidelity cityscapes and photo-realistic character models. The game was initially built upon a revised engine from Illusion's 1999 squad shooter, Hidden & Dangerous. However, since E3, the developer has changed engines to implement technology that will be easier to port over to next-generation consoles. Take-Two could not specify which consoles Mafia would be published on, but suggested the PlayStation 2 as a likely choice.

As a result of these technical changes, the PC game's release date has slipped from this fall to the beginning of next year.