Mafia the best mafia game up to date.
Like my previous review I’ll be going through Gamespot’s points of attention again.
This is a fairly old game but in my opinion it looks very good. It is one of my favourite games hence my nickname. In Mafia you play Thomas Angelo a cabdriver who is forced to drive 2 gangsters being chased to their hideout. The first mission might be tricky if they shoot your tires or your fuel tank, which will then begin to lose fuel of course you’ll also lose fuel as you drive but not quite as fast. This is a very nice detail they added, although it can be annoying in some missions. When you bring the gangsters Paulie and Sam to their hideout (Salieri bar) they will offer you to become one of them, but you do not like the gangster life, you’re content with being a simple cab driver. But a day later the gangsters chasing the 2 you rescued will smash up your cab when you’re having a coffee break, they’ll also try to kill you. Lucky as you are you’re close to Salieri’s bar. It’s your only chance of survival. Then your life as a gangster begins…
Gameplay.
The gameplay in this game, might be a little tricky at first, especially if you are, like me, used to fairly easy GTA-handling the driving may surprise you. Every car has it own type of handling no car drives the same. I found it quite hard to control my car at first but as it turned out the Taxi is, in my opinion, the worst handling car in the game. As you progress through the mission you will also unlock more parts of the city that will become available in free ride. A mode where you can driver around earning money to, either repair your car, heal yourself, or save the game. Free ride is a great way of exploring the city and I never found it boring. When you complete the game you will unlock Free ride extreme a refreshing mode of free ride, in this mode you can do mission to unlock special cars, like the manta (which looks a lot like the bat mobile.) What I did find a bit disappointing in the game was not being able to visit the locations you’ve been to in the missions, for example if you’ve been in a hotel in the mission you couldn’t enter it in free ride. Sometimes the 3rd person perspective was a bit annoying for combat. Also the game uses save points instead of manual saving, in some ways it is very nice so you have to do things again, not saving every minute but fully enjoying the tension, but when you’re in a hard mission and have just beaten a hard part and die, it can be quite frustrating to do everything again. I think they should have entered a few more save points. Hereby I give Mafia’s gameplay a 9.
Graphics.
The time I’m writing this review the graphics may not be so stunning anymore, but in when Mafia was released the graphics were amazing, I still find it a beautiful game. In the cut scenes people’s eyes will also move and Salieri’s cigar’s smoke will slowly ascend and vanish in the air. The way smoking is animated is very well done. Also the ability to smash up a car as much as you can creating dents and scratches is very original and of course amusing. When in GTA you can only have 1 type of dent and then the part of the car will fall of, you can, in Mafia, deform a car as much as you like, or to your disliking because in some missions you will have to deliver a car without a scratch. I give Mafia’s graphics an 8. Not a 9 or a 10 because of some things that aren’t done quite well, when the models of the main characters looks brilliant in the cut scenes the normal people will look a bit neglected not seeming the same as the characters, they will have fixed eyes looking a bit dull in combination with the highly detailed other people. Also Angelo will look great in the cut scene but in-game his head looks a bit bulky. So an 8 for Mafia.
Sound.
Mafia’s sound is also great, like in GTA people will also talk on the streets. And the voice acting has been done brilliantly. Every voice suits their character very well. Also you will hear real ‘30’s (at least I think it is 30’s) music on the street, however after a few times you may be very annoyed with the music and you can choose to turn to off enjoying the simmering of the engines of the old cars, the squeaking of tires and the occasional bird songs. I give Mafia’s sound a 10.
Value.
This game is really worth every pound/dollar/euro you put into it. It’s probably very cheap now because I saw it in stores for only 10 euros. Definitely worth the price. In theory Mafia offers unlimited playtime but of course you will sometimes get bored of free ride. If you see this game: BUY IT!
Tilt.
As you probably and hopefully noticed by reading this review I love this game, but as I said with Oblivion as well, you just have to experience it yourself. I can assure you the story in the game is great, you’re not only playing because it’s nice to drive around cars and kill gangsters you’ll also want to know how the story continues. If Mafia weren’t a game it could as well be a movie. Therefore I give Mafia’s Tilt a 10.