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Mafia

aka: Mafia: La Cosa Nostra, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven

Description official descriptions

Tommy Angelo was an ordinary taxi driver trying to make a living on the streets of Lost Heaven until one day an unexpected meeting changed his life forever. Two men jump into his cab, telling him to drive as fast as he can. Bullets begin to hit the cab, and a car with armed pursuers gets closer. Barely escaping a violent death, Tommy obeys the instructions of the two men and delivers them to a bar of their choice.

Impressed with his driving skills, the men pay him and offer him a job in the mafia. The next day, while Tommy is taking a coffee break, his cab is smashed by two rival gangsters. After this, he recalls the proposition from yesterday, and, without much hesitation, joins the Salieri family, making his first steps on the path of organized crime. While performing missions for Salieri, Tommy gradually begins to regret his choice. However, it turns out that joining the mafia was much easier than leaving it.

Mafia is an action and driving game set in the 1930s in Lost Heaven, a fictional city in the USA modeled after New York and Chicago of the Prohibition Era. Similar to GTA games, it consists of free-roaming (driving or on foot) in a large city, completing missions to advance the narrative. The missions often include driving to various locations, car chases, and one race; however, most of them are structured like fairly large and long third-person shooter levels.

The player will have the chance to drive over sixty vehicles that are reminiscent of the 1930's period. Each car handles it differently, with various degrees of damage. It is possible to smash windows, destroy bumpers, lights, and mirrors, dent the car, shoot out the tires, or shoot the tires so much that they fall off. To add to the realism, if the car's gas tank gets punctured, gas will slowly leak out until the car totally empties. There are gas stations scattered throughout the city, allowing the player to refuel. With these vehicles, the player is able to explore twelve square miles of the city, visiting areas such as Central Island, Chinatown, and the Downtown district.

Complementing the vehicles is an array of weapons, such as pistols, tommy guns, shotguns, explosives, baseball bats, and crowbars. While driving a car, Tommy can perform a drive-by, sticking his hand out the window and firing. Trying to impede him is the police force; they will act on anything suspicious. If they see Tommy carrying a weapon, they will attempt to arrest him. Going over the speed limit, running red lights, crashing into buildings, cars, or objects will result in fines.

Tommy is often given new cars to use during the missions, usually provided by Ralph, the mechanic of the Salieri family. The player can also save hijacked cars in the backyard of the bar belonging to Salieri. Weapons can be acquired at the beginning of a mission by Vincenzo, the local arms dealer.

Spellings

  • Мафия - Russian spelling
  • מאפיה - Hebrew spelling
  • 四海兄弟:失落的天堂 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

196 People (195 developers, 1 thanks) · View all

Development Director
Producer
Lead Programmer
LS3D Engine Director
Music
Director Of Photography
Art Director
Written and Directed by
Level Design
Programming
Collision, Facial Animations and Cutscene Editor
AI Programming
Physics Engine Programming
LS3D Engine Team
Additional Programming
LS3D Editor Plug-ins
Character Design
[ full credits ]

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Discussion

Subject User Date
References to heavy metal?! Simoneer (29) 2010-09-12 20:18:36
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven Indra was here (20655) 2010-09-01 08:31:39

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

German version

The German version of Mafia has been censored. There is no blood when running over or attacking people. Also, pedestrians cannot be killed, they just lie down on the ground and take cover. Interestingly enough, the in-game cutscenes still have all the blood effects.

Phaeton

The game features a fictional luxury car called the Phaeton. Two years after the game's release, Volkswagen has released a new luxury car also called the Phaeton. Coincidence?

References

  • One mission has you entering a hotel named "Hotel Coreleone". Coreleone is the famous family name from the The GodFather movies.
  • Another mission has you stealing cigars from a box labeled "Scorsese Import/Export". Scorsese is in reference to the film director Martin Scorsese, who has directed many mob movies, including GoodFellas and Casino.
  • The names of the opponents during the car-race are taken from actual people, mostly frontmen of heavy metal bands, like Mark "Barney" Greenway from Napalm Death, Chris Barnes from Cannibal Corpse or Kirk Windstein from Crowbar.
  • The museum at the end of the game is a detailed clone of the "Kunsthistorisches Museum" in Vienna, Austria. Illusion Softworks, the Czech-based company who developed the game, obviously chose the building as an inspiration for the level.

Voice acting

In the German version of the game, Mogens von Gadow voices Paulie. Von Gadow is the German voice of actor Joe Pesci who performed in Scorsese's mob movies Goodfellas and Casino.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2002– Best PC Action Game of the Year
    • 2002– Best PC Action Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2002– #6 Best PC Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2003 (Issue #225) – Best Music of the Year
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • February 13, 2003 - Best Game in 2002 (Readers' Vote)
    • February 13, 2003 - Best Action Game in 2002 (Readers' Vote)
    • February 13, 2003 - Most Innovative Game in 2002 (Readers' Vote)
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 11/2005 - #4 Game Which Absolutely Needs A Sequel (it eventually got in in 2010)

Information also contributed by Daniel Saner, Gargaj, Indra was here, Lumpi, Wizo and Zack Green

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by JPaterson.

Xbox added by Corn Popper. PlayStation 2 added by Horny-Bullant.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Isdaron, Jeanne, Zack Green, Crawly, Klaster_1, Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance, FatherJack, UgraUgra.

Game added September 4th, 2002. Last modified April 7th, 2023.