Mafia

The Good
Okay, I just started playing this game, but I already got my review.

First of all, the graphics are unquestionably amazing. The characters look finely drawn, and use of colours and textures are great. The cut scenes make you want to stay and watch, their more like a tv show than a video game cinematic. I found that the voice acting was very good. The characters look, well, like the mafia.

The sound was great. Once again, the voice acting was amazing, but what was also great were the sound effects. All the sounds were realistic and great.

The loading time was nothing. I played some games like Freedom Force where you just keep waiting for the loading time, but this game was a breeze on my PC. It was very quick, and there were almost no, no, NO slowdowns at all. Even when there was tons of action on screen, it kept the regular speed.

The folks at Illusion also managed another great aspect, there are many types ofplay. You can drive in a car around the city, shoot people in a Max Payne type style, or race in a track(I HATED THAT). Nevertheless, it was amazing to be able to do so much.

The control layout was good too, using the mouse and keyboard and creating shortcuts on the keyboard, whic were easy to remember.

The Bad
Music sucked. There's no question about it. Sure, it created the mood of the game, but I hated it. Couldn't they have gotten a less corny soundtrack?

Once again, that racing part was too hard!

The Bottom Line
Still, Mafia was an unquestionably amazing title that might just be what everyone had been looking for-until now. I give Mafia a very well earned 5 / 5 .

The Good
Nearly everything is to like about this game.

You are Thomas "Tommy" Angelo, a regular day-to-day taxi driver back in the early 1930s. Tommy goes about doing his taxi duties, until one night while taking a break he hears a sound coming from an alley. Two men come out of the alley, one of them is wounded by a gunshot. They hold a gun to Tommy's head and tell him to get in the car and drive them to a certain restaurant. As he drives them, Tommy realizes the two men are gangsters who are running away from their assailants. From here on out the game turns into an awe-inspiring mafia story of epic proportions which basically plays out like a top of the line mafia film.

You have everything you would expect from a mafia story here. You have dozens of beautifully modeled cars with huge amounts of detail that look and drive just like old 30's cars did, and with impeccable damage modeling usage. Do not expect the cars to drive fast as it is the 1930s, the realism factor is very evident here. You have a wide array of weapons (from a simple bat to Molotov Cocktails to pistols and revolvers and automatic weapons and sniper rifles) and all of them are in great detail and operate as they should in real life.

The game revolves around a city called "Lost Heaven" which is basically a real life Chicago or New York back in the 30s. The city design is extremely well done and features high quality rendered buildings and street lights, roads, bridges, and anything you would expect. Since the city consists of certain islands which can only be crossed by bridges or by train, the water detail is impressive, the train tracks are nicely situated throughout the city for easy access. Boats are seen from time to time in the waters and airplanes appear up in the sky. People are walking and talking in the streets just like normal people would. The people models look very different from each other and with different clothing and hats that suit the 1930s era.

The main character models are the best around in any genre or system to date. With superb detail to every little aspect of a model's face or body or clothing. This is backed up with some of the best speech and acting around, to an extent that you can truly relate to and understand every character in the game.

Music in this game is perfectly suitable to the 1930s and it probably won't appeal to everyone (especially teens) as it features old Jazz and melodies of some of the best performers of the time. You won't find Pop/Rock/Rap/Disco/Dance/Soul/whatever here, so if you can't appreciate true music, please stay away. During the intense moments of the game, the game features a kind of dramatic music to increase the effect and it really does the job well.

The game features an incredibly strong and long story that will certainly keep you up during not so few nights, featuring superb car chases and gun-fights in the old style.

You can also choose to play "Free Ride" which is different from the story mode since it allows you to roam the city freely and do whatever you want. If that is not enough for you, once you complete the game once, you get to play "Free Ride Extreme" which basically consists of many little quests that you have to do throughout the city, with every mission you complete you get a new fancy car in reward. Those cars are nothing like the game's regular cars as they are some of the most bizarre cars (and fast too) you'll see.

The Bad
If one had to be VERY picky about this game I would say that it is somewhat disappointing that you do not have enough freedom and other activities to in the city outside of the main story mode.

Another little rant I may have is about the fact the you'll have to spend a long time driving just to start a particular mission and thus just getting to the point where you can start a mission may sometimes be a little tedious.

However, these little rantings should not keep you from missing a game of a caliber of this size and strength.

The Bottom Line
Bottom Line - You need to own this game already. It does not matter whether or not you like action games, this is so good it can appeal to everybody who can appreciate a true art of a game.

This is easily one of the most revolutionary games of all time and one that is at the top of my game list, one that I'll probably play when I'm 60 and one that I will forever remember and enjoy just thinking about. Folks, games don't get better than this and all should appreciate the art that is this game.

The Good
This is not Grand Theft Auto 3. Let me make that a bit clearer. If you thought this game looked a lot like GTA3 then wipe the image from your mind. Mafia's only common ground with GTA3 is a living roamable city but that's where the comparisons may as well end. Sure that's a sizable similarity but Mafia has enough originality and style to shake the GTA3 clone stigma as soon as the game starts.

Set in the 1930's and telling the story of a simple taxi driver turned crime boss, Mafia has more gunfights, beatings and robberies than you can shake a tommy gun at, all told in such style and with such brilliance that you'd think it was written to be a film originally. As I said before, the script and story is expertly told and shot, keeping you on the edge of your seat and constantly wanting to see what happens next. The acting is first rate too for everyone from your own character, Tommy Angelo to the numerous NPC's that litter the streets. I honestly can't think of any other game to do the story telling and delivery aspect so well. It's really that good.

The whole experience is enhanced by making you drive to each mission in a living breathing city that changes as time passes. If you try to drive like you did in GTA3 you'll find the cops after you very quickly which of course is bad news unless you were after some trouble. Mafia is somewhat more sensible in regards to the cops than most games as Police can actually lose you and even call on a city wide search where every cop is on the lookout. Unlike other games of this type, just because they're after you doesn't mean they have any idea where you are. All of this is conveyed through some very pretty visuals and some of the best realtime human 3d animation yet seen in a game. Sound has also been taken care of with equal style. Old 30's music plays throughout the game and ambient noise is equally well dealt with.

Missions are very varied and each one takes you to very different and interesting places usually comprising of a driving element where you either must drive to/from somewhere or chase/evade someone, as well as on foot sections where the game takes a standpoint reminiscent of Max Payne and just as stylish. Those who own force feedback steering wheels are not forgotten with feedback fully supported for the driving sections (highly recommended.)

There are over 20 missions to get through, each one is highly different from the last and takes place in staggeringly varied environments. Even better is that once you've finished the game you can take any car out on the town in the Free Ride mode which, as the name suggests allows you free access to the entire city so you can just cruise for trouble.

The Bad
The game may sound perfect so far but sadly, it isn't. Some of the stages are quite unbalanced and you may find yourself struggling through one stage then breezing through the next. The driving/chasing also plays a big part in the game and since the physics are fairly realistic you may find yourself having a bit of trouble without an analogue controller handy, particularly during a race that pops up (you'll know it when you see it.)

There are also save points that seem to have been positioned perfectly for players who have already finished the game and know exactly where to go and what to do. This often leads to immense frustration because you have to repeat areas you already beat, some of which are very tough.

AI is utterly thick on other cars on the road. They'll act as if you aren't even there most of the time meaning you'll be rammed into a lot if you don't watch it.

The game also features it's fair share of bugs, some of which include chipmunk speed voices on certain systems, crashes and refusal to load. There are also numerous in game bugs and irritations that I won't go into here due to spoiler material and as of this review there is no patch.

The Bottom Line
Mafia is a stunning game with a brilliant story, delivery and atmosphere but is also very frustrating at times and carries it's fair share of bugs.

Despite it's flaws however, it's definitely worth getting ahold of.