Made Man

"Today your either going to be a made man, or a dead man. Most likely a bored man"

I'm a huge fan of mafia games, or gang related games. I was well impressed with Scarface, The Godfather, The Sopranos and various other gangster/mafia based games (although the one's I just mentioned are either movies or tv shows :P). So when I read up about this game I had high expectations. Shouldn't have had them so high. While it is a good game, it is seriously lacking in a fair few points. Into the review

Story: 10/10

The basic story is that you are Joey Verola, a mafia soldier and you are on your way to become "made". Joey is driving on his way to his bosses house with his nephew, and along the way Joey is recalling his past experiences. These range from when he first got started in the industry, to his time in 'Nam, up until times as recent as a few days ago. I don't want to ruin the story for you so I will leave the bulk of it to be discovered. It was written by mafia author David Fisher and Bill Bonnano, the former head of the real life mafia family, the Bonnano's. Rest assured it is gripping, action packed and full of great twists, and its sadly probably the high point of the game

Gameplay: 7/10

In terms of controls, the game is pretty simple and easy to pick up if you've ever played a mafia/GTA game before. Analogue stick to move and move camera, shoulder buttons for shooting, grenades etc, d pad for weapon switching, and the four shapes for action, reload, jump and interaction. It is set in third person, once again reflecting its counter parts. But if your expecting variety, look somewhere else. It is very much just a run and gun. You start out on a level, and move through it, killing everyone in sight. And this would be fine if it had variety. After a few levels it just gets repetitive and boring. You can zoom in for picking off various body parts, a head shot will deliver an instant kill, but a body shot may take 3 or 4 hits to take them down. Switching guns is also fun but you'll find yourself having preferrential favourites, disregarding the rest. However there are some high points. Sometimes one of the enemies will not die fully and yell an insult. This allows you to perform a "retort kill". Basically the screen splits in half, one half from your view, the other from the POV of the enemy. Joey says an insult and then boom, an execution style headshot. Of course different guns provide different executions. However the kills are done, shall we say, "tastefully". There is not alot of gore, just your usual spray of blood.

Another nice feature, IMO "borrowed" from games like The Punisher and Scarface, is one called Kills. Basically as you kill enemies, there is a bar underneath your life which slowly fills up. When it is full you hit triangle and everything slows down. Basically it's like bullet time, but not. Everyone slows down but Joey, meaning its easier to shoot and kill. However there is no health bonus or anything from this, all it does is slow the enemies down to allow you to kill them faster. I only used it I think a total of 4 times, because it is really not all that helpful.There is also a feature you will notice while playing, and thats the one whereby as you are running around, either in gunfight or just in general, a large yellow crosshair will appear on objects such as boxes, walls, etc. Press X and Joey will jump and take cover. This is very helpful if you are being pinned down by many many enemies. It also allows you to move quickly and shoot first, ask questions later. Although rather annoying at times, it can save your ass in many a situation.

As mentioned before, the main game does get repetitive. You are given, through Joey and his nephew talking, the prologue to the current mission. You, as Joey, then get to live it out. Run from one end of the level to the other, shooting everyone. Some areas you have to keep killing a constant re spawning enemy before you can move on. No puzzle solving, no thinking involved. There is only 1 "boss" battle persay, and thats with a helicopter. Even the final mission is not that hard. However once you do a chapter you can jump back to it at any time. Also occasionally the game will do PIP (picture in picture) shot, whereby on the main HUD a mini screen will appear. This usually shows the next objective, such as the boss or main enemy. I was slightly dissapointed by the fact of there only being 3 Vietnam missions, but it isn't too bad. There are a total of 17 missions, and this game could be alot longer if they had been extended.

Graphics: 8/10

For the PS2, this game has some incredible graphics. Character models are done very nicely,as are vehicles and buildings, the surroundings lush and richly detailed. This is probably also one of the finer points of the game. If you've just cleared a room of enemies, or while in Vietnam, take a look around and enjoy the environment. The graveyard, 'Nam, and docks all have particulary nice graphics.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is actually quite good in this game. The voice acting is superb, although unless its actually Joey and his nephew talking, the characters mouths don't move o.O don't know if its a glitch or if its meant to be like that but either way it does get annoying. The ambience, or background noise is good, the music pace changes depending on the action, and reflect the setting, such as birds and monkeys in 'Nam, and ships and gulls while at the harbour. The noises of the guns are satisfying and they make the heavy impact noises when they hit the enemies. Also the enemies insults are rather laughable, even if the triads are impossible to understand :P

Replayability: 2/10

To be honest, once you have finished the game, there really isn't much point to replaying it. Unless you want to do some chapters on different difficulty settings, you won't find yourself missing out much. There are no special features or anything to work towards, and no in game bonuses or other game bonuses like concept art or anything for your efforts. And unless you've taken a big break, its unlikely you'll want to play it over and over again

Rent or Buy?:

Rent. I finished the game in two days, and I didn't exactly do massive all day sits. However unless of course your like me and love your mafia games, then buy it, just so that you have another one to add to your collection. But if you just want a fun game to kill some time, then rent it.

Overall verdict: 7/10

A good game that has its highs and lows, but seriously lacks in other aspects. A bit more extra effort could have made this one of the best in its league, but it doesn't quite live up to its predecessors. However for the price you can't go wrong, and it does provide quite a bit of fun.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/07