Mafia

"Insured by the Mafia. You hit me, We hit you."

Introduction: Mafia is the creation of the designer group know as Illusion Softworks. Better known for their work with the World War 2 PC hit Hidden and Dangerous. This time Illusion has decided to go back even farther in time to the crime riddled 30's, this little used genre can often make for interesting games.

Storyline: Taking place in the fictional city of Lost Haven, you assume the role of Tom Angelo, a simple cab driver trying to scrape by on his meager earnings. While taking a break from transportation duties, Tommy is assailed by a couple well-dressed men. Pushed into the car and made to drive, he quickly finds out he's lending a hand to the Mafia.

Many people compare Mafia to the Grand Theft Auto Series, I don't believe this is a fair comparison. The GTA series revolves around a criminal committing crime for personal gain more often then not giving a second thought. Where in Mafia you are a normal man, doing what he has to survive in those circumstances, facing huge moral and ethical repercussions throughout the entire game. Even the gameplay differs enough to make it, it's own unique game.

Gameplay: Atmosphere is what this game is all about, providing consistent gameplay for the era that it represents. Buildings and attire of the various NPC’s are a worthy addition to the game. Every car and every weapon comes from the pre-30's or are being invented as the storyline progresses. Most of the series of cars are accurately recreated with all the unique properties that the real vehicles had.

The game's AI isn't terribly bright nor challenging, being chased on foot or while behind the wheel can be evaded easily. I often found while running away on foot with a brigade of police on your heals that Street cars that won't stop for anything are extremely useful to dissuade pursuit.

The driving physics engine in Mafia is extraordinary, the cars handling and acceleration are well represented. I noticed that cars that would be considered end heavy fishtail more on sharp turns where front heavy cars would simply take longer to make the same turn. Little details like that make all the difference in a game where half your gameplay time is spent behind the wheel.

One of the greater down points to this game is what should be the highlight of this game, the gunplay. How i wished for a few good street wars. I am horribly disappointed at the controls coupled with the horrid weapon physics, making for difficult aiming and overly touchy controls. Most of all there was no option to turn off the Auto-Center for manual aiming. The automatic aiming just placed the recital over, and often, the crotch of the goon you didn't want to shoot. Often being outgunned i fear that the shooting portions of the game were overly frustrating.

Flash Value: From start to finish this game's intermissions are graphically near perfect. All the cinematic were extremely well done and choreographed, ever character seems alive with their own personality. The Storyline benefits enormously from the quality of cut scenes. The gameplay graphics often suffer though, slowing to 10 fps at times, model clipping. Magically appearing buildings and road blurring 10 virtual feet in front of the car, reflect the poor workmanship on the part of Illusion.

The music is definitely from the 30's all 4 songs in the game are orchestral being lead by either Clarinet or Accopella. The repetitiveness of the music gets annoying fast and makes you wish that the cars actually and radios to destroy. The gameplay sounds are fairly well done, tires squealing, gunshots firing and the 20 varieties of horns.

Overall: This game is for someone who wants to try something different and values epic story lines more then having perfect gameplay. The 30's era is an interesting period to play with. Mafia is a game that must be tried at least once. To throw out a Mafia cliche ''It's an offer you can't refuse.''

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/04