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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gangster movies hit the games world... Sorta..., 15 Jul 2004
Mafia is set in the 1930's on the town of Lost Haven (New York-esque type of city). The player plays the part of Tommy, a once-upon-a-time cabby now turned mafioso, due to the changing fortunes of living in a city riddled with mobsters.
The whole game oozes 30's, the available cars, the characters populating the virtual city, even the jazz music is reminiscent of that era.Despite loading lags felt when crossing town, these can be understadable (and in a way, negligable), since at any one time, there are dozens of events taking place, NPC's walking about or doing "stuff", cars (and trams) circulating the streets, or even passengers boarding the elevated train. All of these contribute to give a sense of a real city. Anyone looking for state-of-the-art graphics is going to be disapointed, we've all seen what Mafia presents in other games, no real ground-breaking here, except... The computer characters... Wow! Some good modeling and texturing of all characters was done in the cinematic parts of the game. Granted they're not perfect, or movie-quality, but clearly a lot of effort was put in by the artists, programmers, and modelers to create good computer animations for the characters. And, this leads us to... The story... It's your basic Mafia-story, I'm not going to say anythign about it in order not to spoil, but it involves shooting and killing! -- ;)
Now, the thing is, the animations are very good, and they contribute to a cinematic experience, the player feels he/she is watching a movie (and what's more, playing a part in it, to some degree!). From the presentation (after the player decides to start a game!), to the way the story develops, this title can be said to be a movie with some computer playing in the middle. Since we drive cars around, there is also the choice of racing and entering a championship, where cars can be unlocked, and driven in the main game, bringing such advantages as more speed, better acceleration, durability, etc. Though, don't think you'll be driving Ferraris and Porsches, this is the 30's! One major bad point for the game though, is the lack of multiplayer... That alone would contribute immensely for the longevity of the game. After all, after the story is fully unravelled, and all the races are won, what more can we do besides cruising around in the city? The Mafia is a welcome adition to the criminal-driver stable, sharing a berth with the likes of GTA, though no strong competition there, but it has a spot in the limelight for its story and ability to merge it with the playing.
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Suitable for 15 years and over. Not for sale to persons under age 15. By placing an order for this product, you declare that you are 15 years of age or over.
