Genre: Action/Simulation
Developer: Illusion Softworks
Publisher: Gathering/Take-Two Interactive
# of Players: 1
Memory: 512kb Mem Card
ERSB: Mature
Released On: January 28, 2004
Also On: Xbox, PC
Features: Surround Sound, Vibration, Dual-Shock
Website:www.mafia-game.com
Introduction
Welcome to the 1930s, the age of guns, money, and cars. Your simple life is now over; you’ve been inducted into one of the most powerful beings of the era, the Mafia. Your name is Tommy (cliché eh?) and you once were a somewhat
"Welcome to the 1930s, the age of guns, money, and cars."
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successful taxi driver. After you were on your break when two Mafia members needed your services you end up being dragged into the criminal underworld where you are moving up the chain of command. In Mafia you can get your hands on cars, all sorts of weapons, and deal with a decent amount of money.
Presentation
This game was definitely designed for the PC. The controls for the PS2 do not work very well. To shoot you have to press R1. It is my experience through this game that R1 is one of the slowest reacting buttons on the controller; whether that is the fault of the game or the controller is up for debate, but it is definitely an issue. The menu system is simple enough to understand, the usual console menus. There is definitely an issue with continuity though. Some videos can be skipped while others cannot. Since each time you die you have to restart the whole mission not being able to skip videos gets very annoying very quickly. The control system took some time to get used to after games such as Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City because Mafia incorporates many of the same concepts but the default control style is not the same as those games. This meant that for the few missions I spent some time getting used to the controls and hitting the wrong buttons definitely cost me.
Graphics
The Playstation 2 definitely does not have the graphics or computing power of the PC which this game was originally designed for, and it shows. The videos are pretty good but they do not render according to what just occurred they are static videos. The graphics of the game aren’t too bad although the buildings lack a lot of detail and the draw distance is at best mediocre. The damage that occurs to the cars does show up though and that is a nice feature, windows shatter, bumpers get dented, doors can even fall off. It is regrettable though that there is very limited environmental interaction between the vehicles and obstacles. Trash cans can be hit and fire hydrants can be knocked off and will spray water everywhere, but those are pretty much the only two environmental interactions. This game graphically would be much much better on other systems, namely the PC where it was originally designed.
Sound
The music fits the game; it’s pretty much all Jazz. The sound effects are good, but not great or extraordinary. The atmosphere of the game is added to by the sound effects it’s too bad the atmosphere is frequently ruined by load screens and things of that sort (we’ll get to that issue later). I am really neutral about the music and sound affects, they don’t really help nor do they hinder this game.
Gameplay
This game isn’t an exact copy of Grand Theft Auto III although it has many similarities. Things are much more structured in Mafia that in GTA3. Most of your time will be spent doing missions in a very structured way. There are all sorts of missions from money pickups, to taxi driving, to defending against and carrying out hits. There is a lot of driving in all the missions which would normally be very fun, except in this case it is very very slow. It is true to life that cars in the 1930s definitely don’t go that fast, but in this videogame that slows the game down so much and makes it just drag on and on. The map isn’t exactly small and it takes a long time to get across the map to accomplish missions. Mafia also takes a unique approach to the police. In Mafia not only do you get in trouble to hitting things, but also for traffic infractions such as speeding and running red lights. Police also don’t arrest you right off the bat, they will ticket you first and only arrest you if you committed a serious infraction or have run from the police. I’ve been ticketed for running a red light, speeding, and getting in a fender bender. I’ve also been arrested for shooting at the police, not sure how they got me though. It is possible to outrun the police though, so you won’t always be getting tickets.
So now we know that the driving does get a little old, but there are other aspects to being in the Mafia, such as shooting. The weapons fit the time, everything from the Colt pistol to the infamous Tommy Gun. As mentioned during the presentation section the aiming and shooting system is not the greatest. It is very hard to successfully kill the enemy because the aiming system is very jittery.
"everything from the Colt pistol to the infamous Tommy Gun"
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Even if you successfully aim and shoot the weapon it doesn’t necessarily mean that the enemy will die. I unloaded a clip and a half into an enemy’s chest and he did not die. That same enemy turned around and put three bullets into me and finished me off. Weapons such as a crowbar are very easy to use successfully though. Hand to hand fights are quite difficult because if the enemy gets a hit in on you it is very difficult to return a punch. The place where the weaponry shines is during car chases. It is just like the real mafia was. Car chases down winding roads with people in vehicles shooting at each other. They are a lot of fun although the effect of shooting at the cars seems to be minimal, you’re better of ramming the car you’re chasing.
You are not solely limited to the structured missions. You have the ability to just do free rides where you get a car and some weapons and go around and wreak havoc upon the city. You are limited to cars that you know how to steal though and if you fight a rival gang you are likely to be decimated. You are also limited to maps that you have unlocked via the missions. Inevitably this means you will end up doing the missions to have more fun. Since the missions are not the easiest thing and get old quickly if you have to keep repeating them the game lacks a very large replay value. The fact that the game is very slow also brings the replay value down because everything takes so long that without a lot of time you will inevitably get sick of it.
"Car chases down winding roads with people in vehicles shooting at each other"
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Conclusion
Mafia is a game that had a lot of potential. This potential was definitely not maximized during the production of this game. There are some good aspects such as the car spaces, but those are overwhelmed by the flaws in control and time. If you have a lot of time you may be able to play this game as an RPG, but if you were looking for a game to take on Grand Theft Auto, this isn’t it. This is definitely a try before you buy type of game because I’m sure some people will like it, but many will grow tired of it very quickly. This game needed a lot more refinement before being released.
