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Mafia

28 August 2002
Mafia - cover art
Glitchwave rating
3.79 / 5.0
0.5
5.0
 
 
581 Ratings /
#435 All-time
#17 for 2002
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In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Releases 7
3xCD-ROM
GB 5 02655 03384 8
DE 4 012160 371155
Show all 7 releases
DVD
XNA 7 10425 27121 2 SLUS 20671
2004 2K Czech Gathering  
DVD
XEU
Mafia Kolekcja Klasyki
3xCD-ROM
PL 5 907671 210477
2010 Illusion Softworks 2K  
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Title
The godfather of video games
I'll start this review by mentioning the issue people bring up a lot when talking about story-based games, particularly for those of an open world genre, and that is ludonarrative dissonance. The matter of players' own actions not aligning with the given narrative of the game.

Mafia 1, while still not perfect, manages to offer up some solutions.



For example, take gta. The illusion of you playing as a smart, opportunistic and cautious criminal mastermind goes right out of the window the moment you open fire on random civilians just because you can and then promptly start a full-blown war against the police force.



Not saying it's not possible to do so in mafia 1, but you're more discouraged to do so on the account of just how many rules are set in place and how the game wants you to immerse yourself further in playing as a criminal. The police system is strict and works meticulously well. You're able to get arrested for exposing your gun, citations can be written if you are caught speeding or knocking out fire hydrants and other city property and even crossing a red light. Furthermore, arrests will only be made if the player refuses to collaborate, and shots will only be fired if the player shoots first.



The combat itself is clunky too,with headshots being really difficult to score and there being a lot of recoil. This, however, makes for really tense and memorable combat encounters as death can also occur really fast and there are very few healing items scattered about the levels. Any attempts to escape the law or drive recklessly are also hardened by the fact that your driving around in really limited and slow 30s' era vehicles and the persistent cop ai.



All these deliberate design choices make it so that the player is not entertained by going off course in the narrative and engaging in spontaneous shootouts or other different crazy activities, but more likely inconvenienced and frustrated. It helps that the city in Mafia 1 only serves as a background for the story and not a virtual playground.

There's only one optional set of missions involving you stealing various cars and keeping them for yourself.



The story itself (at least in my opinion) isn't all that great.It's riddled with mob movie clichés, and even one of the main characters is heavily based on the mob boss from Goodfellas. Also, the voice acting is not all that great.

But it's the way it's actually presented that makes it so memorable, not to mention all the little-in game details that go a long way into making this game even better. Stuff like wheel support, vehicles getting more deformed as they're damaged, ability to run out of fuel etc. And the cutscenes looked great for the time and still look presentable, to the point where I didn't start picking on all the little weird details, like in Vice City where you could see the individual polygons making up the characters.

Overall, to close, I recommend this game to anyone who wants to relive some early 2000s experimental gaming goodness which brought us so many gems such as this one.
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fleshtache 2023-01-13T12:38:15Z
2023-01-13T12:38:15Z
5.0
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Title
only game to play before you die
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agazmah 2023-07-17T20:15:34Z
2023-07-17T20:15:34Z
5.0
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Catalog

crouton33 Mafia 2023-10-04T02:56:49Z
2023-10-04T02:56:49Z
2.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Im_really_cool Mafia 2023-10-02T14:30:59Z
2023-10-02T14:30:59Z
1.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Tinysalmon4 Mafia 2023-10-02T08:48:55Z
2023-10-02T08:48:55Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
yourdadcosplay Mafia 2023-09-28T14:58:29Z
2023-09-28T14:58:29Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
taterchips Mafia 2023-09-27T13:42:41Z
2023-09-27T13:42:41Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Kowareta99 Mafia 2023-09-24T21:26:34Z
2023-09-24T21:26:34Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
wahlbergcat Mafia 2023-09-23T00:05:26Z
2023-09-23T00:05:26Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
thesmiler Mafia 2023-09-17T09:35:16Z
Windows
2023-09-17T09:35:16Z
4.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
ultraaguy1 Mafia 2023-09-15T22:16:16Z
2023-09-15T22:16:16Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Chnapik Mafia 2023-09-13T21:53:15Z
2023-09-13T21:53:15Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
BeatthemRingdem Mafia 2023-09-13T20:49:21Z
2023-09-13T20:49:21Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Walkthrough
Doctor_Murdezio Mafia 2023-09-10T23:39:25Z
2023-09-10T23:39:25Z
5.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Content rating
ESRB: M
Player modes
Single-player
Media
3x CD-ROM
Franchises
Also known as
  • Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
  • View all [1] Hide

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  • Previous comments (4) Loading...
  • Coldplaz 2022-03-27 23:23:09.133187+00
    This game has absolutely massive cult following here in Eastern Europe, it is regarded as the best game ever on par with OoT and Silent Hill 2.
    reply
    • RaurosAmmonoidea 2023-06-28 20:14:18.79849+00
      Rightfully so.
      I have played throughout it thrice or four times if you count the remake (which, regrettably, feels subpar is so many aspects) and it still is a seamless gem through and through.
      So much to love about Mafia: the City of Lost Heaven.
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • townandcountry 2022-09-08 02:32:13.973499+00
    Took me probably 20 minutes to load it but the Community Modpack is absolutely essential. Makes this game really shine.
    reply
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  • lowplacelikehome 2022-12-07 01:01:57.348623+00
    i won't lie I remember it being a difficult game. but for the time it was amazing just to experience it
    reply
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  • townandcountry 2022-12-15 16:11:04.068572+00
    reply
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  • dougalcedo 2023-04-14 21:53:47.419913+00
    this game fucking sucks
    reply
    • Lamneth 2023-05-30 10:45:25.354185+00
      no u
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • Circuz 2023-06-26 01:00:26.698698+00
    So if the remake is this bad, how bad is the original game? Because this shit is terrible
    reply
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  • DomMazzetti 2023-08-29 17:37:07.209532+00
    That's how mafia works
    reply
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  • DomMazzetti 2023-08-29 17:41:27.26157+00
    This game only exists for people to mention that there's a speed limit in it.
    reply
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