A 1930's Grand Theft Auto gangster movie-themed game.
Let's see, you've got your gravelly-voiced protagonist/anti-hero, gritty cop living off coffee and cigarettes, big round mob bosses smoking cigars and wearing hats, the oscillating lyricism of the Italian-American accent through clenched jaws, old timey vehicles and weapons, and generally all the stereotypes and cliches of the mafia movies that people seem to love. Put this all in a pretty linear story set in a semi-open world and you've got a recipe for a game that is perfectly fine, but not revolutionary (these days, at least).
I never played the original Mafia, so this review isn't tinged with nostalgia or anything. Jumping into this world 20 years after it came out, even with a remake, feels old. The driving definitely felt like the cars were on a carousel, with a pole straight down the middle of them and the world flying by at nearly tens of miles per hour. It was fun to plow into a slow drift of a 1930's sedan but, having played a number of racing games, this one wasn't a good racing game. The third person shooter parts of the game were a bit clunky to me, with pretty wooden character movements, but nice graphics. In fact, maybe this whole remake was designed to look better than it was to feel better. Maybe as an homage to the original, maybe just to save cash during development? Either way, the game looks good fine, plays fine, and has a story with some twists that are suitable for one of those mafia movies.
I never felt like exploring the world for any reason, the story didn't really connect with me, and the gameplay was just adequate. I don't know about you, but it also felt weird to play a game with basically only white male characters in the world we live in now.
In short, I was greedy for more, which is always a problem in this world...
Review from thedonproject.com
Let's see, you've got your gravelly-voiced protagonist/anti-hero, gritty cop living off coffee and cigarettes, big round mob bosses smoking cigars and wearing hats, the oscillating lyricism of the Italian-American accent through clenched jaws, old timey vehicles and weapons, and generally all the stereotypes and cliches of the mafia movies that people seem to love. Put this all in a pretty linear story set in a semi-open world and you've got a recipe for a game that is perfectly fine, but not revolutionary (these days, at least).
I never played the original Mafia, so this review isn't tinged with nostalgia or anything. Jumping into this world 20 years after it came out, even with a remake, feels old. The driving definitely felt like the cars were on a carousel, with a pole straight down the middle of them and the world flying by at nearly tens of miles per hour. It was fun to plow into a slow drift of a 1930's sedan but, having played a number of racing games, this one wasn't a good racing game. The third person shooter parts of the game were a bit clunky to me, with pretty wooden character movements, but nice graphics. In fact, maybe this whole remake was designed to look better than it was to feel better. Maybe as an homage to the original, maybe just to save cash during development? Either way, the game looks good fine, plays fine, and has a story with some twists that are suitable for one of those mafia movies.
I never felt like exploring the world for any reason, the story didn't really connect with me, and the gameplay was just adequate. I don't know about you, but it also felt weird to play a game with basically only white male characters in the world we live in now.
In short, I was greedy for more, which is always a problem in this world...
Review from thedonproject.com