This game was originally made for the PC in 2002, and later ported to the Xbox system in 2004. It is developed by a Czech based game company called Illusion Softworks, and published by Gathering of Developers.
The game stars a taxi driver named Tommy Angelo, and through a series of events, you later become part of a mafia crime family, a la Don Salieri. Salieri is a well off man, mostly due to the fact that he is head of his crime family and has his cronies do all of his dirty work for him. I don't want to ruin the story for you, because it is done very well, but rest assured, this is one of the best plot-driven games you might ever play.
The gameplay consists of doing jobs for the Don, and making sure he is happy with the result. The job might be stealing something valuable from an opposing crime family, or just ripping some random people off for lots of money. There are about 12 (or more) jobs in the entire game to complete, and they are all varied in gameplay. Right from the beginning, this game looks and plays a lot like a 'Grand Theft Auto' game, but actually, it's very different. There are not any 'odd-jobs' that you can perform in between missions, and you can't just walk up to people on the street and talk to them. This game is very different from GTA. The city is very big, and even though it is fictitious, it looks very much like New York City did in the early 1930's. The roads are all open, and you can drive your old time car anywhere you want to. If you run a red light or speed over the speed limit, you will get a ticket from the cops, and if you don't stop, they will arrest you if they can catch you. The gun play is very bad, and I expected more from it. You have to move your aiming reticule over the enemy to target him, and then shoot him. For some reason, this doesn't always work. Sometimes you will be right in front of a mobster, point blank, and you shoot him, and it doesn't hit him at all. Thankfully, there is a button to help with targeting. Just push the black button, and you will automatically lock-on to your enemy, making him very easy to shoot. The on-foot controls are kind of lame, and turning is different from most 3rd person action games, but once you get the hang of it, it's really not too bad.
The sound and music is very good, and I will particularly note the music. When you arrive into a certain part of the city, an old song will play that sounds like it's from an old radio, and it's usually jazz or swing music. It really helps to get into the mood the game's setting presents. The sound is very good and gunfire sounds great. All of the characters in the game are well-voiced by very good voice actors, and it in just icing on the already sweet cake. All of this just helps to propel the story, and it works great.
The graphics are also well done, and though I don't know how good 'Mafia' looks on a high-end PC, the Xbox version looks astounding. The characters faces are of particular note here; they almost look real. The smoking effects from characters cigarettes are also very realistic. The cars look like old timers, and everything is brought together nicely. When you cross the bridge into a certain part of the city, the game has to enter a short loading screen, but it's just that. Short. There is some ugly blur effect on walls and building that are far in the distance, and there is some weird slow down when you are driving very fast, but this happens rarely because most of the time you will be taking lots of slow turns on the roads.
The game's presentation is top-notch, and I hope that other crime game would follow suit. The title screen looks very good, and there is some more modes in the game, like free ride, which lets you ride around the whole city in any car you want, and earn money by causing damage, among other things. There is also a racing mode where you can race any car you'd like around a tied off track in the city. There are LOTS of cars in this game! They look like real ones, but are not real in fact.
This game shines the most in it's well told story. It is like a Martin Scorsese picture that he never made! The story is truly that good. It really kept me playing. If you like crime games, give 'Mafia' a shot. It might be just what you're looking for.
Graphics- 8.9 out of 10
Sound and Music- 9 out of 10
Gameplay- 5.9 out of 10
Presentation- 8.5 out of 10
Overall- 6.7 out of 10
NOTE: (Try looking into playing the PC version of this game, I hear that it's much better to control than the console versions. My review is of the Xbox version of the game.)
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