Mafia Classic

Mafia had the misfortune of releasing after GTA III, and was quickly labeled a clone. In truth, it's a very different game with a linear, story-driven experience that trades a sandbox for immersion and atmosphere. The story is its greatest strength. Told through flashbacks, it follows taxi driver Tommy Angelo, who is reluctantly drawn into the Salieri family. This framing device spans years and shows how his ordinary life collapses into crime. The pacing feels believable, and Tommy is a grounded, human protagonist whose choices make sense. Lost Heaven, the 1930s metropolis, is carefully crafted with authentic cars, music, and routines. Unlike GTA's playground cities, it's not meant for endless roaming. The world enforces rules speed limits, fuel consumption, and police patrols that make it feel more like a living simulation than a sandbox. Small details, like buildings under construction that later finish or newer car models appearing, reinforce the passage of time. Driving is slow and clunky, reflecting the era's cars. Some find it dull, but it supports the realism: reckless driving usually ends in arrest. Gunfights follow the same philosophy as few bullets kill, weapons are limited, and tactics matter. Yet combat often feels frustrating, with trial-and-error encounters and weak AI, making it the least polished part of the game. Attention to detail sets Mafia apart. Tires and windows can be shot out and bullet holes persist. These touches strengthen immersion. Outside the story, however, the game falters. Freeride mode quickly feels empty, and even the bizarre “Freeride Extreme” challenges clash with the grounded mechanics. Its gameplay can be rough, but as a narrative-driven crime drama, it delivers one of the most immersive experiences of its era.

I first played this when I was younger and the locations were real in my mind. I still love it. I don't get the criticism about the gameplay. I remembered replaying the gas station mission because I enjoyed the shooting because of some implacable, weird tactility it had. The story is great. It's better than 2, and far better than 3. There's a lot of choice. There's all the spraying up enemy cars in free roam you could want. It's a good time. Play it.

Mafia has definitely made an impression! Where the game really shines is the plot and characters. Visuals have aged fairly nicely in my estimation. It shows a bit of age with gun play, walking, driving etc. Music apparently has been butchered for this re-release but I can't tell first hand having never played Mafia before this. It's worth playing even today BUT be aware there's some bugs like sporadic crashes and invisible map markers. Not a huge deal but it means some backtracking because Mafia has this annoying checkpoint autosave. At worst points you would need to do a long boring drive just before a tricky shootout, a bit of a design flaw if you can't make your own saves. The game involves a lot of driving (and not seldom on the same routes keep in mind) so take that into consideration as well. It would have been a bit more interesting were it not for police on every street and street corner enforcing the speed limit. At points it gets ridiculous, example: two mobster vehicles engaged in a crazy shootout as they are blazing down the city street, the police join the fray with a speeding ticket...in short map traversal is a bit tedious but it's well worth looking past if you are in the mood for some epic crime drama! At points in which the game is not bogged down with tedious strolls around town or long winded tram rides it can actually be quite immersive and tense. If you can look past the flaws, definitely give it a go.

Mafia sure had its problems back in the day, but by now gamers got used to higher standards. A few random crashes, shadows glitching - I'm prepared to overlook it. It's just... Back then GTA had founded a new genre and it made sense to transfer it into the early days of cars. Mere years (in the story) make a real difference, so You'll experience the first ones slowly crawling up a bridge and how progress develops towards actually fast cars - it still keeps its charm there! That said it's not a polished genre yet. It's a genre-mix: driving, shooting, storytelling and at times a sort of puzzle-solving. Might sound good on the surface, but it's real annoying if the game doesn't communicate properly what You are supposed to do and which rules apply. Shooting can lead to mission failure after You already did the driving part for a good few minutes - gotta replay that bit then. Thanks a lot. Then there's some puzzle piece and You might wonder: didn't I already shoot all the opponents? What's left to do? Let's walk around on an empty map some more, because we all love doing that... The race is often criticized for being overly harsh. Actually I doubt that's really the problem (in this version You can even choose to render it easier). The problem is the genre-mix in itself. It's not a racing game and its players might not want to play a racing game either, but the race has a difficulty as if it was. Then again the shooting isn't any better: lots of weird bugs, like standing too close, reaching through opponents with Your arm and emptying a magazine "into" an opponent w/o any effect. There's quite a few real-time timers, so if You retry and play it quick You end up simply waiting until events move on. There's lots of walking around to "scout" a level, because the objectives are unclear and You have to "figure it out" - not with wits, but by walking, clicking, trial-and-error. Overall I really missed modern standards and find it hard to forgive its many small flaws.

Truly an amazing game for its time, even 23 years later, on the other hand, I do understand why people might dislike it, I would probably too if I was too young to understand the plot, controls and rebinding keys that need to be readjusted from default, it's pretty hard compared to today's average game difficulty, but that's why It's great, the pursuit of the challenge, is what keeps me coming back to it. I didn't expect playing Mafia Classic with a controller was possible. After tinkering with the controls and rebinding it to my liking, it feels way better when driving and generally a lot smoother, although shooting becomes more of a challenge. What I appreciate the most about this game, is that it comes from such an innocent time, when microtransactions didn't exist. An underrated gem among games, which serves me perfectly as I am anti-mainstream. I would advise against getting this game if u are prone to smashing ur peripherals when stumbling onto an especially challenging mission.