Posted November 05, 2021
Mafia
Have pretty mixed feelings about this. The atmosphere is pretty great, and the story is mostly quite decent as well. Some characters should have been more fleshed out imo (e.g. Tommy's wife, or the politicians you kill). But for a video game it's a pretty great narrative, and while your character does have occasional pangs of conscience and isn't a sadist or psycho, they didn't make the mistake of making him a good guy either, let alone of gloryfying the criminal life. You're still a murderer, and the bleak ending of the game is fitting and appropriate imo. I disliked some of the more unrealistic elements of the story, not only do you gun down dozens of gangsters, you also kill quite a few policemen and even commit political assassinations, which isn't how the American mafia in the 1930s operated. But on the whole, the story is good and quite fascinating.
I did have more severe issues with the gameplay. While the city is impressive and quite immersive in some ways (the police system seems to be more advanced than what Cyberpunk managed almost 20 years later...), the amount of just driving from place A to place B can be a bit much and feel like filler (though I didn't mind it that much). More aggravating was the checkpoint save system, which reminded me why I dislike such systems...it's just not fun to have to replay some sections (sometimes quite lengthy ones) over and over again.
Particularly bad in this regard is the infamous racing mission. I played it on very easy and it still took me quite a few tries to beat it, because even on that level you can lose, if you make a single mistake in the last round. imo something like this doesn't really fit the Mafia theme of the game that well (was the Mafia known for being especially interested in racing? Not as far as I know) and having to replay a section lasting several minutes again and again until you master it just isn't my idea of fun. imo it's bad design that doesn't respect the player's time.
The shooting was ok, with some rather epic set-pieces (especially the finale which was pretty cool), though the mechanics were a bit basic. Melee combat was horrible though.
On the whole I'm glad I played and completed it, but not sure I would recommend it, since the checkpoint save system and some parts like the racing mission can lead to a rather frustrating experience.
My rating: 3/5.
Have pretty mixed feelings about this. The atmosphere is pretty great, and the story is mostly quite decent as well. Some characters should have been more fleshed out imo (e.g. Tommy's wife, or the politicians you kill). But for a video game it's a pretty great narrative, and while your character does have occasional pangs of conscience and isn't a sadist or psycho, they didn't make the mistake of making him a good guy either, let alone of gloryfying the criminal life. You're still a murderer, and the bleak ending of the game is fitting and appropriate imo. I disliked some of the more unrealistic elements of the story, not only do you gun down dozens of gangsters, you also kill quite a few policemen and even commit political assassinations, which isn't how the American mafia in the 1930s operated. But on the whole, the story is good and quite fascinating.
I did have more severe issues with the gameplay. While the city is impressive and quite immersive in some ways (the police system seems to be more advanced than what Cyberpunk managed almost 20 years later...), the amount of just driving from place A to place B can be a bit much and feel like filler (though I didn't mind it that much). More aggravating was the checkpoint save system, which reminded me why I dislike such systems...it's just not fun to have to replay some sections (sometimes quite lengthy ones) over and over again.
Particularly bad in this regard is the infamous racing mission. I played it on very easy and it still took me quite a few tries to beat it, because even on that level you can lose, if you make a single mistake in the last round. imo something like this doesn't really fit the Mafia theme of the game that well (was the Mafia known for being especially interested in racing? Not as far as I know) and having to replay a section lasting several minutes again and again until you master it just isn't my idea of fun. imo it's bad design that doesn't respect the player's time.
The shooting was ok, with some rather epic set-pieces (especially the finale which was pretty cool), though the mechanics were a bit basic. Melee combat was horrible though.
On the whole I'm glad I played and completed it, but not sure I would recommend it, since the checkpoint save system and some parts like the racing mission can lead to a rather frustrating experience.
My rating: 3/5.