Posted on: August 22, 2022
Bloodrunsclear
Games: 1219 Reviews: 143
Play it for the Story
I remember the original Mafia fondly not so much as a game as an interactive gangster film. The problem with the very first game was the driving mechanics were beyond terrible, making just the first mission a pain. Thankfully that bit has been polished somewhat for the remaster, although this is more of a remake as they recorded all new dialogue with new actors, new locations, and of course shiny new graphics. It's still a blast to tool around in the 30s and there's some quality of life improvements others might dislike but I appreciate (game pauses when you open the map and location markers are on the mini-map along with street guides). Combat is clunky. Hitting a button instead of using the mouse for melee makes no sense and the ALT key mapped to block makes hitting Q for a swing and then reaching down to hit ALT for a block ridiculous. Shooting is fine. You can turn off aim assist thankfully. The cutscenes and animations are AMAZING. You can feel the performances of these characters with each subtle emotion carried by incidental movements of their faces or gestures. You can actually start to understand this cast as people, not just as NPCs. This part is worth the price of admission: authentic dialogue, great performances I think, and an excellent lively feel to everything from people to cars to the detailed environments. Some caveats: everything in the missions has been simplified. Want to lose a pursuit? Head for an inexplicable road work area dotted around. This is much more like Mafia 2 in that you tend to spend a lot of time walking around being talked to from objective to objective. Some interactive elements are lost (you can't ride the train anymore). But as a dense, beautiful, and compelling walkthrough of a violent part of history this is unparalleled.
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