Mafia Classic

I would gladly have bought the game again on GoG, but the missing soundtrack is a no-go. I'll keep using the CD-version of this awesome classic. If someone hasn't played this game yet, I can recommed it without any question. It's still a great game. But if you have played it in the past, you will miss the old atmosphere.

At first, Mafia seems similar to games like Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row: basically, you play as a gangster, thrown into a huge open city to explore on foot or on vehicle, and your task is to complete story missions for the benefit of the mob – generally involving illegal activities, gunfights, car chases, and some civilian casualties. Sounds familiar, right? Except that, through its enticing storytelling, Mafia actually plays out as a deconstruction of this type of games. Unlike other “GTA clones”, it does not whitewash its subject matter, being a serious story that portrays the life of a mobster as a series of increasingly vicious crimes and life-threatening situations. This realistic approach is also conveyed through the gameplay, which is a lot less “arcady” than what you might expect. The game mechanics are surprisingly down-to-earth: even minor infractions like going through a red light may attract cops, you lose ammo if you reload a gun before emptying the magazine, and all vehicles have manual transmission! Due to that, the game is a bit cumbersome to play at first, but getting used to it does not take long. Besides its clever twist on the genre, Mafia is overall a lot of fun to play: each mission feels different from the last, and, while the main campaign is surprisingly linear, the open world can be explored in free-roaming mode. Please note that this game rarely goes easy on you: you're often thrown in hard gunfights with a crappy gun. Still, I think there are only a few real gameplay flaws: you can't play in first person (I feel it could made the gunplay less awkward), the driving physics make it quite easy to send your vehicle flying in the air, and I found this version to be a bit unstable. I should also mention that Mafia makes a great job of recreating the mood of the thirties, notably due to visuals that look really good for 2002 – the animations, character models and cutscenes are top notch! In short: this game is pretty much a masterpiece!

This game is a true classic, in every meaning of the word. That means you get good graphics, an engaging story, great voice acting, music I still remember 15 years later and atmosphere you could almost touch. On the downside, it also means game-play can be a bit clunky, the vast city has very little to do in it and, once you get done with the main plot -- that's pretty much it. Aside from some goofy, GTA-style missions collecting cars, the replay value is zero. If you've never played it and you enjoy the genre, go ahead and grab it (well, maybe when it's on sale). If you prefer fluid, fast paced action to storytelling and atmosphere, maybe this is not for you.

В свое время кайфовал от нее, ГТА и рядом не стояла))) 10/10 в ней хорошо все, от сюжета до графики, возможности и атмосфера...

I never got into Mafia, but I recall my younger brother playing it to death. What follows is his unprompted review of the game when I mentioned it to him on Facebook: "This game was the GTA of mafia games back then, it is STILL one of my favorites, they just don't do stories like these anymore, Long stories with multiple chapters, and the game had no difficulty setting, it was just, hard in some parts. and even after you completed the game they had a free play mode you unlocked that gave you, even more, missions with sweet "new age" vehicles, muscle cars, hot rods, even unique cars like this electric alien car that had this electric bar across the hood. Even the new mafia 2 and 3 dont live up to the epic gameplay of the original. Nope, they dont make games like this anymore."