One epic story, from start to finish
Mafia 2 have already been reviewed on this site and now the
time has come for the prequel. It’s actually been ten years since Mafia saw the
daylight, but it’s clearly not a game that was typical for that time. Never
before had we seen such cinematics and dialogues as in Lost Heaven. The game
was fantastic ten years ago and is even better now, if that is possible, with
the thoughts of what kind of games we have around the world today.
Light it up: Smokin' mafia-style.
The listener: You're whole story is being told to a detective named Norman.
The story of Mafia starts very similar with the one in Mafia
2. You’re character is an average Joe, who is up to no crime, before he against
his will, have to join some criminals to keep his life. You play as Tommy
Angelo, a cab driver in the streets of Lost Heaven, a big town similar to New
York. One night working graveyard and relaxing in your cab, something that’s
changes your life happens quickly. Two gangsters have been in a pretty bad
fight with some rivals and is heading you’re way. They badly need a ride and
one of theme is hurt. They’re names are Paulie and Sam. These two are going to
be your closest friends the next couple of years, as you spend the years from
1930 and down to the late 40’s, working for the well-known Salieri family. A
family that has traditions in the districts and who is run by the mob boss Don
Salieri.
Many of the stories and missions in Mafia are truly epic and
it’s almost impossible to not like what you see. The missions are always long
and is presented in a way never seen in a video game before. The presentation
of the missions in Lost Heaven are actually much better than in the sequel. The
actor job in this game was also amazingly done. Many of the characters that
have their voices used in Mafia are well known actors from other Mafia movies,
so the game feels real the whole time. The graphic was maybe the best of all games, when it came out
in 2002 and it was a lot of machines that had trouble running the game, and i
bet there still are.
What are they planning now?: The mission briefing room is being well used.
In cold blood: Sam takes another role at the end of the game.
If you take the gaming sequences in Mafia, you'll have
yourself a brilliant Gangster movie, from the top class movie list. There is enough
game sequences in this game to make a pretty long movie and you will keep
watching intros, outros and epilogues over and over again, because they just
are so damned fantastic. I cannot on the top of my head, bring up a game that
have set deeper tracks than this one. It’s pretty weird if you get bored when
playing this, because the game has always so much to say, and a lot of that
comes from the great movie sequences that pops up from time to time. When you
play, you will be waiting for these over and over again and i could really wish
you didn’t have to play at all! Even if the game is fantastic there also, especially
for the time being.
Buying booze: Problems occur, of course.
Stay down!: Now is a great time to pay the Salieri family a visit.
If you in some way haven’t heard about this or didn’t try it
at the time, you should definitely do now. It’s a story full of surprises and
twists, as well as a sad ending I didn’t like, but this doesn’t bring the game
down at all. It just reflects the hard Mafia life of the 1930’s and 40’s. When
finished with this you should also give the sequel a try, as it is at the same
level. 2K Games is the new Gangster game expert. A Mafia game maker like Martin
Scorese in the movie world. The only complaint is that i wish this game would
never end, as a fantastic story like these don’t grow on trees.
The Don himself: Tommy finds out that he shouldn't cross the Don. In the end, he have to pay for it.
Gamescore
Mafia - The City Of Lost Heaven (2002)
Graphics: When this got out ten years ago, it was the best
of the best, for those who managed to run the game. Rumors had it that many had
to run the game on low specs, but now in 2012, this game can be run at a high detailed
level. Of course, details wasn’t so good then as it is now, but the facial
details of important people, as well as the graphics on the cars in the game,
was fantastic. The action packed sequences between play is also amazing, but
seen on with eyes of today, details in environment are a little short. 7/10
Audio: Maybe the best game voiceovers that has been done ever! Fantastic from the
first to the last word. This game scores high over what is normal for a PC
game. It even scores high for a movie. 10/10
Gameplay: The game is great, what so ever! The missions are varied and will
keep you occupied long enough to think that you find yourself in a big American
town at the beginning of the 1930’s. There are twenty missions in total and I wouldn’t
mind if there were a hundred of them. The first thing you think when completing
the last mission in Mafia is: I have to play this again as quick as i can! And
of course you should then. It’s one of the best game stories ever! 10/10
Controls: Here’s what the game scores lowest on and the only possible thing the
game could have been better at when it came out. The controllers doesn’t always
work so good. Problems in getting in to cover can be tricky and you just feel
awful when you die at the same mission the 20th time, because you
had a hard time aiming. This goes in the “forget this” book anyways, because
the problems aren’t major enough to drag this game down. The story is to good!
8/10
Overall Score: Would have been a clear 10/10 if this was ten
years ago. It almost is now actually. You have to turn a lot of things upside
down to find a so amazing story as you find in this game. The replay value is
also amazing, with all the in-game movie sequences being the most fantastic
things, alongside with the actor work and audio work. Because graphics starts
to get a little bit outdated (not much) and the controllers can be tricky, this
receives a 9/10
