Yet another purchase from Game - this time I actually paid £22.99 for Mafia a few weeks after reading a review of the new Godfather game to be released for the X-Box 360. Being a big fan of the Gangsters PC game I decided it was time to fall back to my Italian roots, take the oath and extort some cash from the poor citizens of Chicago. Lets roll!!
The basic plot to the game is that you are a poor old taxi driver, cornered into helping two mafia guys escape a hit - following the completion of this first mission you are drawn deeper and deeper into their seedy underworld. Sounds great so far!
First impressions are that the game could have been so much more! The missions of which there are 10 seem very similar all the way through. 5 of them involve driving your taxi at high speed to either escape the police, a rival firm or to deliver packages. Ooooo, exciting - not. If I wanted to buy a driving game I would have bought Grand Theft Auto!! The remaining missions involve wandering around the streets extorting money and goods from various people by putting the frighteners on them.
The game falls down in a number of areas. The graphics are very early 1990's with backdrops that seem to run over and over in the same way as a Scooby Doo cartoon! The characters have as much detail as a blank piece of A4 paper and did nothing for me whilst playing.
The sound is poor - the taxi engine sounds like a cat being strangled over and over and not like a car engine at all. The dialogue between missions is basic, hard to hear and understand and very time is spent building up some sort of story to give you the vibe that you are a gangster.
There are 3 difficulty levels all of which are very easy to complete. I had the game 2 days and completed it on the hardest difficulty level and felt completely robbed and while actually playing I was bored out of my mind - pure stubborness was the only reason I continued to play.
The controls are easy to pick up - after all how hard is to learn go - brake - handbrake?!?
Dull - dull - dull and a complete waste of money. This game is poo and not recommended at all. If you are sick enough to want to buy this I wouldn't suggest you do so for anyone under the age of 15 due to the liberal use of foul language and adult themes.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Ah man, this game, especially on Xbox, is so fucking dire. The storyline is good, but the gameplay and engine is AWFUL. You can't save, it feels really awkward, the controls suck, the AI sucks, the driving is about as thrilling as riding on a snail. It's so repetitive as well, I got so sick of driving those cars from one place to the next. Other than its cut scenes are cool along with the story, but on the whole Mafia sucks ass.
tekin21 07.04.2006 23:57
I have this for my PC but have never been able to load it properly – sounds like I have not been missing much. Jane x
Advantages: Amazing graphics, gameplay, sounds and even the story is great too! Disadvantages: Quite a fast PC required to get the best out of the game
jaguar65 18.11.2002 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Mafia (PC)
very helpful by (70%):
helpful by (30%):
