izigame.me

I've been thinking of writing this review for a while and finally decided to do it.
When I first heard they were remaking Mafia, I wasn't sure whether to be excited or worried. I basically grew up with the original game and I consider it a masterpiece to this day. The graphics and gameplay were amazing, the atmosphere original and the voice acting perfect. While everyone was drooling over GTA III at the time, I considered Mafia vastly superior (although the comparison is hardly fair since both games are very different). Of course, Mafia had its own share of bullshit like any other game, but that didn't stop it from becoming a legendary cult classic.
With the little backstory out of the way, we can now focus on the Definitive Edition itself.
The game runs on the same engine as Mafia III, the black sheep of the series, and was developed by the same studio. Mafia III is known, among other things, for its performance issues. As you can imagine, that didn't fill me with confidence. DE, however, managed to dodge the bullet and this critical issue isn't present. The game runs surprisingly smooth-ish and I've had only two crashes so far (which isn't all that bad for almost 25 hours of gameplay). Maybe I just got lucky though.
For many players, the main draw of DE was the new graphics. And let me tell you, it sure is beautiful. The developers obviously took great care to make everything look close to the original, yet much more detailed. The city and the vehicle models are simply breathtaking. As for the character models, they are very different from the original game, which however is to be expected since they are based on new actors. While I don't like some of the actor choices, I got used to them quickly and so it didn't bother me much. The pedestrian faces are sometimes a bit scary / weird though. One complaint about the visual side of the game I have is that it seems a bit blurry at times. I think it's the engine not loading the detailed textures fast enough, but I noticed it only a few times so that's not a huge problem.
The older players like myself sure remember the memorable songs from the original game. This time things are little different. DE introduces two radio stations instead of specific songs playing in each city district. That means now you can listen to both the songs and the news which adds to the overall atmosphere and makes the world feel alive and authentic. There are even some songs from the original game included (I personally encountered only about two, but I didn't check the list online so there may be more). The main menu theme is different which is slightly disappointing, but the original theme is still used in the new intro cutscene (which gave me incredible nostalgic feeling). Another important aspect is the voice acting. At least in my language, they went beyond my own expectations. The very majority of the original voice actors are back and they are as awesome as before. I'm sure the fans of the original voice acting won't be disappointed.
The plot is basically still the same with some changes along the way. Most of the missions are slightly altered, but I admit I caught myself thinking that many of the changes actually made more sense now. The main characters also behave quite a bit differently. The interactions of the three made men - Tommy, Paulie and Sam - are lots of fun, although I didn't like they made Paulie more of an asshole (for example, in the original game he was playfully mocking Ralph, while here he is just plain mean to him). What was done really well in DE is the relationship between Tommy and Sara. Not only is she no longer the naive little girl, her interaction with Tommy is now more natural and believable and you feel the progression of that relationship. Some minor characters are more fleshed out (like Ralph or Carlo). On the other hand, a few characters barely appear (like Lucas) or are missing from the game altogether (like Idiot Joe or Yellow Pete). The changes made to Lucas are especially disappointing - he's no longer giving you any side missions and the only reason to visit him (which itself is quite obscure) is to pick up five photos of locations where you can find hidden special vehicles.
As for the gameplay, you probably remember the gunplay in Mafia III was simply terrible. In DE it works in a similar way, but this time your shots actually go where you aim and even hit the enemies. Never once did I think "Man, this is atrocious, why can't I kill that guy?" (which was a running theme in Mafia III). Of course, unlike the original game, it's a cover shooter. Overall, the action parts are satisfying and work well. The driving is good as well. The vehicles in the original game were cumbersome, but it made sence because those were early models that didn't have any of the fancy features the vehicles nowadays do. While the handling in DE feels more "modern", it's not over the top and still feels fairly genuine. We cannot speak of the driving without mentioning the race mission though. When I was a kid, I wasted my whole weekend doing that race and there were tears of frustration. The same can be said here - the race is rather frustrating so the remake is pretty accurate. However, apart from the race and one more part (A Trip to the Country escape sequence), the campaign wasn't very difficult even on classic difficulty (which is the right way to play the game). The classic difficulty brings back features like police chasing you for running red lights or losing remaining ammo in the magazine while reloading.
It's important to note that there's no Extreme Ride, at least not at the first sight. The developers actually merged the Free Ride and Extreme Ride so now you can find some of the Extreme Ride missions from the original game while roaming the city (or pick up notes in Salieri's Bar which give you clues where to look). If you really hate yourself, you can try these missions on classic difficulty. While they were very difficult in the original game, here some are just plain rigged and unfair. The Free Ride also doesn't include features like purchasing weapons (you get them for free in Vincezo's workshop) or wandering enemy gangsters. A new feature is you can now access your garage at Salieri's or at specific places in the city, so it's no longer necessary to restart the Free Ride in order to pick your unique vehicle. Unfortunately, you cannot pick the police cars for some reason, so you're forced to steal those. Another new feature is the ability to change your outfit. You get all the outfits from the campaign + you can get more by doing the Free Ride missions or finding them hidden around the map. Since the game now also includes collectibles, it gives you another reason to explore.
This review turned out much longer than expected so let's get to the conclusion.
Despite my intial scepticism, I do enjoy this game A LOT. I'm well aware of some complaints about the missing features like riding the trains, but even as an old fan who played the original game many times, I rode the train maybe about two times (outside the missions) in total. At this point, this honestly seems to me like an excuse to complain. It's apparent that great care and passion went into this game and the developers tried really hard to please the old fans and bring something new to the table at the same time. It's no easy task to remake an old beloved classic and while there are may be some problems (technical or personal taste), I see this project as a huge success and a great tribute to the original game.
Why are you still reading this? Go give Mafia: Definitive Edition a try. Don't forget to play the original game as well, in case you haven't yet.
And remember - family is everything.