Mafia

Gathering makes you an offer you can refuse with this flawed port of a PC gem.

Mafia is bound to be dismissed by PS2 owners as a mere Prohibition-era Grand Theft Auto clone, and though it suffers in comparison by not being nearly as open-ended, its carefully measured pace, compelling characters, and lofty narrative make it a unique animal. Unfortunately, it?s also one of missed potential resulting from technical flaws suffered during the translation from PC to console.

As Tommy Angelo, chain-smoking cab jockey turned mob errand-monkey, you get to extort immigrants, collect graft money, run illegal booze, and crack skulls in back-alley brawls while making a name for yourself amongst spaghetti-slurping gangsters. Most of the time, you?ll be jaunting around a vast, fictional city in slow-ass antique cars while listening to Django Reinhart and making stops for the occasional torch job and dodgy gunfight. Third-person controls are the first casualty of the port; getting a bead on enemies is so tough that it renders the gunfighting aspects frustrating if not nearly unplayable.

Rampant autosaves and long loading interruptions kill much of the game?s momentum, and the graphical presentation takes a kick to the ribs from dull textures, fog, and some mean pop-up. Still, Mafia?s solid script, impeccable voice acting, and overall mood makes it worth a rental, though you?re better off playing the PC version if you get the chance.

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