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One word: Excellent

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: December 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This review is based on the PC version, but it's identical for all versions.

The game's graphics are nice, flows smoothly, and is colorful. There's a lot of cars moving around, and pedestrians too.

The game is a lot similar to GTA 3 and Vice City, only better. The gameplay is fun and hard. It's realistic (you run out of gas and need to refill), and has excellent sounds, voice acting, and intense gunfights too.

The sounds and voice acting is great and the story's excellent. You'll keep playing to see what happens next.

The only bad thing is that the cars are a bit slow--they're from the 1930s and move like so. They lose speed when going up hills, and there not fast overall. These cars are not sports cars.

Lastly, a realistic feature is that you can't just steal cars so easily. You need to learn how to do it (the game gives you the ability to do so) and you can't just steal a car in 1 second--there's a meter and it's your progress of picking the car's lock. People actually lock their cars, and you're picking the lock! Realistic!

This game is long and challenging. One of the best games ever made. Enjoy it!

The best game of 2002 enters the Xbox world

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: January 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My sister's boyfriend recommended me to buy this game, and as soon as I launched the Czech PC version of the game - which is the version that I started with - I found it totally amazing. I am proud of my fellow Czechs who were able to construct this game - a game chosen as the best game of the year 2002 (at least in many European countries). The amount of data (contained on 3 CD's) that the creators had to put together is shocking, and initially it seemed to me that a team of 20 people would need several centuries to finish this task. Well, fortunately they have used a lot of modern technology, for example a system to scan the motion of the real actors which is subsequently translated to the motion of the artificial humans, and therefore the task was doable. There are many hours of "movies" in between the different scenes, and there is a lot of audiovisual effects everywhere. The individuals in the game have pretty good artificial intelligence, and you will be impressed how realistic all these objects and their motion are (unlike the cartoonish style of GTA, for example).
The Lost Heaven City is a completely realistic city, designed according to the actual buildings in the New York City and Chicago of the 1930s. Everything seems to work perfectly in this city - including the gas stations, public transportation, banks, car races, ships, small airport, and so on. Imagine more than twenty squared miles of the urban architecture where everything responds in a realistic fashion, including many things that are unnecessary to fulfil the game's twenty main missions (e.g. you decide jump from the bridge in order to see the ship from another side). There are 60 different models of the cars - that you can steal on the street if you learned how - that were carefully copied from the real cars in the 1930s (but they were renamed). All these cars respect all the laws of physics and they are described by 100 physical parameters each. If you shoot at the car (or use some explosives), it's getting destroyed in a very realistic way.

Moreover, there are about 30 fan web sites dedicated to the game, and the people who understand computers well enough can have a lot of additional fun with modding the PC version of the game - changing the cars, textures on the buildings, music, sounds, and so on. The Xbox version does not allow you to do it, I guess, but it has other advantages over the PC version - it seems that the graphics is even smoother.

The game has a tutorial where you learn how to control Tommy (which is you). On the PC version, the arrow keys and other keys on the keyboard are used for motion (and changing the weapons, jumping, and so on) while the mouse allows you to change the direction where you look (or shoot), and this combination is very natural. You can practice as the taxi driver - you will learn geography of the Lost Heaven City after some time (the map is recommended). The main game has 20 main missions with 106 checkpoints or so where the game is saved, and afterwards you may continue with the "free ride extreme". Nevertheless, I needed about 50 hours to complete the main missions.

The story seems as a good piece of literature - you are a taxi driver who accidentally becomes a member of Mafia, and you are getting increasingly difficult tasks. Well, you will have to shoot a lot of people, but from a moral perspective, I am sure that at the end you will agree that being a mafioso is not the best (and easiest) option for your life - especially because your friend will betray you, and you will have to kill him. After the war, they will kill you anyway.

The game was banned in Italy for some time in 2002 because the authorities viewed it as a perfect textbook to become a criminal. The most natural audience for this game are almost definitely Americans like you, but the publisher company of the PC version did a bad job when they promoted this game in the U.S. and the success in the U.S. was much weaker than the game's achievements in Europe. Therefore you are sort of lucky to read this review. Mafia might be the best game ever (so far, as of January 2004), and it is much less known in the U.S. than it should be (so far). Don't get manipulated by the advertisements of less perfect games. Buy Mafia, and you will be impressed.

A Mafia Masterpiece!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: March 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Mafia the [edited] of the 1930's. Great deep story about a Mafia family. The Xbox version is alot more better than the PS2 version. The load times are very fast. It's fast like [edited] on Xbox. Graphics look 1,000 times better than PS2 version. Everything looks alot more cleaned up, and the details in everthing look a ton better. The levels are alot more clear than the PS2 version. When it's night time in the game you can see where your driving. In the PS2 version it was hard to see cause it was so dark. I haven't seen any draw distance so far. PS2 version had a big problem with that, where things would just pop up out of no where and you'd crash into something. Controls Works great with the Xbox Controller S. The game dosen't freeze either, the PS2 version froze alot for me. I think it was worth the wait, it's a whole lot better than the PS2 version. If your a fan of [edited] , or Mafia action check out Mafia for xbox or PC.
Don't waste your time on the PS2 version.

Despite the flaws, Mafia is an excellent game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: September 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Firstly, the bad points. Graphically, there is a lot of pop-up and the frame rate can be slow. There are (sometimes) camera issues. However these flaws (once you get used to them) really do not detract from what is an otherwise excellent game. Mafia is one of the most immersive games I've played - you really do feel as though you are living and working in the 1930's Mafia. Outstanding cut scenes bookend the missions.

Despite the formentioned flaws, Mafia is one amazing, detailed and immersive game that will keep you at your xbox for hours on end.

appreciate Mafia's for what it is, not what it isn't

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

ok here's the thing: the cars are slow, the guns handle strangely. But that's the point. You are suppose to feel like you are in the 1930s. Cars were slow, guns handled differently, etc. The plot is well thought out and I, for one, felt completely drawn in. If you are a gamer who is focused on "I want the biggest gun with the biggest explosion and a lot of blood and gore"--and, don't get me wrong, I can be in that place sometimes....this game isn't for you. But would you play [edited] and then complain that it isn't like the [edited]? No. This is an immersive adventure....it puts you in a time and place. Enjoy it for that and you are in for a ride.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was a great game with a great story line. It had the freedom of [edited], but with a 1930's theme. Because you have to work your way up through the ranks of the mob, this game was challanging but not impossible. Overall this is a great game!

Presently Surprised

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: August 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's always good to play a game that you have no expectations for and it blows you away.

You're a hitman for the mafia or kind of a fix it man. I don't know if you're suppose to be but that's how it comes off. You do different mission though out the game in a fairly large city, anything from beating someone with a bat to robbing a bank. Almost like GTA but in the 1930's. It has some pretty nice cut scenes and a good story, my favorite part of the game is the tommy gun(you will understand).

Mafia

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

i think this is the best gangster game i ever play. the story is good,graphic is good, easy control, real life situation, and exciting in each of the scenario. i had play other gangster games, but i think this is the best.

WHAT A GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: May 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game. although the graphics are pretty bad. also most cars only reach up to about 70 mph. but the other cars are going only 15 mph so it makes your car seem fast. i would recomend this game to anyone who likes to learn about newyork mafias in the 1930s!

Good Game Sucky Ending

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I reccomend to buy this game it is great! But, always expect the unexpected. That is all i have to say.

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