Console translation of the popular 2002 PC release Mafia falls short of the original’s excellence.
<<2/5 Stars>>
Mafia for the PlayStation 2, developed by Illusion Softworks, tells the story of cab driver Tommy Angelo’s rise to power in the 1930’s city of Lost Haven. A series of unfortunate circumstances places Tommy in service of the Mafia, where he is taken in with open arms. Tommy through a 3D environment as he accepts jobs, travels around the city, and participates in wholesome mob activities.
Tommy’s missions and the storyline are delivered in packages of cutscenes with impressive voice acting over unimpressive graphics. The dialogue feels authentic to the gangster-movie genre and the character’s personalities portray this well. These cutscenes are interspersed throughout the game but never seem to be repetitive or tedious.
Unfortunately, driving around the city does get tedious. Traveling between mission locations takes place in over 60 authentic 1930’s style cars. Some missions place the action in the high detailed automobiles, but there’s not much fun to be had in a slow-speed car chase. Players also can’t expect to enjoy free-riding around Lost Haven. Unlike the Grand Theft Auto series, in which the entire world is open to discovery, Mafia presents no reason to explore the vast expanses of the city. Driving is merely a mechanism to get between missions and becomes very tedious when being forced to obey traffic laws such as speed limits and stop lights.
Horribly slow loading times are cause for frustration when waiting for cutscenes to load or when entering a new section of the city while driving. This load time problem is especially anti-climactic during car chases.
The third person overhead action sequences also lose their effect on the PlayStation 2 because of controls with difficult handling for movement and a lack of effective aiming system for the array of authentic guns. Players might find that during a gun fight it appears they empty a clip of their handgun into an enemy’s chest with no effect. The control system can be adjusted to with enough practice but by no means is it sufficient for the requirements of the gameplay.
Mafia does incorporate a variety of unique missions and environments throughout its interesting story, but much of this is overshadowed by the translation to the PlayStation 2 version. Mafia itself is not a bad game but the port makes it such. Players interested in Mafia should be advised to purchase the PC version - which can be found for as low as $9.99 and is considered a great game. Otherwise, Take 2 Interactive’s Mafia for the PlayStation 2 amounts to a less than mediocre game retailing at $49.99.
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