Mafia: Definitive Edition

[Ferris]

Never even heard of this series before, downloaded it on a whim from the PlayStation on demand service. So far, the graphics look much better than I'd expect, and some of the cityscape stuff is properly impressive.

I'm sure it's not some undiscovered gem (and I'm only 2 cutscenes' worth of terrible accents into the actual game). Is this good? Do I stick with it?

[Ferris]

The car racing is excellent, and the silly storyline and funny dialogue is doing the business.

[Catalogue of ills]

I played Mafia when it came out on PC around 2002 and loved it. It was one of those games that the critics didn't love but was nonetheless very popular and was seen as a bit of a classic, despite it not being as open world as some would have liked. I recently played Definitive Edition and it was a full-on nostalgia hit, I could remember enough about the original game to appreciate the graphics upgrade but not enough for it be predictable. Definitely worth sticking with, and also worth turning off the function that tells you which way to drive - that way, you get to really learn your way around Lost Heaven which makes it more immersive and memorable. I've never played Mafia 2, but 3 is also very good. Killing racists all day long - what's not to like?

[Ferris]

Yeah I'm feeling oddly compelled to keep playing which is unusual for me. It's daft as fuck, but bits of the gameplay are really good - I really enjoyed the car racing and usually I hate that shit. I'll definitely keep at it.

[bgmnts]

It was fine when it came out but the 'definitive edition' wasn't really worth it to me.

[Catalogue of ills]

Paulie's voice is loads more annoying in the remake than in the original, happily I stopped noticing so much as the game went on. I found the car racing much harder this time around but that's probably because I'm dead soon.

[Lemming]

Definitive Edition recaptures quite a lot of what made the original so cool (mission variety especially) but the story felt a lot less impactful to me. The story is similarly enjoyably ridiculous but they made Tommy into a big tough-talking typical gangster, whereas in the original he's a fairly amiable normal person who's laughably out of his depth, which makes it all the more satisfying when it all inevitably goes tits-up.

Definitely worth playing the original for the sake of comparison if you enjoy it, the combat is a lot more clunky but that lends the game a weird appeal. It actually feels as though you're an out-of-shape taxi driver who's shit at firing guns and moving his body.

[Catalogue of ills]

Definitive Edition recaptures quite a lot of what made the original so cool (mission variety especially) but the story felt a lot less impactful to me. The story is similarly enjoyably ridiculous but they made Tommy into a big tough-talking typical gangster, whereas in the original he's a fairly amiable normal person who's laughably out of his depth, which makes it all the more satisfying when it all inevitably goes tits-up.

Definitely worth playing the original for the sake of comparison if you enjoy it, the combat is a lot more clunky but that lends the game a weird appeal. It actually feels as though you're an out-of-shape taxi driver who's shit at firing guns and moving his body.

His gf is much fitter in the remake though, thanks to the better graphics. I wasn't sure if I'd misremembered Tommy being less enthusiastic about all the mob shenanigans the first time around, but it sounds like your memory is better than mine. They also left out the Microsoft jibe this time around - the guy who copied the other guy's product (whisky) being called William Gates.

[Noodle Lizard]

I played the original back when it came out and loved it, but I think I was trying to treat it like a Prohibition-era GTA3, which it really wasn't. I got stuck somewhere a few hours in and never bothered with the missions again really.

I got the Definitive Edition recently after having been on a Godfather kick, and I think I'm most of the way through, but I haven't picked it up again for weeks. It feels a bit shonky for being a 2020s game, but I understand them not fancying throwing a huge amount of money at it.

I was surprised by how difficult it was too. I'm so used to these "cinematic" games where you really have to go out of your way to die, whereas I think spent about half my playtime dead for this one. I like that they haven't made the infamous racing mission from the original any easier at all - it's still unreasonably frustrating.

[FalknerHinton]

I preferred Mafia II to the original (which I also really liked), but would take Mafia III over both of them.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Trick with the racing mission is to remember you're in a rear wheel drive car. Slow down for the corner, coast around it, and only accelerate out when your front wheels are pointing forwards.

[Ferris]

Most racing games you hold down accelerate 99% of the time (or I do) but the cars in this corner like bathtubs so it was closer to "real" racing. Cane it down the straights, until the final third when you coast and take the corners at like 25mph.

I had to change mindset from "make gains on these pricks by accelerating" to "don't lose time by going into a tailspin and flying off the track to the right". Probably only on the gas 50% of the time, rest of it I was coasting or breaking but it was more fun than I've had on a driving game in ages and I liked that it forced me to change how I thought about racing (in a game).

I also finished it on second try so wasn't stuck doing it for ages and growing to resent it, which helped.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

My usual tactic in racing games is to maintain speed going into the corner, then ram into the slowing cars in front of me, using them as an impromptu braking system.

I do think it speaks volumes looking at the amount of respect and care put into this Definitive edition, compared to Rockstar's recent GTA one, which was drastically shit.

[Ferris]

I think games developers work on the basis that going slow is boring ("it's racing for fucks sake") so they make games where you can go flat out the whole way. That's probably more fun most of the time, but I enjoyed this different approach.

[Noodle Lizard]

I also finished it on second try so wasn't stuck doing it for ages and growing to resent it, which helped.

This is like those people who claim they got the day's Wordle on the first try (i.e. A BIG FIB!!!)

[Ferris]

Haters gonna hate.

[Ferris conveniently doesn't mention he had the game turned down to "easy".]

[Catalogue of ills]

Yeah, the grand prix was as bastard hard on the definitive edition as on the original version.

Still, not as tricky as Dirt Rally: *starts car* 'I'm in a field'