---

A definite recommendation

I'm sitting in my desk chair. It's one of those evenings when you don't know what Lady Luck has in store for you: Maybe you discover a new series that captivates you from the very first moment. Or you get a call from your friends saying they want to hang out tonight. While out and about, you happen to meet the one person who turns your life completely upside down. Maybe you stay at home and are inspired to try something completely new, to dare to do new things, stand in front of the mirror after work and smile at yourself with satisfaction. Or maybe it's just an ordinary evening where nothing earth-shattering happens. As is usually the case when you're not the protagonist of an action thriller.

In the case of the 2002 video game Mafia, or rather its 2020 Definitive Edition, the former is probably the case. Tommy Angelo, a simple cab driver with an outstanding Italian accent, falls into the crosshairs of a criminal gang as the result of a random encounter. A few missions later, he is part of the Salieri family, an Italian mafia in the fictional US town of Lost Heaven in the 1930s - things can happen so quickly. Anyone familiar with popular films and series such as The Godfather, GoodFellas or The Sopranos already know about Tommy's social ascent in connection with the moral decline that a life in organized crime entails.

That's all I want to say about the very good story, because it is the core aspect of the game, which offers an open world but only uses it as a backdrop. Unlike GTA we play the missions strictly in the given order and don't have to drive to a client.This means that we don't have the opportunity to explore Lost Heaven on our own, but given that the city doesn't offer any activities apart from collecting hidden collectables, this isn't a problem.The focus is clearly on the narrative and the missions are varied enough to prevent boredom. At the same time, we are not repeatedly ripped out of the plot, but can fully concentrate on the story - which I think is a good system.

In addition to the cinematic cutscenes, the experience of Tommy's increasingly criminal career also benefits from the excellent voice acting. The accents and dialects of the various characters, as well as the contemporary expressions, appear authentic and pleasantly intensify the mafia atmosphere. The orchestral soundtrack and details such as radio announcements during the driving sequences round off the immersive overall impression and bring us closer to an era that is rarely highlighted in video games.

Remake instead of remaster

I could end this rather short review at this point, but this would not do justice to the Definitive Edition . Even though I unfortunately never played the original Mafia from 2002 (after all, I was only 10 at the time), I think I can say that the team at Hangar 13 have lovingly restored, renovated and reworked a classic here. Anyone who remembers my review of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy may still have my critical words in their ears: Vicarious Visions did an excellent job of graphically sprucing up the old Crash Bandicoot-games, but the new paint job only made the gameplay, which I found outdated, bearable to a limited extent.And in my defense, I also lacked a lot of the visuals.

With the Definitive Edition of Mafia of Mafia, however, I have now played a game that could well have been released today in this form and was fun almost all the way through. 'Almost', mind you, because even though the shooter has been adapted to today's genre standards with countless improvements, adjustments and general overhauls, 20-year-old gameplay still lurks under the hood, occasionally stretching out its weathered claws and digging into the enjoyment of the game.

I could start by saying that I would have really liked the open world to make more sense. At no point did I feel the need to explore the actually very pretty scenery of Lost Heaven in more detail or to visit the landmarks. In the original-Mafia you needed these to get your bearings, as minimaps with driving routes were not yet an established feature at the time. Fans from back then will probably have the stree names edged into their memory, but for me they flew past my field of vision with my eyes fixed on the handy route display. But is that really a bad thing if there's nothing to discover anyway?

Fun despite rough edges

Another thing that took some getting used to was the keyboard mapping. Thanks to the modern selection wheel, weapons and grenades can be selected quite quickly. But the fact that you can only throw grenades with G instead of selecting them was something I thought could be improved. In addition, melee weapons that can once again only be used with the designated melee button (no, not the left mouse button), cars that can be opened violently with E or quietly with V, dodge moves with the left Alt key, radio stations and camera settings with the number keys ... all of this could probably be done better, but it also shows how many features have been incorporated into the Definitive Edition.

Meanwhile, the fact that the combat system has been adapted to modern standards is a blessing. Melee attacks can be charged, with the right timing dodges and counters are possible and an auto-heal function ensures that you don't have to constantly keep an anxious eye on the number in the life bar. At the same time, the limitation to two handguns (pistol + large caliber) has been maintained, which makes the shootouts quite tricky due to the shortage of ammunition and despite the cover system.

Nevertheless, shooting with the familiar firearms such as sawed-off shotguns, revolvers or Tommy guns is entertaining. On the high difficulty level, I found myself biting the dust time and again, not least because of the comparatively good AI, which actively seeks cover and even flanks. The fair checkpoint system largely compensates for this challenge and prevents frustration for most of the time.

Weeds do not die

'For most of the time', mind you, because some passages in this game are straight out of hell, just like 20 years ago: railway shooter passages in which you can shoot at pursuers and watch the health bar of your vehicle dwindle despite your best efforts, are just as little fun as fighting a melting popsicle that slowly starts to lean dangerously to the site before smacking the ground.

'Smacking' is a another good key word, because the driving physics aren't to be applauded either. I don't know if cars 90 years ago felt like a block of butter in a hot frying pan, but if they did, this feeling has been excellently captured. Even small bends cause the car to swerve if you drive too fast, which is why it takes a lot of practice to have any chance at all in the sometimes challenging chases.

Meanwhile, the slippery slidingis particularly fatal when you have to drive a race with accuracy bordering on perfection in order to stand any chance against the AI. I don't know how many attempts it took me to complete this crappy racing mission. Supposedly there's even an option to skip it, because it was already a pain in the ass back then. But it wouldn't have allowed my ambition to rest and at some point, somehow, I managed to complete this shitty mission. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Perfectly imperfect

Despite this, the Mafia-remake is still fun! It's easy to overlook little things like the wooden facial animations outside the cutscenes. You bite your way through the bad bits and chug through the city at 40 km/h, otherwise you'll be chased by the police. The cool thing is that these little details are all things that break away from the gaming experience we're used to these days. Like a dish that your grandma used to make and has now been rethought and reimagined by your vegetarian friend. It tastes different, maybe like it used to, maybe even better, but it comes from someone else.

And for that I have to praise Hangar 13 again. All these nice gimmicks and details like the radio reception, which gets worse in tunnels. The fact that you can carry away corpses (a feature that was never even used in stealth missions). The speed limiter, which automatically slows the car down to the maximum permitted speed, making shadowing missions, which otherwise always end in a game of accelerate-and-brake, feel comparatively dynamic. In general, there are details in play here that should also be used in GTA and its ilk. For example, police cars roll backwards at roadblocks when we try to squeeze through the gap at the edge. Or we can actually just pay a speeding ticket if we've been speeding. It just takes a bit of time, because money isn't a thing anyway. This saves you annoying chases and gives you one thing instead: immersion.

Combined with the really beautiful graphics, the option to replay missions, a car encyclopedia, a score that is unfortunately very low-key across most of the game, but in its best moments turns into Call of Duty-like thriller action, the updated voice acting, the additional missions and cut-scenes as well as the credible story, the Definitive Edition is one of the few representatives of its kind that is actually, in my opinion, the definitive edition in which the game Mafia should be experienced. And no fan can tell me without nostalgic glorification that this is not a meaningful remake and that Mafia from 2002 is objectively better. But what is better? Would I have used the time wisely by watching a series? Did I need this review? Who knows. In any case, I'm still sitting in my desk chair. Maybe something else will happen.