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Mafia 1 & 2 Definitive Editions (2020) Review
5 days ago
"Keep the change, ya filthy animal!"
___________________________________________________
So i've been on a bit of a GTA clone phase as of now because I wanted to finally dust off my free copies of Mafia 1 & 2 DE from PS Plus. For the first game, I'm glad i got a chance to play it but for the second? Not at all.
Both games are basically GTA clones that are remakes of Mafia 1 & 2 released in the 2000's but with a twist, by being more of a realistic simulation game than an arcade experience that denotes the PS2 GTA games & the Saints Row games.
Mafia 1 takes place in Chicago (called "Lost Haven" in game) during the roaring 20's & the great depression where you play as Tommy Angelo, a cabbie who got caught up in a gang war between 2 mafia families and ends up joining the Saleri mafia family, eventually becoming a Made Man working with his partners in crime, Paulie & Sam. This story honestly impressed me with how well written it is such that each plot point actually matters and each mission you go on has a reason to be there. You actually feel much more connected to your partners and even the Don at some points as all of you end up going through various trials that ends up making your bonds stronger. All of that is in service to one of the better endgame sequences i've played in a GTA clone where it genuinely is heart-wrenching realizing how bad shit just hit the fan. The facial animations and voice work also deserves a fair amount of praise for being able to nail down the tone the game is going for. The experience from seeing Tommy go from a cabbie to a made man and the choices he makes along the way almost feels like it could have been an interactive black & white movie.
As for the gameplay, its so so so much better with a major focus on third person shooting than the driving sections which I appreciate because GTA feels like a driving game with bullshit controls and only like... 3 or 4 shooting missions. Even better is that Mafia 1 DE actually has a feature that lets you skip driving to your objective so you get more time to enjoy the excellent gunplay if you're not someone who likes driving missions. The game is basically a 1920's mafia Gears of War and i am all for any Gears of War clones as there's nothing like a good ass cover shooter. The kills are so damn sastifying with the realistic death animations that keeps you on your feet wanting to lay waste to any wiseguys and cops that dare step in your way.
Even better is that you can just set the difficulty to easy so you don't have to deal with cops being too realistic (No officer, I was not speeding) and the changes from the original PS2 version ensures that you don't ragequit because of the game's bullshit difficulty. If you die in this game, its your fault and vice versa. The free roam mode is a nice addition with some insane missions should you choose to tackle the postgame or just to explore Lost Haven at your own leisure.
If you want to get into the Mafia series, than Mafia 1 DE does an excellent job of getting you into the universe with how good the game looks, how well the story is written, and how much ass the game kicks.
I cannot say the same for Mafia 2 DE. The DE of the game actually feels like the inferior version of the game that was just rushed out of the door instead of getting the love that Mafia 1 DE got. Nothing about this game feels definitive.
Mafia 2 is set in a post–WW2 New York City (called “Empire Bay") where you play as Vito Scaletta, a Sicilian immigrant and war veteran. After being wounded during Operation Husky in Sicily, Vito is sent back to the United States, where his return to civilian life quickly pulls him into the criminal underworld.
I went into this game expecting the same story where the everyman turns to crime so they can make a name for themselves or get more morney. In Vito's case, he teams up with his old buddy Joe Barbaro who gets Vito into the criminal life so he can get money fast enough to clear his father's debt and allow his mom & sister to live a debt free life. As you can tell, things get out of hand very quickly as Vito's attempts to step up is often met with significant setbacks that feels like the world is out to get Vito. This makes sense as the dev team wanted to be more gritty and avoid the glamour of being a made men but I feel like this causes the missions to be less about carrying out mafia jobs and Vito having to salvage a botched plan.
I.... just stopped feeling things with how many times the game kept kicking Vito in the face. Compounding that is the fact that this game seems to introduce too many characters that dont leave a lasting impression. I still couldnt tell you what mafia boss Vito is working for at the end of the game with all the unnecessary middleman and families showing up in the story. I did find Joe to be a good character as his antics kept the story interesting enough to watch. As i'm sure you know by now, Mafia 2 was a rush job back then and it still is, carrying the abrupt ending with no satisfying conclusion. Even the final line said just had me laughing because what the fuck was that ending?
The gameplay is WORSE than the Mafia 1 DE as its just basically the original PS3 / X360 version copied and pasted to the DE. All of the QoL improvements you got in the DE of Mafia 1 is not present here. Its stilla GTA clone but if you're playing this after Mafia 1 DE, then you will feel just how Hagar 13 did this game dirty compared to the love they showed Mafia 1.
First and foremost, the game decided that placing the crosshair at the top of the screen instead of the middle like Goldeneye: Rouge Agent is a good idea. This fucks with your aiming as you're taught to aim at the invisible reticule at the centre of the screen only to miss your shots because Vito is aiming above the enemy instead of at centre mass. I cannot stress how much this ruins your muscle memory and recoil control skills you learned in past shooters. The guns are alright but just feel..... meh overall as some guns just do not feel good to use. The hand cannon (heavy pistol) needs 2 shots to kill instead of one as is the same problem with the Garand. The gunplay just feels so goddamn annoying.
Checkpoints are fucking awful such that you can fail a stealth section in an enemy base AND SOMEHOW RESPAWN ALL THE WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP. This happens at several missions and you don't have the ability to instantly fast travel to your objective unlike Mafia 1 DE. This game has multiple instance of "lose all of your guns" which i'm fine with provided I get my shit back but in Mafia 2, you don't get ANY of your shit back if you lose it because of story reasons. Once time is fine but this happens so often that it makes you question why the game even gives you money and the option to spend money on guns, ammo, cars, and outfits. I would have been fine if Mafia 2 had separate wallets so one is for money earned by completing missions and another that would be for key items such as money needed to pay off debts so you don't get fucked over by the story. This even fucks you OVER at the end of the game where you need $27,500 dollars and you can be forced to grind money by stealing cars if you happen to spend any of it. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ACCEPTABLE BREAKS FROM REALITY???????? shit man I even brought a casual suit and I somehow lose it and have to rebuy the same suit. I'm LOSING things I EARNED. I get its part of the story but ONCE IS ENOUGH.
And here's what gets worse. Mafia 2 DE is more of a bad port than a remaster as i'm getting slammed with bugs 5 years later after the game has been released. Even better is that the DE has bugs that were never in the original game. Here's what I had to deal with:
- Random Crashes (and combined with the awful checkpoints, you have to restart 5 minutes though shit that is not your own fault)
- Tunnels somehow having sunlight spawn and despawn in front of you
- Joe bribes a cop in a cutscene so Karma strikes and causes the whole cutscene to stutter at 5 FPS
- Getting pushed out of cover by the AI which causes you to get gunned down
- NPCs forgetting how to operate doors
- A hostage face's fucking melted during a cutscene
- Another NPC's eyes bugged out so badly that he stares to the left instead of looking at you
- Cars that fly once you step in
- Broken map markers
- if you don't wear Vito's default outfit, his skin will clip through the outfit you chose such as his forehead clipping through the hat and vice versa.
So since this is just a bad port, there's no reason that Hagar 13 and 2K should have released this in the same year as Mafia 1 DE. This game is so fucking undercooked that its ice cold. This is a game that should have been put back into the oven so that they can actually do a full remake that tells the story they intended to do so and actually incorporate all the DLC as part of the main story, including all of the QoL improvements that were there in Mafia 1 DE. This is a game that i cant recommend playing yourself. Just stick to LPs or cutscenes for Mafia 2. Had this released in 2022 or 2023 with the same love Mafia 1 got, we would have a much better experience with a story the developers wanted to tell the first time around. Instead, they blew their shot.
Overall, Mafia 1 DE is a must play while Mafia 2 DE is one hell of a dud.
Reviewed on the PS5
___________________________________________________
So i've been on a bit of a GTA clone phase as of now because I wanted to finally dust off my free copies of Mafia 1 & 2 DE from PS Plus. For the first game, I'm glad i got a chance to play it but for the second? Not at all.
Both games are basically GTA clones that are remakes of Mafia 1 & 2 released in the 2000's but with a twist, by being more of a realistic simulation game than an arcade experience that denotes the PS2 GTA games & the Saints Row games.
Mafia 1 takes place in Chicago (called "Lost Haven" in game) during the roaring 20's & the great depression where you play as Tommy Angelo, a cabbie who got caught up in a gang war between 2 mafia families and ends up joining the Saleri mafia family, eventually becoming a Made Man working with his partners in crime, Paulie & Sam. This story honestly impressed me with how well written it is such that each plot point actually matters and each mission you go on has a reason to be there. You actually feel much more connected to your partners and even the Don at some points as all of you end up going through various trials that ends up making your bonds stronger. All of that is in service to one of the better endgame sequences i've played in a GTA clone where it genuinely is heart-wrenching realizing how bad shit just hit the fan. The facial animations and voice work also deserves a fair amount of praise for being able to nail down the tone the game is going for. The experience from seeing Tommy go from a cabbie to a made man and the choices he makes along the way almost feels like it could have been an interactive black & white movie.
As for the gameplay, its so so so much better with a major focus on third person shooting than the driving sections which I appreciate because GTA feels like a driving game with bullshit controls and only like... 3 or 4 shooting missions. Even better is that Mafia 1 DE actually has a feature that lets you skip driving to your objective so you get more time to enjoy the excellent gunplay if you're not someone who likes driving missions. The game is basically a 1920's mafia Gears of War and i am all for any Gears of War clones as there's nothing like a good ass cover shooter. The kills are so damn sastifying with the realistic death animations that keeps you on your feet wanting to lay waste to any wiseguys and cops that dare step in your way.
Even better is that you can just set the difficulty to easy so you don't have to deal with cops being too realistic (No officer, I was not speeding) and the changes from the original PS2 version ensures that you don't ragequit because of the game's bullshit difficulty. If you die in this game, its your fault and vice versa. The free roam mode is a nice addition with some insane missions should you choose to tackle the postgame or just to explore Lost Haven at your own leisure.
If you want to get into the Mafia series, than Mafia 1 DE does an excellent job of getting you into the universe with how good the game looks, how well the story is written, and how much ass the game kicks.
I cannot say the same for Mafia 2 DE. The DE of the game actually feels like the inferior version of the game that was just rushed out of the door instead of getting the love that Mafia 1 DE got. Nothing about this game feels definitive.
Mafia 2 is set in a post–WW2 New York City (called “Empire Bay") where you play as Vito Scaletta, a Sicilian immigrant and war veteran. After being wounded during Operation Husky in Sicily, Vito is sent back to the United States, where his return to civilian life quickly pulls him into the criminal underworld.
I went into this game expecting the same story where the everyman turns to crime so they can make a name for themselves or get more morney. In Vito's case, he teams up with his old buddy Joe Barbaro who gets Vito into the criminal life so he can get money fast enough to clear his father's debt and allow his mom & sister to live a debt free life. As you can tell, things get out of hand very quickly as Vito's attempts to step up is often met with significant setbacks that feels like the world is out to get Vito. This makes sense as the dev team wanted to be more gritty and avoid the glamour of being a made men but I feel like this causes the missions to be less about carrying out mafia jobs and Vito having to salvage a botched plan.
I.... just stopped feeling things with how many times the game kept kicking Vito in the face. Compounding that is the fact that this game seems to introduce too many characters that dont leave a lasting impression. I still couldnt tell you what mafia boss Vito is working for at the end of the game with all the unnecessary middleman and families showing up in the story. I did find Joe to be a good character as his antics kept the story interesting enough to watch. As i'm sure you know by now, Mafia 2 was a rush job back then and it still is, carrying the abrupt ending with no satisfying conclusion. Even the final line said just had me laughing because what the fuck was that ending?
The gameplay is WORSE than the Mafia 1 DE as its just basically the original PS3 / X360 version copied and pasted to the DE. All of the QoL improvements you got in the DE of Mafia 1 is not present here. Its stilla GTA clone but if you're playing this after Mafia 1 DE, then you will feel just how Hagar 13 did this game dirty compared to the love they showed Mafia 1.
First and foremost, the game decided that placing the crosshair at the top of the screen instead of the middle like Goldeneye: Rouge Agent is a good idea. This fucks with your aiming as you're taught to aim at the invisible reticule at the centre of the screen only to miss your shots because Vito is aiming above the enemy instead of at centre mass. I cannot stress how much this ruins your muscle memory and recoil control skills you learned in past shooters. The guns are alright but just feel..... meh overall as some guns just do not feel good to use. The hand cannon (heavy pistol) needs 2 shots to kill instead of one as is the same problem with the Garand. The gunplay just feels so goddamn annoying.
Checkpoints are fucking awful such that you can fail a stealth section in an enemy base AND SOMEHOW RESPAWN ALL THE WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP. This happens at several missions and you don't have the ability to instantly fast travel to your objective unlike Mafia 1 DE. This game has multiple instance of "lose all of your guns" which i'm fine with provided I get my shit back but in Mafia 2, you don't get ANY of your shit back if you lose it because of story reasons. Once time is fine but this happens so often that it makes you question why the game even gives you money and the option to spend money on guns, ammo, cars, and outfits. I would have been fine if Mafia 2 had separate wallets so one is for money earned by completing missions and another that would be for key items such as money needed to pay off debts so you don't get fucked over by the story. This even fucks you OVER at the end of the game where you need $27,500 dollars and you can be forced to grind money by stealing cars if you happen to spend any of it. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ACCEPTABLE BREAKS FROM REALITY???????? shit man I even brought a casual suit and I somehow lose it and have to rebuy the same suit. I'm LOSING things I EARNED. I get its part of the story but ONCE IS ENOUGH.
And here's what gets worse. Mafia 2 DE is more of a bad port than a remaster as i'm getting slammed with bugs 5 years later after the game has been released. Even better is that the DE has bugs that were never in the original game. Here's what I had to deal with:
- Random Crashes (and combined with the awful checkpoints, you have to restart 5 minutes though shit that is not your own fault)
- Tunnels somehow having sunlight spawn and despawn in front of you
- Joe bribes a cop in a cutscene so Karma strikes and causes the whole cutscene to stutter at 5 FPS
- Getting pushed out of cover by the AI which causes you to get gunned down
- NPCs forgetting how to operate doors
- A hostage face's fucking melted during a cutscene
- Another NPC's eyes bugged out so badly that he stares to the left instead of looking at you
- Cars that fly once you step in
- Broken map markers
- if you don't wear Vito's default outfit, his skin will clip through the outfit you chose such as his forehead clipping through the hat and vice versa.
So since this is just a bad port, there's no reason that Hagar 13 and 2K should have released this in the same year as Mafia 1 DE. This game is so fucking undercooked that its ice cold. This is a game that should have been put back into the oven so that they can actually do a full remake that tells the story they intended to do so and actually incorporate all the DLC as part of the main story, including all of the QoL improvements that were there in Mafia 1 DE. This is a game that i cant recommend playing yourself. Just stick to LPs or cutscenes for Mafia 2. Had this released in 2022 or 2023 with the same love Mafia 1 got, we would have a much better experience with a story the developers wanted to tell the first time around. Instead, they blew their shot.
Overall, Mafia 1 DE is a must play while Mafia 2 DE is one hell of a dud.
Reviewed on the PS5
