Mafia (Jewel Case)

by Global Star Software

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001PK3WE
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: March 3, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,177 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Immerse yourself in a dangerous world of high-speed car chases, bank heists, bootlegging, assassinations, and brutal gang warfare. A brutal gang warfare in a story of crime, romance, and betrayal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing experience, and a pretty good game, February 18, 2007

By 

W Coats "wijoco" (Midlothian, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Mafia (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

Whatever you feel about playing Mafia (PC), its place in gaming history is concrete. The very first open-world game to represent gangster life of the 1930s (and do so with a high degree of historical accuracy), Mafia drops the player into an alternate reality New York city. "Lost Heaven" is teeming with criminals, immigrants, and upper crust debutantes, each making their way in a fully realized cityscape of the past. Shantytowns, elegant Victorian era hotels, rural city outskirts, even a fully functional A-Train fresh off the engineer's drawing pad are at your disposal. Add in amazingly appropriate music tracks, a massive selection of ersatz 30s era jalopies, sympathetic characters living in a believable storyline, and great voice acting, and youve got a fully immersive experience. And the gameplay itself is nearly as good.

The developers made a commendable effort to give the player as much control over his environment as possible, and largely succeeded. The on-foot engine has a similar feel to the GTA (PC) scheme, and suffers some of the same frailties. A stiff somewhat unresponsive movement mechanic can make some basic interactions (like opening doors or hand to hand combat) awkward, but is honestly no worse than the average 3rd person shooter. And considering the lack of fistfighting required to advance, it's really not a hurdle. Much of the game is spent in vehicles, which is a saving grace of the gameplay. Like the boys at Rockstar, Mafia's developers (Illusion Softworks) are clearly car enthusiasts who put painstaking efforts into their digital machines. While none are licensed, car buffs will instantly recognize shapes, sounds and other characteristics of classic cars in Mafia's invented models. A Model T clone sputters and grinds its gears, emitting a perfect "A-OOOOO-GAH" horn blast; another closely resembles a Stutz Bearcat with its sleek lines, rumbling exhaust and powerful pull. There's even a brilliant race level where a vintage open formula racer gurgles, smokes, and squeals its way around the city's racetrack, leaving the player stunned with the sensation of speed and danger.

Unlike the world of GTA, however, Lost Heaven exists within an alternate reality instead of an inconsequential pulp-fiction fantasy universe. Bad behavior bears retribution in Lost Heaven: cars are not easy to steal (initially), traffic infractions result in tickets, and violent behavior brings grave consequences. Players who have completed the game certainly get this. And along with the compelling storyline comes a much stricter path of advancement. While the city is lovingly crafted with the finest era-specific details laid out over many square miles, there is honestly very little to do besides the main story missions. Besides indulging your wanderlust, visiting remote areas of the town bear no rewards beyond the visual. And close examination reveals a city that doesnt want to be examined. Many building textures are dull and low-res, and there is little interactivity with NPCs or objects beside cars. Buildings are non-enterable and even certain areas (like the racetrack and the countryside) are sealed off after their part in the storyline is played. And the "side-missions" are silly and superflous; probably only included to give the illusion of depth. This, for me, was the biggest disappointment of the game: that waking-from-a-dream feeling when I was continually reminded that Lost Heaven and the game overall were rather superficial or "fake". And that criticism only results from the occasional taste of the fully realized explorable universe Mafia could have been, although that may have been an impossible job for a small independent east European developer. I'm sure the game was a Herculean task as it is.

The graphical detail of Mafia supports what I've suspected for a while: that game level designers are frustrated architects. There are a few levels in Mafia, including the hotel assasination and farmhouse raid, that are just breathtaking. While the actual gameplay never strays too far from the simple "kill all bad guys" formula, I had to occasionally put down the tommygun and soak in the stunning atmosphere. Creeping about a deserted farmhouse on a stormy fall night in upstate Lost Heaven, not knowing if the next barn door I open would be my last, was a chilling experience. Sneaking around an opulent 19th century hotel detailed in near photorealism was a sight I can't begin to describe. (Screenshots you've seen dont do the game justice). Even if the game itself were mediocre, it would deserve a play just to witness the amazing level architecture. Yeah, that good.

So if you're a PC gamer who enjoys a solid adventure or 3rd person shooter, find time for Mafia if you havent already. As a final note, this is like so many other modern era 3-D PC games that flat out lie about system requirements. You really can't do the game justice without a decent rig, at least 2-2.5 gig P4 with a an Nvidia 6xxx or higher card. It eats some resources, but put it on a system that can display in a high resolution with no frame drop and it's an amazing experience. And I had good success with a Logitech Dual Action controller (in the left hand) and mouse (right hand) setup. The analog sticks are a great assistance with driving, although it will take some effort to map all the buttons to your liking. The jewel case version only lacks the complete manual, which is a nice but non-essential addition if you can run across the boxed retail version of the game.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Amazing, February 20, 2006

By 

TheM0nk (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Mafia (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

First and foremost I just want to make one thing crystal-clear: this game is amazing. There, I've said it. Now, since this is a review, I'll get on with actually reviewing this game. Ever since it [Mafia] came out, back in 2002, I was engrossed in it. This game does everything with great production and gaming value. And is, by far, one of the greatest games I have ever played. This game has an engrossing storyline, akin to The Godfather with a hint of Goodfellas, and is pretty to gaze at. However, what really takes this game to its amazing status is it's extremely accurate detail in rendering the landscapes one would've encountered during those time periods. It is, in every sense of the word, like entering a time portal, and exploring a world that was once a reality. And I musn't neglect to mention the wonderful and period-accurate music that follows you throughout your gaming experience. I cannot put into words how great the soundtrack is. As for negative aspects go, I have to say that the only thing I encountered that was somewhat disappointing was the character handling. It seems a little too stiff and could've been easily fixed. Besides this, I can't really say anymore about the negatives of this game. All-in-all, this is a very entertaining, and engrossing game that any self-respecting Organized Crime/Mafia fanatic must play/own as well as anyone wanting to play a very entertaining game.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best game I ever played, December 7, 2011

By 

TheRussianSpy - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mafia (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

This was one of the first "modern" video games I played, and it definitely is the best one. The storyline is better than in many movies, and graphics are amazing for it's time. May be a little boring that you have to drive a lot, but driving is very realistic. And yes, you can get a speeding ticket.

If you don't like the games where you need to think, than this is not the game for you. This is not GTA(where you go and shoot everyone and everything that moves).

I bought a used game on 3 CDs, and was afraid at first that it may not work on my computer that I just built(Windows 7 54 bit, Core i3), but it worked fine after I figured out how to launch it:

>>>when you launch it the first time, it opens a settings window before the game, and I guess Win7 blocks it. You need to find that file manually in game folder and open it, and click yes when windows asks you if you want to open it. After that you can use desktop shortcut to launch the game every time)