Mafia: Definitive Edition

Overview
Mafia Definitive Edition (MDE) is a full remake of the original Mafia that came out back in 2002. Set in the city of Lost Haven during the 1930s, this game narrates the ascent of Tommy Angelo from simple taxi driver to one of the most feared gangsters of the era. Across the span of a decade, Mafia captures the most decisive operations Tommy engages for the Salieri family, helping them rise to power during the extremely violent crime syndicate wars of those years.
🟩 The Good Side
The best of both worlds
This remake successfully merges the original aspects that made Mafia great, while re-elaborating gameplay and visuals to bring them up to speed to the modern generation. Sometimes, remakes like this fail to capture the original game's spirit - but it's not the case here, as this is a faithful 1:1 re-enactment without shortcuts. The master-crafted atmosphere, deep characters, varied missions and amazing soundtrack that made the classic version a hit, are joined with the latest graphics as every single model, texture, weapon and actor was redone from scratch. This is how remakes should be done!
Being a gangster is busy work
Despite being a linear experience with no secondary activities, the campaign of Mafia delivers an excellent variety of situations, which is key for not getting stale. From police chases, shootouts with rival gangs to stealth theft missions or smuggling operation escorts, anything a mafia family could plan to do is part of it at some point. On top of that, missed collectibles, secret vehicles and some Easter eggs can be hunted down in the Free Rode mode, allowing players to explore Lost Haven freely.
A tale of loyalty, loss and betrayal
The story of Mafia was as well faithfully recreated, and delivers the same quality narration and writing as the original did. The tale of Tommy Angelo spans nearly a decade, and is encompassed by a few but solid secondary characters that will become pivotal to the narration itself. Each of them has distinct personality that stays coherent throughout the adventure, while the events themselves are believable although sometimes a bit far-fetched in execution. Situations are brutal, merciless and driven by monetary gain or power struggles - as it should be.
Completionist's delight
The game has an extensive amount of collectibles, secret vehicles and Easter eggs to find, which will make any completionist feel at home, with also related Achievements. They cannot all be found during the campaign, that's why Free Ride mode exists. Those wanting to 100% every bit of content can expect several hours (at least) of minute searching throughout the entirety of Lost Haven and environs.
🟥 The Bad Side
Free Ride Extreme is absent?! Oh come on!
Mafia originally had an extra mode called "Free Ride Extreme", unlocked only after beating the game. This mode featured a "crazier" version of Lost Haven, filled with many unique quests with often over-the-top tasks to fulfill in exchange for unique vehicles. A few of them included battling a bomb-throwing zeppelin or fighting a sea monster straight from the Cthulhu mythos. None of this has been included in the remake, which will surely disappoint returning players that enjoyed this mode in the original game.
Rating: Excellent
Click here for the complete Rating Chart
It took me 11 hours to complete Mafia Definitive on Classic difficulty setting, while taking some extra time to find collectibles around each location when possible. After that some extra hours can be squeezed from Achievement Hunting and Collectibles of Free Ride mode if one wishes. For the default price of 40€ and overall excellent quality, I can warrant buying for full price.
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In-Depth Breakdown
🎮 Gameplay Analysis
Gameplay is divided into Exploration, Combat, Stealth Missions and Free Ride Mode
Exploration
If performed either on foot or with vehicles. Given the linearity of the campaign, there's not much exploring to do at all during missions, even if some environments are a bit more open than others. Collectibles such as comic books and also lore elements like letters or documents can be found scattered around, and are always indicated on the minimap - the same goes for useful first aid kits or ammunition caches. Most of the actual exploration is done in Free Ride mode to find collectibles or secret vehicles, if one wishes to.
Combat
Plays out in third-person view, with an over the shoulder aiming system typical of this genre. Generally speaking, Tommy can't carry a lot of ammo on his person, and only one primary, one secondary and one melee weapon at any given time. Firefights use a cover system that players will use often, else getting filled with holes - at the higher difficulties just a few shots are enough to kill the protagonist from full health. The same goes for enemies, while headshots are a guaranteed instant kill on anyone.
Other than arms such as shotguns, machineguns and pistols, melee weapons can be used to quickly dispatch enemies and result particularly useful during stealth missions, as they allow killing an enemy before he can shoot, thus raising the alarm. Throwable items such as molotovs are rare but very powerful, and allow destroying vehicles or multiple enemies in one shot. There are environmental hazards as well like explosive canisters one can shoot if enemies get close enough. Enemies are inconsistent in their skill, and range from being dumb as bricks to advanced moves such as flanking with suppressive fire.
Stealth Missions
Are often associated with infiltrating a compound without being detected. The stealth system is very basic, as Tommy will be able to enter Sneak Mode at any time, becoming immediately much less visible - the fact enemies are always indicated on the minimap along with orientation doesn't make these sections particularly hard. Getting behind an unaware foe can trigger an execution, then bodies can be carried and hidden so they don't get discovered. Enemies will investigate suspicious activity or sounds but generally take a long time to do so and aren't particularly bright about it.
Free Ride Mode
Allows players to freely explore Lost Haven in all its glory, hunting collectibles, Easter eggs and secret vehicles at the same time. Of course, this mode also acts as a sandbox where players can trigger massive police chases or fights if they wish to do so, but has otherwise no other special quest or challenge to accomplish, save for the Time Trials to get new secret cars.
Technical Corner
Specs: RTX 2080Ti, Ryzen 9 3900X, 32GB RAM, 970 PRO NVME SSD
Critical Problems
None
Performance
- Average VRAM Usage: 3.5 GB
- Average GPU Utilization: 50-65%
- Settings Used: All High, DOF OFF, Blur OFF, 1440p 60Hz
- Overall Optimization Rating: Good
Bugs & Other Issues
- Cutscenes and audio can get stuck / glitch if the game is alt-tabbed or the Steam Overlay is used to chat.
- A slight but noticeable "blur trail" sometimes is generated after small moving objects, even with Blur disabled.

🔹Positive Aspects:
Amazing Visuals that still capture the same atmosphere just like the 2002 release.
Missions haven’t changed much, overall pace just got faster.
Performance is incredible compared to the Mafia 3 release.
Game kept the emphasis on driving physics, still got worse but it is a lot better than I
expected.
Story got better as it explained plot holes this time.
🔸Negative Aspects:
Some memorable moments got replaced with cutscenes.
Other small details like indicators got removed.
Stealth kills feel bland and boring.
▶️Introduction
Mafia 1 Definitive Edition is the remake of the legendary Mafia 1 game released back in 2002. Now Mafia 1 is a third person open world game where you are part of the Mafia in Lost Heaven. The game was developed by Hangar13 and published by 2K.
Release Date : 25th September 2020
Last known update: 7th October 2020 ( File size ~1gb )
🎩Remake-talk:
How does the Remake match up against the 2002 Mafia game?
Remake smalltalk
First of all, the original Mafia game was and still is one of my all time favourite games, it really left a mark both in storytelling and in gameplay depth obviously. Now the Remake did in my opinion a good job as far as capturing the same atmosphere overall. Visuals are obviously tremendous and Hangar13 was spot on as far as that goes. Gameplay is a world of two sides, some people don’t like it as it is too easy and they do prefer the Mafia 1 & Mafia 2 shooting mechanics and overall slower pace, on the other hand you have guys that do prefer the much more modern mechanics allowing for a fast paced yet very smooth experience, personally I like the fast pace attempt although not perfect it still does the job very well. Now my only complaint is that they removed memorable aspects of the game, for example at the start of the Bank mission where you enter the train with Paulie and suddenly enter the first person mode creating a unique experience. Other than that, Mafia Definitive Edition is a very good remake.
🎮Gameplay:
Movement and shooting mechanics:
Mafia DE is an open world third person game which involves a lot of moving around and shooting. As mentioned above the game feels a lot quicker with its modernized gameplay mechanics. The main character doesn’t only walk slowly like in the original game but he can jog and even give a solid sprint until he runs out of stamina. Honestly speaking, having the sprint mechanic is pretty useful especially when running towards cover after you wasted all of your bullets and having the need to reload. Speaking of getting shot on by the rival family, the shooting mechanics were a pretty welcome change for me, yes I loved the shooting mechanics in Mafia 1 & 2 but simply said, they are outdated. Using the Mafia 3 mechanics in a much more sleek manner, as it should be! Yes the guns don’t have the same kick as the original release but in all honesty, who cares? This isn’t a competitive shooter where I need to learn the recoil of each gun, they basically simplified the recoil in order to please the masses and that was the correct move, both as far as sales and gameplay of course. Lastly they made a nice addition to the cover system allowing you to blindly fire without peeking, not really efficient but looks cool.Obviously we have some flaws, for example the removal of the Train and Public transport but let’s be honest, nobody was really using them to get from A to B.
Driving:
Mafia 1 was amazing due to the advanced driving physics it included, Mafia DE doesn’t disappoint in that aspect either as you get all the manual options you would want, manual gearbox with the cheeky clutch control? They got you covered as far as that goes as well. Cars definitely feel a lot faster compared to the 2002 game but that’s the effect of faster paced gameplay, what I’m trying to explain with that is that cars feel quicker but it’s not blown out of proportion. Then we get the classic physics and realism, RWD vehicles will tend to lose traction when sudden turns occur, sports cars feel a lot more ‘’glued’’ to the road compared to a simple taxi or a truck. Steering does feel a little quick which just doesn’t represent the boat like steering for the era. Lastly the Race mission was just as iconic as the original games mission.
Other aspects:
One small complaint I had was the fact that stealth kills were pretty weird and boring, as when the animation started you had that weird bug where the sounds get removed completely and you only hear the punching sounds,yeah awkward and lame.
The waypoint marker should only be visible on the map/radar and not on your destination within the literal game, it is pretty disappointing considering they did such a good job making this game feel different yet these HUD elements really aren’t cool. ( Has been patched with recent updates ).
Free ride doesn’t include all the fancy missions like the original game did and that makes me sad!
🎭Story:
Be aware, spoilers ahead!

Due to the word limit I decided to link the story section. Click Here for the Google Docs file
🌇Graphics / Audio:
Mafia DE does an amazing job at capturing the atmosphere of Lost Heaven yet with amazing new visuals.
Graphics:
Audio / Soundtrack:
Voice acting has gotten so much better, you almost feel as if you’re watching a movie. It has to be one of the best sounding games at this moment. Only small complaint I got are gun sounds and the fact that they don’t really sound dangerous at all. Lastly the Soundtrack is great as it is with all the Mafia games. Magnificent job.
⚙️Performance:
Benchmark:
A 5 minute benchmark going through the city of Lost Heaven using MSI Afterburner:
Average framerate : 116.6 FPS
Minimum framerate : 52.9 FPS
Maximum framerate : 1001.9 FPS
1% low framerate : 54.7 FPS
0.1% low framerate : 52.9 FPS
In Game:
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 X, 32GB Ram, Nvidia RTX 2070 Super:
I was running the game on Maxed out Settings 1080p Resolution and the game was extremely smooth without any hiccups.
Bugs / Glitches / Crashes:
I experienced no glitches or crashes in 13 hours of being a mafiozo.
Only bug was when delivering stealth kills within the animation the sound was bugged.
⚖️Conclusion:
The Remake does a great job at modernizing the game and adding to the depth of some characters, combined with the amazing visuals and optimization. If you can look past some flaws it is an amazing experience.
📉Overall rating: 90/ 100
Date of the Review:8.10.2020

Mr. Angelo?
Uhh... Yes?
Mr. Salieri sends his remake.

Young gamers who never played the original will likely love this remake. Some older gamers who have played and liked the original may hate this reboot because it's not a 100% exact copy. I happen to fall among the latter, and since the original Mafia is my favorite game ever and holds such a special place in my heart, it would make sense for me to be picky and b!tch about the reboot, how it misses some details, how things have changed and so on. But you know what? When I played Mafia: DE I was overrun by the same ecstatic emotions that I felt when I first played Mafia and I totally loved this new rendition.
What else made this possible if not my nostalgia for the story, the city, the characters, etc.? But I didn't care - I loved it for what it was, loved to see the beauty of Lost Heaven backed by amazing visuals, loved to relive the story, loved the cars, the missions, pretty much everything. Yeah they could've worked on some characters a bit more, yeah they could've let us do some side jobs for Luca Bertone instead of simply using postcards for car missions, of course they could've let us play every part that was playable in the original instead of covering some bits with cutscenes, among a few other things. These are improvements that won't see the light of day, but I will never think that's enough to bash this game.
The game has been criticized for many reasons by the original's fans, from voice actors doing an allegedly crappy job to the gameplay being generic, and some gamers went so far as to immediately write Mafia: DE off because they saw Hangar13's name on it. I don't get it. Playing the remake I could often feel the love that the devs put into it, and not once did I think they were just doing their job making minimal effort. Mafia 1 was extraordinary in its details, it was a difficult yet rewarding game, and I suppose being so hardcore is why some of its fans can't get over the modernized remake. However, times have changed, the standards have changed, and I believe nowadays you often gotta appeal to a much wider audience than some 20 years ago if you want your game to succeed. And it probably just so happens that that audience is a tad more generic than it was in 2002.
In any case, I understand the criticism that this game got from some long-time fans of the franchise, and they definitely don't have to like Mafia: DE. As for me, I didn't like it either. I loved it.

~ DIFFICULTY ~
🔲 My 90 year old grandma could play it
☑️ Easy
🔲 Normal
🔲 Hard
🔲 Dark Souls
~ GRAPHICS ~
🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Bad
🔲 Meh
🔲 Graphics dont matter in this game
🔲 Good
☑️ Beautiful
🔲 Masterpiece
~ MUSIC ~
🔲 Bad
🔲 Not special
☑️ Good
🔲 Beautiful
~ STORY ~
🔲 This game has no story
🔲 Like playing Temple Runners for the story
🔲 It's there for the people who want it
🔲 Well written
☑️ Epic story
~ PRICE ~
🔲 Free
🔲 Underpriced
🔲 Perfect Price
☑️ Could be cheaper
🔲 Overpriced
🔲 Complete waste of money
~ REQUIREMENTS ~
🔲 You can run it on a microwave
🔲 Average
☑️ High end
🔲 NASA computer
~ LENGTH ~
🔲 Very Short (0 - 3 hours)
🔲 Short (3 - 15 hours)
☑️ Average (15-50 hours)
🔲 Long (50-90 hours)
🔲 Extremely long (90-110 hours)
🔲 No ending
~ FUN ~
🔲 I'd rather watch paint dry
🔲 Hard to enjoy
🔲 Repetitive
🔲 Actually pretty amusing
☑️ Ride of your life
~ REPLAYABILITY~
🔲 It's a one-time experience
🔲 Only for achievements
🔲 If you wait a few months/years
☑️ Definitely
🔲 Infinitely replayable
~ WORTH BUYING ~
🔲 No
☑️ Wait for sale
🔲 Yes

Man I remember as if it was yesterday...
summer 2003, I am 15 years old, just installing this masterpiece of game took like 45 minutes on my shitty old pc.
I remember it had 5 CDs to install!
Back then it was the best game I ever played. Hell, It is still on my TOP3 today. Over the years no other game influenced me like the original mafia game.
Now I am 32 years old and what can I say... this remake is the game I have dreamed about for so many years!
Hangar 13 did a brilliant job modernizing every aspect of the game, graphics, sound, controll concept with a decent cover & shooting system and flawless controller support.
All these changes made it a perfect modern version without losing the soul and character of the original.
The voice actors did a great job too, especially people like Ralphie with the characteristic stuttering or Paulie who sounds like Joe Pesci from
Good Fellas. I truly enjoyed every second!
THANK YOU Hangar 13 for making me feel young again!

In reading reviews I noticed there are many that never played the 2002 original version of Mafia. At 64 years old I'm pleased to say I did. When the original came out it was on the heels of GTA III...the grand daddy of all open world action/adventure games. Although different in several respects the game boasted razor sharp graphics and not cartoon-ish, a fantastic selection of cars and trucks that took actual damage with the beating they took (to the point of just not working at all( and you could shift transmissions manually and be sure to keep an eye on the gas gauge because they did run out. Overhead trains were able to be ridden as well as street cars. When you went to 'Hoboken' (not Holbrook like the new version) there was Yellow Pete's Gun Shop. A place where you could stock up if you were too far from Salieri's Bar. Most of this is not included in the new version.
So what is included or better? Well the movement and shooting actions have improved. In the original your only cover was to roll left or right and fire at your attacker(s). In addition the controls were very clunky and tough to deal with. More than once you were forced to start the mission again because your fingers just weren't fast enough to work the game. The police don't seem to breathe down your neck as in the original game either. Running red lights, speeding, driving on the sidewalk or heading pedestrians brought the law down. The more serious the offense the more cops showed up. First aid kits are more plentiful and usually refill your health to the max. The original had the kits few and far between and they filled a portion of your health bar. I do see that if you play this on 'Classic" most all of this stuff is there.
The missions are about 90% true to the original. With some minor changes in the story line the new gameplay controls, shooting improvement and graphics make it sweeter as well as a cover system that works to your advantage.
First time players will enjoy the game to be sure (and as most reviews bear out). There doesn't seem to be any way to actually make money or collect money. Unlike Mafia III Tommy has no shops to shake down, no rackets to take over and no place to spend money on say a new set of clothes. The soundtrack is very good but it would be nice to mod the original soundtrack with the new version. I miss Django Rhiendhart although the Mills Brothers singing "Chinatown" might ruffle some folks feathers.
The Freeplay is enjoyable to many but I never really enjoyed it in the original. The city really isn't quite 'free roam' between missions and some places aren't accessible until subsequent missions are complete. Taking my time with this I logged in about 17 hours to complete.
So this was okay for the $30 I spent but wait for a price drop to maybe $19. Mafia II was enjoyable as well but (and it's not QUITE a Mafia scenario) Mafia III was the best bang for the buck. Repetitious at times in taking over rackets but it has great DLC, plenty of vehicles and weapons and clothing plus money making operations to fatten your bank account. Why you can even cultivate and see weed to make $$. plus if you desire non-stop gun play. Let's face it....that's what most of us want. Who doesn't enjoy cracking a few eggs to make an omelette?