izigame.me

A classic of the video game industry. Almost a work of art.
I played it as a kid and I was hooked. Played it every chance I could until I finished it. Played the racing mission non stop for 2 days and on the 3rd on the second try completed it. This is the only thing that has ever made me get up earlier before school so I could play it before I go.
But as much as I have respect for this game I wanted to play it again and to see it from a more mature perspective how it holds up. Is it worth playing for people that have missed it?
I used several mods to make my experience better:
The removed music mod
Draw distance - Widescreen Fix
HUD mod
I didnt want to use graphics mods in order to keep the experience as authentic as possible.
First things first lets determine what this game is. This - is a narrative driven action adventure game.
Its not a sandbox game. Its not a third person shooter. Its not a racing game. Those elements exist, but they are all props used to propel the story. Nothing more. So if youre interested in getting into it, understand that you are getting into it for the story and the atmosphere, nothing else.
So the presentation values.
Visually, it looks decent. The people models are alright, the cars even look good. Some decorations look better, some worse. As a product of its time I think it holds up fairly well in this regard.
Sound wise theres nothing special, but nothing to complain about either. Voice acting is generally pretty good. It has also era appropriate music which sets the tone pretty well.
The story revolves around a man called Tomas Angelo and his life in the Salieri crime family in a fictional US city in the 1930s. There is nothing more I can say other than its a very well presented story. If you find that premise interesting, then you will likely enjoy it. Cinematography here is well done. Only downside here is that one could make the argument that the characters arent explored beyond the roles they are playing in the story, but I think it helps keep the story tight and focused.
Now for the gameplay. It consists of 3 things. Driving, combat, interacting with the environment.
You drive around town either performing tasks or initiating tasks. You have shoot outs with rival mobsters and fights with thugs. You need to get or move items that are needed to progress your objectives.
Most everything tries to make you feel that you are in the environment that is depicted. The vehicles you are drive are slow and sluggish as they were back then. Cops will chase you if you commit crimes outside, including speeding, driving a red light, crashing into a car. Aiming and reloading is slow, if you reload you lose any remaining ammo in the clip. Atmosphere is key.
However, there are quite a few downsides in the gameplay as well.
Only you are penalized for not following the driving laws. If you are being chased, shot, etc, the police wont go after the other side. During chase segments your adversary has an unfair advantage when it comes to speed, acceleration, handling.
There is a racing mission in this game that was infamous for its difficulty back in the day. On my first try now I had the lead for the last 3 laps and in the last 10 seconds a car overtakes me with some magical burst of speed. I managed it after a few tries on normal. Now it has 5 difficulty options to make it easier for people, not sure if it did back then.
Firefights are hit and miss as it depends more on the level design. Your controls are somewhat clunky, but manageable if there is cover. But sometimes the level or mission design isnt that generous and you might need a few tries to complete something as you can be overwhelmed. Fortunately the autosave checkpoints are relatively frequent and you can load any checkpoint you previously unlocked.
Melee combat is frankly atrocious. You are staggered if you are hit with a melee attack. Annoying in a one on one, unworkable if more than one melee enemy against you.
There are glitches as well. Graphical glitches, weird AI behaviour.
The open world is empty. There is nothing to do there and thats a shame. Only thing that works there is the tram.
I have the slight suspicion the developer did have greater plans for it, but budget limitations forced them to make compromises.
During the story you dont have free roam, you are just released into the city when your objectives are established. There is a separate game mode for free roam, but as far as I remember there isnt much there to do aside killing random mobster NPCs.
Despite the criticisms the game still holds up well and is worth exploring. Its much slower paced than what people are used to now, but there is a point to that as it helps to immerse the person in the environment and experience the journey. If you cant handle that then its not for you, I guess.
Oh, and regarding the "remake". Havent played it, but seen some videos.
Yes, it definitely looks much better. But everything else is a bastardization. Tailored for "modern" audiences, whoever the hell they are.
7.5/10