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Important notes before I start the review: For the best experience, I highly suggest installing the Mafia Restore Original Music mod. This will add all of the licensed music that was removed due to copyright. This music adds more atmosphere to the game and some more excitement to the action sequences. A link to the mod is here: https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia/mods/11 . Other mods as well as a patch and a program I recommend are:
The Unlimited Draw Distance mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia/mods/3/?tab=description (IMPORTANT: If you're going to use this mod, then be sure to go into the Mafia file directory, then into the "MISSIONS" folder that you got from installing the mod, then delete the "MISE20-GALERY" file. This will fix a bizarre skybox problem in the art gallery level). (Mod effects are explained in the "Description" tab of the Nexus Mods page).
The Widescreen Fix mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia/mods/2/ (effects are also explained in the "Description" tab of the Nexus Mods page).
ENBSeries DX8 to DX9 Convertor: http://enbdev.com/convertor_dx8_dx9_v0014.htm (this will fix flickering shadows and blood).
Borderless Gaming: https://sourceforge.net/projects/borderless-gaming.mirror/ (use this if you're experiencing issues in fullscreen such as outline flashes and low frame rate).
Well, that's the technical stuff out of the way. Now, let's begin!
Mafia is a 2002 open world third-person shooter set during the 1930's in a fictional city called Lost Heaven. You play as Tommy Angelo, an innocent cab driver unexpectedly thrust into the world of the Mob. After becoming a member of the Salieri crime family, Tommy must undertake various tasks such as securing a shipment of whiskey, winning a race that the Don bet a lot of money in, saving your friend in a motel occupied by ruthless gangsters, killing a politician with ties to the enemy Mafia etc. Speaking of the enemy Mafia, the Morello crime family is a dangerous foe that Tommy now has to look out for and eventually help to destroy. While completing all these tasks, you can also explore the city of Lost Heaven, taking in the atmosphere of bustling streets, good music, and admiring lots of Depression era architecture. As well as that, you can do subquests that will help you unlock new cars to use later in the game. If this short summary interests you, then you'll be pleased to know that there's more about this game that may interest you.
One aspect of Mafia that I think is praiseworthy is the gameplay. The combat, for instance, was a lot of fun for me. I liked mowing down enemies with a Tommy gun, blasting them up close with a shotgun, picking them off at a distance with a Springfield rifle etc. I also enjoyed the driving as well as the missions in general that I feel were decently well designed, managing to be exciting as well as compelling (albeit quite frustrating at times, especially the subquests). The melee combat was alright, but not great (more on that later). I also think that the enemy AI was quite decent and put up a genuine challenge: Enemies took cover, rolled to avoid my gunfire, called me out and insulted me etc. The destruction physics of the cars was also a nice addition, with headlights, windshields, tires, wheels etc. being destroyed and/or falling off when enough damage was done to them. This may be a small detail but a noteworthy one regardless. I feel I should also mention the Free Ride mode, offering you the choice of exploring the city of Lost Heaven however much you want with no campaign missions to worry about. You can drive around, steal cars, run over pedestrians, get into gunfights with the cops etc. So think of it as a Great Depression era GTA game. There's also the Free Ride Extreme mode where there are no cops, some ramps, and crazy missions to beat (e.g. chasing a UFO, chasing and killing a man with super speed, saving a woman from a sea monster etc.).
Another aspect of Mafia I should praise is the story. I loved following Tommy's journey in the Mafia, seeing his whole world turn upside down was thrilling as well as fascinating. The way the story was told was great too, with well-animated (for the time) cutscenes being used for mission briefings as well as narrated segments and important scenes between Tommy and a detective in a restaurant that show up throughout the game, as if to hint to the player that the story is being told by Tommy himself. The competent voice acting also added to the story, with each character having a suitable voice and therefore helping to immerse you further into the world of Mafia. I should also mention that the dialogue was quite good too.
One more positive thing I'd like to touch on is the atmosphere. The visuals, although dated, still managed to create many splendid urban environments for me to appreciate, not to mention the excellent soundtrack that includes not only orchestral music but also brilliant classics from artists such as Django Reinhardt, The Mills Brothers, Latcho Drom and more. Hearing different songs depending on what part of the city I was in certainly was delightful, as well as hearing adrenaline-fuelling accordion music in a couple of intense chase missions. That's about all I can say about the atmosphere really. It's great.
Now I think would be a good time to talk about the negatives of this game. The first I can think of is that some of the textures would flicker. Even after I installed the ENB Convertor I still had this problem, which was a shame since the flickering textures were rather distracting at times. Another negative I can think of is that, while driving, I would occasionally hear weird audio pops and clicks, especially when honking the horn of the car I was in. I tried fixing this but didn't manage to find a proper fix. Another complaint I have is about the melee combat which I feel was mediocre (especially in comparison to the gunplay). It just felt awkward (especially in the "Better Get Used to It" mission). One other negative aspect of this game for me was how frustrating some of the quests were. Quite a few of the subquests and many of the Free Ride Extreme mode missions were particularly infuriating. I also noticed that the countryside landscapes were hideous and that some areas of the game's world map looked odd and unfinished (e.g. the large floating sheet of grass with some trees on it, an island with a huge hole on the side of it etc.) but to be fair, I probably only noticed this because I was using the Unlimited Draw Distance Mod. Still, I would've preferred for the world map to not be so shoddy in certain places. Another flaw I encountered were the occasional bugs. For example, in the "Just For Relaxation" mission, I had to follow this truck leaving the docks, but sometimes the truck wouldn't even leave, meaning I had to reload my save in order for the mission to actually work properly. Later in that mission there was a task where I had to stack some crates with two NPCs, but the mission could only continue if all the crates were neatly stacked (something only the two NPCs could do), so because I stacked the last crate just as the two NPCs were leaving and since I couldn't ask them to stack the crates again, I ended up having to reload my save and do that part all over again (this time letting the NPCs do nearly all of the work). To put it lightly, this was mildly infuriating. I should also mention the fact that the frame rate was much lower during the nighttime and evening sections than in the usual daytime sections of the game and that the option for subtitles is, strangely enough, hidden away in an additional options menu (called "Others") in the "Controls" menu. Other than that, I don't really have much else to complain about.
So to conclude: Mafia is an enjoyable game that tells an exciting tale of an innocent man being thrust into the ugly world of organised crime. It may not be perfect, but what game is?
Final verdict: 7.5/10 "Mr. Salieri sends his regards."