Mafia Definitive Edition is a third person story driven shooter with linear missions. It is situated in a fictional city of Lost Heaven based on real-life Chicago in 1930'.
This game is a Remake because it is very different from Mafia released in 2002.
TL;DR
4/5 Story is very linear and the missions are diverse. Few, unique and interesting characters. Our character is changing.
3/5 Gameplay has a lot of driving, hiding and killing. Movement is wonky and the camera is rather loose. Cars are fun.
2/5 Replay value is very low for Story, decent for Free Ride. Game has many collectibles but they don't matter much.
4/5 Graphics are quite sharp, a living city and rather odd animations. Nice effects, great immersion, a decent optimization.
5/5 Music offers old-timey songs, great voiceovers and good effects. Radio adds an extra layer of immersion with events.
Some hits from the original are missing.
Verdict 7/10
Story is rich and gets pretty interesting at times but takes risky turns unlike in the original, it surprises a classic player like me. It's got various mission objectives, fun driving in cars and a decent cover shooting system. World is big and full of collectibles. The ending conclusion didn't make any sense when comparing the character development and what they did then.
Story 4/5
Characters
Our character Tommy has always been moralizing about doing right things and this time, he meets someone else doing it for him.
Remade Tommy is quite cocky at times compared to more humble classic Tommy with great sense of justifying his deeds.
Main characters are few and unique.
There are plenty of other side characters, some just for one mission.
Biggest miss is Lucas Bertone who was originally giving us a lot of work to do, this new one is lame.
NPCs have a lot of unique dialogues.
Missions
20 story missions, 5 side missions and 12+1 Free Ride missions (mostly timed racing).
Free Ride also offers taxi jobs and racing on autodrome with 3, 5 and 10 laps.
Gameplay 3/5
Driving 4/5
Cars
Probably the most satisfying and the closest to the original experience is driving cars.
Drivers in cars will go around your stopped car and will not create traffic jams.
There were few occasions, NPCs in cars didn't react well to construction sites or police stopping us.
I can not keep the engine or lights on.
Game is helping us with aiming during car chases.
Motorbikes
Motorbikes are a remake bonus and we even get to drive one in a mission. They're pretty fast and stick to the ground like a magnet.
The camera doesn't hold with the direction well so steering is dangerous and feels uncontrollable, especially during high speeds.
Shortcuts
We can jump over the construction site on the road which automatically crashes one car chasing us.
There are many narrow paths in between the streets and they are more interwoven than in original.
Movement 1/5
We will have to learn to jump before we can perform it ourselves.
We are having less of the movement accuracy when sprinting.
When moving into a tight place, like a phone booth, our character struggles.
Sneaking is working alright but enemies don't react to noises caused by our movement or fallen objects.
Moving out of cover is a bit tricky. It also offers stealth takedown.
Fighting 2.5/5
Very simplistic fist-fighting and melee.
Shooting into distance makes it less accurate.
Game helps us see from behind covers. We can also be hit if on the edge or if our cover gets destroyed.
Much less recoil punch than original.
Cursor gets tiny and more accurate on Easy difficulty.
World 4/5
It is a semi-open world in Free Ride and sometimes there's a chance to explore this world in between story missions.
Playing the story feels more like playing in a rather linear world.
Buildings can not be entered as was the case in the original.
We can find a lot of collectibles all around the world, some during missions, some outside, some in Free Ride.
There are few invisible walls and barriers preventing you from entering few locations.
Some bushes act like concrete walls.
Police 2.5/5
People will call the police if we endanger them, hit them by a vehicle, shoot them or drive dangerously fast.
Voice of the caller is random. It's especially weird when the only person in the middle of nowhere is the opposite gender than a caller and running away.
Police will stop chasing us when we jump over the wall.
Police will ticket us and also try to arrest or kill us if we resist and try to run away.
We can resist the arrest. It wasn't possible in the original.
Police are not very persistent even when having 5 stars.
Replay value 2/5
More unlockable cars, guns and various outfits are available in Free Ride only. Free Ride missions are much more challenging than story missions because they are time limited, require fast approach and are similarly linear.
Game is very simple on Easy difficulty. We skip a lot of the driving even with Driving skip off. We are able to lockpick a car or open it up by breaking a window. Levels and the city are greatly reworked and don't resemble the original much. The overall city layout is the same.
Overall challenge even on the hardest difficulty isn't that big. Game is also helping with indicators on the ground, materials, a few pre-scripted occasions and shortcuts. Cover system also helps in a lot of gunfights. Sometimes enemies are shown on a mini-map.
Graphics 4/5
Noir mode
Black and white visuals were added in the first patch.
Objects
They are a bit blurry in the distance. Other vehicles appear only within a certain range of us, not preventing us to respond or anything but can not be seen in the distance.
Damage models
Cars get damaged slightly after each collision and sometimes their engine stops working and can not be repaired until we get back to our garage or refill gas in case it's leaking.
Performance
I have Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, Intel Core i7-8700, 16GB RAM, 1080p resolution.
My game froze for over a dozen times, got stuck in the loading screen and crashed once.
Game runs smoothly at average 45fps and drops to as low as 22fps.
Molotov throw
It is taken from Mafia III, it is a quick throw without drawing strength.
Explosions
There seem to be explosives placed in unfortunate places.
Our character closes eyes and ducks a little when there is an explosion nearby.
Weather
Weather effects affect driving a great deal. City looks great in day or night.
Lighting is a bit odd at times.
Leaves flying in the air.
Immersion
City is filled with a lot of population. They're talking to each other, sometimes say something to Tommy, some travel together in a car. Trams and trains pick up people between stations. We can use a bus stop for quick travel to Salieri's Bar. Streets are emptier at night.
Music 5/5
35 licensed songs
Great "live" songs
Voiceovers
Brilliant
Radio
It starts off silent and goes silent or muted inside a tunnel. It will also disconnect while bumping around with a car.
There are radio commentaries of the present events.
Sounds
We can hear animal sounds but they are not visualized in live form.
Comparison with the classic from 2002.
Missions
An offer you can't refuse - shortcuts helping to get rid of pursuers. There are multiple enemies instead of one car. Less challenging.
Running man - able to roam the city with our taxi and within walking distance of it. Customers are in the various positions. Less linear. Much less challenging.
Molotov party - we aren't escaping in the same car we arrived with. First time jumping, sneaking, fighting in melee and using Molotov. Less challenging.
Ordinary routine - totally reworked building. Dog is missing. Final chase is different, we are shooting from the car for the first time. Added enemies. Less linear. Not as challenging but slightly more interesting gameplay than the original.
Fairplay - slightly more challenging on Classic difficulty with additional simulation driving and manual gear settings. However, the game helps 3 times in each round.
Sarah - we spend more time with her in the whole game and her character is much more developed. Melee fighting is simplistic and less challenging than in the original.
Better get used to it - simple but the level is more open than in the original. Game helps when it doesn't challenge the player by actually catching up with the enemy.
The whore / the saint and the sinner - motel is significantly reworked and bigger. There are a few interesting talks and more ways how to achieve the objective. The story is quite different compared to the original and level is similarly linear.
The priest / the saint and the sinner - pretty similar beginning but the level is expanded. The story and level is a little more ridiculous.
A trip to the country - significantly reworked level. Some clues, explosives and obstacles are ridiculous and the final run is expanded. Game helps once more.
Omerta - pretty similar if a bit linear, not very challenging compared to the original.
Visiting rich people - our companion speaks foreign language this time so there are few funny lines. Level is expanded and not for the better, it doesn't make sense. Enemies are shown on a mini-map despite playing on Classic, it's a big deal and takes away the challenge. However, it brings a little bit of challenge by the end.
Great deal - the level has been significantly reworked and became more linear, simplistic and the ending is a little prolonged with a challenge.
Bon appetít - significantly reworked level and story is very similar to the original.
Happy birthday - story changed a bit and the level has become more challenging.
You lucky bastard - story is a bit shuffled and different. Level is more linear and slightly less challenging.
Crème de la crème - level became significantly more linear and with less ways to succeed. It's also a lot easier.
Election campaign - level is totally different as well as story is very different to the original. The first half is very easy and the second one gets a bit tricky.
Just for relaxation - totally reworked level and story. Ridiculous ending chase.
Moonlighting - reworked level, shorter mission, no time limit. Less challenging.
The death of art - story and ending is different. More linear and less challenging.
There is much more of Intermezzo and dialogue between the two. Some of the main characters look differently, have slightly different acting and are saying other things.
The main story plot is very similar, however certain twists are different so it can surprise old players. Most iconic songs from the original are missing.
Lucas Bertone doesn't have unique dialogue driven quests rather offers postcards with 5 cars that are hidden in garages in 5 various districts of the city.
When I flip the car upside down, I can flip it back up with one button and I will not automatically die because of falling on my head.
There is no money in Free Ride. We can not enter trams, nor trains. There are no clerks at gas stations, but we can still refill the fuel, even in the countryside.
We can not leave the car with the engine on. Wheels will stay turned to the side. Turn signals and lights do not seem to be a thing on our car.
Bugs
I encountered a few game-breaking bugs.
During one story mission the gate to my objective was closed and I had to reload.
Few buildings and textures are unfinished.
Sometimes my gear shows a higher level instead of a real one.
Sometimes my gas shows full but is actually empty.
When I use up the gas and fail the mission, the car still has no gas after the loading.
Some objects keep moving after collision and despite no force is being put on them.
AI is sometimes bad and runs a lot between covers or advances into an open area.
One story mission showed enemies on the map despite having the option turned off.
AI cars are too slow to avoid my car, sometimes not reacting at all when I pass by.
During Free Ride I could not move my mission car after refilling the gas, another time my mission car was stuck in the object preventing me from entering it and to play mission at all, NPC did not move towards the objective so I failed.