Mafia Definitive Edition Review: Lost Heaven Has Never Looked Better

Jumping into this revitalized take on 2002’s gangster classic I had one question: Can Hangar 13 actually make a good Mafia game? The 2K-owned developer was previously given full reign over the franchise . And though the story was rightfully lauded for its themes and well-drawn ensemble cast, the repetitive open world and by-the-numbers mission design left a lot to be desired. How does one overcome this setback? Seemingly not by innovating per se, but rather by going back to the beginning and restoring the original game using a 2020 coat of paint.Buy The Mafia Definitive Edition Best Price Online from The Clickstore,Nairobi

Turns out this was a wise decision. While Mafia: Definitive Edition might not be the feature-packed, 40-hour thrill ride most players now likely expect from their modern open-world games, this fully remade version of Illusion Softworks’ cult classic doubles down on the two traits that every series entry released thus far has excelled at: story and characters. The result is a game that successfully trims the AAA fat to instead serve as a near-perfect cinematic period piece, delivering all the joys of a Netflix-style gangster drama that gladly never outstays its welcome.

For anyone who missed the game the first time around, Mafia casts you as humble taxi driver-turned-mobster Thomas “Tommy” Angelo, who after finding himself in the wrong place at the right time quickly falls in with the Salieri crime family, moving up the ranks and embracing a strict life of corruption. This being a remake means that anyone who’s played the original will be familiar with the story, yet even they will appreciate the massive visual overhaul to character models, cutscenes, and even the fictional city of Lost Heaven itself, which has been completely remade from the ground up.

The skeleton of what’s here might technically not be of Hangar 13’s design, but by providing this early attempt at a 1930s sandbox with the high-quality presentation a narrative like this deserves, you easily have one of the best open-world renditions of the interwar era yet. Towering Art Deco structures are visible from almost every street, period-accurate vehicles purposefully handle (for better and worse) like arse, and veering from the Lost Heaven’s Little Italy suburb into Chinatown, you can’t help but become engrossed with the age in which organized crime flourished.