The weapons in the game are also modeled realistically. Different
weapons have different ranges and stopping power, and this has a very definite
effect on the gun battles in the game. All of the weapons also have
limited ammunition and take time to reload (in fact, it is a good strategy to
let your enemy empty his gun and then come out from cover to shoot him as he
reloads), and any rounds still in the weapon when you reload are lost forever.
Each gun also has a different degree of recoil, making it difficult to rapidly
fire a powerful weapon and expect any degree of accuracy.
The incredibly accurate damage modeling on vehicles and other objects in the
game does not extend to people, though. The violence is more movie or game
style, where several bullets are required to drain enough hit points to kill a
person. The gunshots that hit are location-based in the regard that the
people react to where they are shot and wounds appear where the bullets hit, but
a close range head shot will not instantly take out an enemy.
The AI during gun battles can be a bit inconsistent at times. For the
most part, enemies use cover quite effectively and and will roll and dive when
moving in the open, but sometimes enemies do really stupid things. Don't
be surprised if you occasionally see an enemy move out from behind cover and
expose his back to you.
Once you complete the game's campaign, you can still continue to play it in
the Free Ride mode. This mode lets you loose in the city and lets you
pursue some basic goals such as taking out rival gangsters, causing destruction
and mayhem, or even taking a taxi and earning some cash from fares. With
the money that you earn by accomplishing the various tasks, you can buy new
weapons, repair your vehicle, or tend to your wounds in the city's hospital.
Basically you can raise havoc or just explore for as long as you like until you
are killed. As you make your way through the game's campaign, you will
unlock new areas of the city and new game options for the Free Ride mode.
Also, cars that you learn to steal during the campaign will become available the next
time you play the Free Ride game. Completing the game's twenty plus mission
campaign will unlock the Free Ride Extreme mode, which removes the police from
the city and gives you specific tasks which will reward you with fanciful cars
upon completion.
Outside of my complaint with the racing level and a few very minor issues,
Mafia is a really immersive game. The story is very good, and the
cutscenes and voice acting are of the highest caliber. The game does such a
good job of creating atmosphere that it will suck you into its world.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
92%. When you think about organized crime, The Godfather, The
Sopranos, and Goodfellas come to mind. After playing this game,
you'll add Mafia to that list.
System Requirements: 500 MHz Pentium III CPU;
96 MB RAM; 32 MB
Video RAM; 16x CD-ROM; 1.8 GB Hard Drive Space; Mouse.
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