Remake of Mafia is truly the Definitive Edition

I was quite hesitant to play this title knowing where Mafia went throughout years and seeing the trend of how different titles were approached to by teams assigned to make their remasters.

Actually, Hangar 13 went above and beyond to raise original Mafia up to modern standards while keeping its original spirit. While doing that, they weren't blindly faithful to the original. Tommy, Paulie, Sam, Don Salieri only partially resemble characters from the original game. Also the plot got more additions here and there. Changes gave me impression of additional depth and authenticity to the story. Still, the game consists of same iconic missions that left me with same emotions as in the original.

I have impression that game engine and care for details deserve to be called the definitive edition as well (especially in light of recently seen quality of releases). To my standards, game is gorgeous and at the same time it didn't put my rather old PC on fire. Game in its version from 2022 is as far as possible from flaws that haunted Mafia 3 so badly. I didn't experience any progress breaking issues. Only in one mission I unwillingly got into a loophole making me avoid confrontation with lots of goons. Game might crash maybe once through whole playthrough - I don't really remember. Game mechanics are also a good marriage of what we know from previously released Mafia titles (at least first two). Shootouts are rather rarely annoying and missions are very enjoyable even for me who is usually eager to blame the game if my character gets killed.

One thing that I was worried about being ignored by Hangar 13 is driving model and I was so wrong. I'm a picky player who is familiar to titles like BeamNG Drive or Assetto Corsa, so I'm usually unhappy with driving models in various open world games. And regardless if I was tossing classics from 30s around streets of The Lost Heaven or driving like a chauffeur, I was happy as a clam. Even legendary race was a new challenge for me who made race from the original game look easy in my latest playthrough. I'm just past the last mission of the game and I'm already looking forward to get into free ride mode.

Mafia: Definitive Edition is one of the best games I have played in the recent past. If you're fan of original Mafia or its sequels, you will very likely enjoy Definitive Edition as long as you will let it be its own game in few aspects.