A little over a year ago, a full-fledged remake great game about Italian-American criminals Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven , which I replayed a couple of years ago and even wrote my own review. And finally, we got our hands on the remake.
I’ll say right away that when I found out that the Hangar 13 studio was working on a remake, it bothered me a little.
Firstly, because they also worked on Mafia III. But in my opinion, conceptually the third part does not fit into the line of the Mafia series. If this were a separate work or at least a spin-off with some subtitle like “American Bandit”, then I would have nothing against. Well, there can’t be a black man in the mafia! This is technically impossible! In an organized criminal group (OCG) – yes, easily. But such an organized crime group will not be named mafia.
Secondly, because it was reported that there were plans to slightly refine the plot. Considering the tendency to reconsider various values, which is massively manifested in various works of art, I was tormented by vague doubts that the plot would not be finalized in such a way that Salieri and Morello would fall out on the basis of unrequited love, Sarah would turn out to be Asian, and the main character Thomas Angelo would be a black man. That would be the plot! For all the money!
I’ll make a reservation here. I am in no way racist or nationalist. But pushing blacks/Chinese/Indians/Arabs (underline as appropriate) into places where, by definition, they cannot exist, causes nothing but bewilderment and rejection, along with facepalming, turning into hysterical laughter (you can remember the same The Witcher from Netflix).
In general, I was cautiously optimistic about the upcoming remake.
Fortunately, the guys still didn’t fool around and try to combine incompatible things. Yes, there are improvements (both in the plot and in the gameplay) and not all of them benefited the game (in my opinion). But overall, there are still much more positives in the remake than negatives.
We could probably start with graphics. But comparing the image of the remake, created on the Mafia III engine, and the original, released in 2002, is a strange task, to put it mildly. Lost Haven recreated with the technical capabilities available today looks amazing!
What is annoying from the point of view of technical implementation is how the lighting works when moving from one room to another. To explain what I mean, I’ll give an example. The Deal of the Century mission begins with a discussion in Salieri’s garage. The garage door is open and sunlight naturally illuminates it. So, if you look from the room adjacent to the garage into the garage itself, it visually looks like it’s quite light there, but when you go out the door, everything around you becomes noticeably darker. It looks strange, but fortunately, I didn’t come across many moments where it would have been very noticeable. In general, not a critical point. And such a picture is observed not only in the Mafia.
How the lighting in the garage changes, depending on whether you are in the utility room or in the garage itself
How the lighting in the garage changes, depending on whether you are in the utility room or in the garage itself
What’s also a little annoying is that the character must move into the animation of some action from a strictly defined position. For example, when I press the action button to pull a lever, and the character is very close to it at that moment, he will first move away, then approach, stand in the appropriate position and only then perform the required action. Enemies occasionally move with some kind of jerky animation (almost jerky), which at these moments makes it difficult to aim at them. The corpses of killed enemies sometimes get stuck in strange positions, but this is a small matter.
Also, a point that is completely indirectly related to graphics is the staging of cut scenes. In general, everything is fine with her here, but still not without nuances. For example, the cutscene in which Tommy first meets Sam and Paulie in the original, in my opinion, looks more dramatic. The moment when the camera follows Tom’s dropped cigarette seems to characterize his understanding of what kind of ass he’s gotten himself into. And the same can be said about the moment when Sam returns to him from Salieri’s bar, with the goal of handing over the reward for their involuntary rescue. In the original, this moment also looks more dramatic and perfectly shows the nervousness of Tom, who only expected a portion of lead as a reward from the bandits.
The music and sound in general in the game are pleasant. Most of the music is new. There are only a few tracks left from the original soundtrack, if I’m not mistaken, I still don’t remember it that well. Well, in general, the music while driving was replaced with an in-game radio with two stations. One of them is news radio, where most of the time they broadcast all sorts of news. You can also hear the official version of some events in which you took part, or they simply broadcast about some distant events (such as the weather). And the second – for the most part, music radio with licensed hits of that time. Here I can only repeat what I wrote in review of the second Mafia. Personally, the music from the Mafia II era is much closer to me, which is why I like its soundtrack much more. This is also true in the case of the original version of Mafia. And it’s not that the music here is bad. No, she’s good. It’s just a matter of my taste preference. So, I ask fans of the music of the original first Mafia (and the remake too) not to blame me for this. But when the motif of the main musical theme of the game begins to play at key moments in the plot of the game, it simply causes delight in the soul!
Of the bugs related to the sound, https://playspielothekcasino.uk/ I personally remember only one – this is when Paulie seems to be saying something to me, standing next to me, and the sound of his voice is as if I had moved 10 meters away.
I noticed another type of not really bugs in the game… more like flaws, which I don’t even know where to attribute. Either to the graphics or to the sound. In general, the point is that in some cases the characters speak, but their lips do not move at all. Or vice versa, judging by the animation – the characters are having a fascinating conversation, but no dialogue occurs except a couple of words on both sides. I played the game in Russian localization and perhaps the problem lies in it. But thinking about what these situations I noticed looked like, I would guess that in the original they look about the same. The fact that this is not a localization problem is also indicated by the fact that I noticed such moments only in random characters, whom the player may not notice at all while running past.
The gameplay of the remake is redesigned in such a way that it is very reminiscent of that of Mafia II. It’s worth mentioning here that it’s more reminiscent of the gameplay of Mafia III, but I haven’t played it (and don’t plan to). So, apparently, the shooting mechanics in the third part just migrated from the second. But I must note that I quite like this system and it works, in my opinion, better than what was in the original. On the other hand, here Hangar 13 clearly just didn’t bother and invent anything new. After all, to rework the mechanics of shooting from behind cover, the character movement system itself would have to be reworked. But as I already said, I have nothing against it. For the most part, I liked the shooting in the remake (as I liked it in Mafia II).
Unlike gunfights, melee combat is different from the second part. The moment when it is necessary to dodge a blow is carefully highlighted on the screen, and then it’s a matter of technique. Opponents cannot interrupt a series of blows, and if you have already hit once, you can almost calmly beat until the enemy passes out. It’s all so simple that you even get lost, why is this close combat needed here at all?. No, in the original it was far from ideal either, but at least some kind of challenge was felt there. In the second part, hand-to-hand combat was simpler, but even there it was much easier to make a mistake. In general, melee combat in the remake didn’t really suit me. Or rather, I just don’t understand why it exists in this form.
Although I have to admit that it did cause me some problems. But not because of its complexity, but because there are separate keys dedicated to it. Every time… every fucking time the game forced me to engage in close combat, I tried to fight with the mouse. While for him “left Alt” is allocated for evasion, and “Q” for attack. But every time I forgot about it, it turned out to be so unintuitive for me. Actually, this is the only reason why from time to time, at the beginning of the fight, I could miss blows and not attack in response. This was done, apparently, so that the player could stockpile the enemy, even if he has a gun in his hand. But damn, why is this necessary remains a mystery to me. I had exactly one situation where I was attacked by a guy with a bat while I was trying to shoot him with a pistol!
Driving is generally quite pleasant. Again, I would compare it to the second Mafia. The behavior of cars on the roads here is approximately similar. That doesn’t mean I was good at driving. I generally have problems with this in games, so I rarely play racing games (by the way, share in the comments which of the new or relatively new arcade racing games are worth playing). For the same reason, the most unpleasant mission of the game for me was “Fair Game”, with a race. Here I am, after several catastrophically unsuccessful attempts, I just completed it on reduced difficulty.
I could be wrong, but it seemed to me that the traffic in the game is thinner than it was in the original. And in my opinion, this is quite realistic, given the time period. Although, for greater realism, it was probably possible to implement a gradual increase in the number of cars, depending on what year it is in the plot.
But the police were rather upset. Even if the difficulty level of law enforcement is set to “simulator”, it can pose a threat only when the entire Lost Haven police have turned against the player. And even then, if you drive better than me, most likely this will not be a particular problem for you. The police work here is much worse than even in Mafia II. But there, too, it wasn’t much of a problem to hide from her. In my opinion, a certain balance between the complexity of police patrols from the first and second Mafia would be ideal.
Another point indirectly related to driving. All minor missions, which in the original were given by Luca Bertone, were cut out of the story campaign, as a reward for which you could get new types of cars. As far as I understand, these missions have been moved to the "Walk" mode. Apparently, the developers decided not to distract the player from the plot narrative. But I’m still sad that they were removed from the main game.
And in general, in some missions something was removed, in others something was added. For example, from the mission “The bastard is lucky!» one and a half attempts to kill Sergio Morello were removed. More precisely, two failed assassination attempts were removed and instead they added their own version, combining elements of the cut ones and immediately moving on to a chase and shootout in the port.
Well, let’s actually move on to the plot, which is the cornerstone of the Mafia, on which everything else is already superimposed – graphics, music and even gameplay. This is my opinion. It is the changes made to the plot narrative that cause the most controversy. My reasoning on this matter, of course, will not put an end to these disputes, but, nevertheless.
So, at the beginning of the game, having received the money, Tom, although he reflects on this matter, but the very next working day thinks that maybe this is not such a bad option. And he essentially simply uses the situation with his failed “punishment” for, albeit involuntary, but still helping Salieri’s guys, to get a “job”. Indeed, in the remake, he himself volunteers to take revenge on his offenders and happily brings this initiative to life. At the same time, the scene where it is said that he was kicked out of work because he began to “attract problems” was simply cut out. But it very well characterizes both Tom’s further motivation and the situation on the capitalist labor market as a whole. The employer doesn’t give a damn about his employees. And don’t give a damn that the employee’s only fault is that he found himself in a situation where he found himself between an indefinitely shitty and a deadly shitty choice.
To summarize the plot, in the original Tom Angelo had a choice – either to remain without work with uncertain (or rather, quite definite) prospects, or to work for Don Salieri. He chose the second option. In the remake, he himself is eager to join the ranks of Salieri’s bandits and doesn’t really reflect on this.
Here I can’t help but mention Salieri’s speech when hiring Tom Angelo for the “job”. Listing the “rules,” he says: “First, we never swear,” “Second, no dealings with drugs,” and “Third, we don’t want problems with the cops.”. As a result, Salieri himself violates all these principles of his, which, as it were, becomes the reason for the well-known turn at the end of the game. But the first “rule”… damn, seriously? What kind of kindergarten is this?? You can rob and kill, but swear no, no! But it was impossible to get by with two rules?! Or come up with something more plausible?
This reminds me of the law banning swearing in movies. You can show scenes of drug use, brutal violence and unbridled sex, but swearing?! No… we are fighting for morality! Same here. Apparently for mentioning such and such a mother, members of Don Salieri’s organized crime group are immediately expelled from the organization! And since, as you know, there is only one way out of the mafia, they apparently exclude it immediately 2 meters underground. In general, complete absurdity.
Ennio Salieri himself, throughout most of the game, has the feeling that he is stupidly fixated on his colleague in a dangerous business – Marco Morello. All his actions, including the murder of Morello, are aimed only at annoying his competitor.
Returning to Tom, sometimes his actions in the remake look strange and illogical. Either he doesn’t reflect at all, or out of the blue, he can’t kill the man who threatened Sarah. And immediately after that, his boss sends him to shoot a woman. Yes, a representative of an ancient profession, yes, a leaker of information to competitors, but still a woman. I would like to ask Don Salieri if he is sane? What gives him confidence that Tom will carry out such an assignment? However, he turns off the reflection mode back and does not kill the lady only because Sam asks him to do so. It seems that the above-mentioned moment with reflection was left only in order not to redraw the further plot outline and gameplay, where you have to finish off the half-shot dude.
Likewise, I don’t understand why Tom saved Frank’s life. If in the original this act stems from the fact that, firstly, Tom tries to retain the traits of an honest man who lives by gangster rules only due to the circumstances, although he accepted this fate. And secondly, from his friendly attitude towards Frank and his reluctance to kill him. From the point of view of a bandit – an unacceptable mistake. From the point of view of Tom, who is trying to remain human and holds on to his principles – on the contrary. Only Tom in the remake behaves like a typical bandit. Therefore, what made him not kill Frank is unclear to me.
And one more thing about Frank. At the end of the game, when it turns out that he was eventually identified and killed, Tom asks Sam, they say, what happened to his family. To which Sam responds with a gesture that is clearly interpreted as “them too.”. It’s quite strange. Firstly, initially, Tommy’s task was to take the life of only the former consigliere himself. Secondly, (I could be wrong here) family Italians usually did not touch convicted mafia members. Moreover, at the end of the game, this thesis is confirmed in practice, when Tom, who was shot, says that now his family can live peacefully in safety. In this regard, the murder of Frank’s family causes some bewilderment.
In my opinion, either Sam lied, or in this way the authors simply wanted to show Don Salieri in the most unfavorable light. But it doesn’t look very reliable, and there was no particular need for it. After all, Salieri doesn’t evoke any sympathy anyway. If at the beginning of the game he is still trying to seem like a decent and reasonable person, then gradually this veneer of artificial “decency” disappears from him and it becomes clear that he is no different from his former friend and accomplice – Morello.
As for the characters of the game as a whole, it is worth highlighting Sarah and detective Norman.
Sarah is given much more screen time here, due to which she is much better developed than in the original. It is clear that due to the specific environment in which she grew up, she understands Tom very well, but his occupation does not cause her delight. After all, she knows perfectly well the risks associated with it. And the cutscene where Tom returns home tired after another difficult task, during which everything went awry, and after a silent but very telling scene proposes to Sarah, is one of the most powerful in terms of drama.
Detective Norman, in my humble opinion, is generally the best character in the game. Although, perhaps, this opinion of mine is due to the fact that in the original it looks much worse. There he looks not like a serious and experienced detective, but like some kind of boy scout who is afraid of getting dirty by communicating with a person like Tom Angelo. Here, he is a calculating and cynical representative of the law. Entering the cafe, he, knowing full well that Tom is in a very difficult situation, immediately puts him in his place, showing him who is in charge here. It is also noticeable that he is somewhat skeptical and distrustful of the fact that Tom can provide him with really useful information. But as Tommy tells his story, his opinion gradually changes dramatically. And having already listened to him completely, but realizing that it would not be easy to ensure complete safety for Tom’s family, convinces still make a deal.
Of the other characters, perhaps only auto mechanic Ralphie evokes sympathy. He is probably the only one who can be considered a victim of circumstances. In any case, it looks like the only thing that keeps him here is the opportunity to do what he loves, which he is good at. But it may not be so easy for him to go somewhere else, due to possible prejudice due to his stuttering.
Vincenzo, unlike the original, is shown as a rather colorful character, but again, as a typical bandit, you never feel sorry for him. Paulie just behaves like a complete asshole the entire game, which is generally typical for a bandit. But besides, he is also shown to be not very smart. Unlike Sam. This one at first evokes a certain sympathy with its restraint and ostentatious manners. And only later does he show his true insides, turning out to be a smart, calculating and cynical bastard who tries to turn any situation in his favor, regardless of personal relationships. In this regard, as a character he turned out just great. However, it was approximately the same in the original, but there it was not expressed so clearly.
Well, by the way, the fact that the bandits in the game, where these same bandits are the main characters, are shown as scum and do not evoke any sympathy, I would call the main advantage of the remake.
In the original there was a certain touch of romance over them. The same Paulie evoked much more sympathy at the end of the game, when he was killed in his own apartment. Don Salieri showed his gangster nature only at the very end, when he hid from his guys that they were stealing not cigars, but diamonds (in the remake, this episode was slightly redone, again, apparently, to please Salieri’s initial speech about the “rules”). And even then, in the original, Sam told Tom that the Don later told him about the diamonds. That is, perhaps he would not have abandoned them in the end. But at this point Tom had no choice.
As a result, a remake Mafia. The City of Lost Heaven turned out to be very worthy, although not without some oddities. In terms of plot narration, it differs from the original in tone and due to this, they are perceived differently.
When immersing yourself in any work (provided that it is good), you always involuntarily empathize with the main character, associating yourself with him. And in this regard, the original Mafia evokes more compassion and empathy for Thomas Angelo, since there he is shown as a much more positive character who simply found himself in difficult circumstances. But if you think about it with a cool head, you still understand that Tom is a criminal and he deserved his fate. The remake leads to this understanding better.
Thus, both the original and the remake are excellent works. I have no doubt that some fans of the original did not accept the updated version of the Mafia. But personally, after completing both, I don’t want to pit them against each other. Both versions of the game have both strengths and weaknesses. The only thing is that the less romanticization of the main characters of the game in the remake appeals to me more. And due to this, on my scale the remake still slightly outweighs.
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