Support NeoGAF

[xPikYx]

I recently purchased this game on sale last week for PC and playing it and I wanted to say how much surprised I am about it. I played the original Mafia in 2002 and back then I was amazed by the story, the characters, the graphic, the music, it was a mastepiece and I really want to make my compliments to the developer of this remake for what they've done, the game as I knew it is exactly there but perfectly remade, by playing it I'm having the same feeling I was experiencing when I played the original, I'm amazed by the graphic, the characters, the story, the music (I modded the game with the original soundtrack and radio tunes). After Resident Evil remake and resident Evil 2 remake this is another great example of how a remake should be made. What do you you think of it?

 

[Sleepwalker]

What GTA shouldve been

 

[mansoor1980]

very good remake , felt like a labour of love for fans of the original release.

 

[M16]

loved it. amazing remake. will play it again soon

 

[tommib]

It’s an amazing remake. Play it, people.

 

[intbal]

Hangar 13's raytraced cube map tech is an example of a perfect middle ground solution. 90% of the visual appeal of true raytraced reflections without the huge performance hit.
Some slight gameplay "improvements" that I don't agree with, but otherwise a great remake.

 

[xPikYx]

It is great, I'm playing it at classic difficulty plus realism mod (basically if you get shot once you're dead, plus if you get cover you can't see what is behind it,only your character)and it is really on the next level

 

[xPikYx]

Hangar 13's raytraced cube map tech is an example of a perfect middle ground solution. 90% of the visual appeal of true raytraced reflections without the huge performance hit.
Some slight gameplay "improvements" that I don't agree with, but otherwise a great remake.

Agree, they are great indeed, I really thought sometimes they were ray-traced

 

[mansoor1980]

Hangar 13's raytraced cube map tech is an example of a perfect middle ground solution. 90% of the visual appeal of true raytraced reflections without the huge performance hit.
Some slight gameplay "improvements" that I don't agree with, but otherwise a great remake.

any screens? that seems interesting

 

[lem0n]

I've never played any of the Mafia games but I'll pick it up thanks to this thread. Wow at those screenshots!

 

[SlimySnake]

The city looks stunning on PC. There havent been many games set in urban cities this gen so our only comparison is the Watch Dog games, Cybperunk and Spiderman, but this game is a cut above all of them. The buildings dont look like flat 2D textures. Every building has reflective windows and fire escape ladders sticking out that give it a more 3D look. The building textures look way better than they do in Watch Dogs games, probably because they are mostly brick, but it gives the game a less plasticy look. I dont know I played Cyberpunk at max settings with ray traced lighting and reflections and this game looks just as good if not better at times. My 2080 can run it around 45 FPS at max settings at 4k whereas cybperunk literally tops out at 6 fps at 1440p max settings. Without DLSS, that game is unplayable.

I dont think they did enough to improve the combat or make the game fun to play though. I have been trying to finish it for over a year after buying it day one last year and still havent come close. I just boot it up now and then to free roam around the world. It looks that good.

 

[DenchDeckard]

How is it on Series X / PS5 or should I only go with PC?

 

[amigastar]

I still have to finish it. But so far its really good.

 

[Max Payne’s Baretta]

Great remake but I just didn’t like the combat at all couldn’t get through it.

 

[winjer]

Yes, it was one of the best remasters that I played this year.
Wish more were of this high quality.

 

[intbal]

any screens? that seems interesting

DF's videos for the PC version came out before Hangar 13 revealed the tech, but the console versions have the same implementation. Here's a video discussing the tech, cued up to the relevant section.

 

[emivita]

Only played Mafia 1 original on PC back then, and then 2 and 3 on Playstation. I don't have a powerful PC, and I'm on the fence whether to play Mafia Remake on PS4 Pro now or wait for a PS5 version in the future.

Also, I'm probably one of very few people who liked Mafia 3 for what it was. Maybe because I have a weakness for revenge stories.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Was great, except for the racing. Fuck that garbage, original and remake.

 

[Edder1]

It's ok, 7/10. Radical changes to main characters were really a huge letdown. Tommy became just a another generic mafia lookalike, Paulie's character is a completely different take on him, Sarah became another modern day strong and independent woman, Salieri was ok but too young, something that took away from his intimating personality in the original.Some of the other issues were animations like jumping and climbing being horrendous, shooting could have have been tighter, features from the original like being able to ride a tram completely missing

Overall more positives than negatives, but original vision was sacrificed by the devs and that imo no longer makes it a classic that 2002 game was.

 

[rofif]

I was expecting it to be better.
Things that I thught were bad:
-They changed Tommy into gruff criminal straight from the beginning of the story. Original Mafia was a story of a good, normal person getting involved in Mafia. Now he just seems like a criminal with his voice and face.
-City grapghics were great, characters not so much. Animiation also mediocre
-Music was terrible

 

[Edder1]

.

 

[MiguelItUp]

very good remake , felt like a labour of love for fans of the original release.

And THAT is what EVERY remake (and remaster) SHOULD be. It's so sad when they're NOT that. You're taking something that's obviously beloved enough to receive a remake or even a remaster. It means to give it even more love, make it even better. It's so sad to see remakes and remasters poorly handled. Especially when the final result is worse than the original game. It's so incredibly gross.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Nice post OP. Is modding the original OST into the game something you've done by yourself? Or are there any mods for that? Hate when remakes change (and usually butcher) the music of a game.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Just recently bought it on sale. Will be giving it a go soon!

 

[Bluecondor]

I agree that the remade city is excellent. I would really like to see something more done with this city in a game. Since the original set of missions was designed for a more static version of the city, it would be amazing to see a DLC (or even the modern equivalent of the progression in gameplay and missions between GTA to GTA: Vice City) that takes advantage of this highly-detailed city and populates it more (both with NPCs and businesses, fronts, strongholds and the like).

 

[HellforLeather]

I played through it recently and enjoyed it, but I dont think I would care to play it again. The story is pretty good and it pushes you through the kinda meh gameplay.

Was great, except for the racing. Fuck that garbage, original and remake.

This was one of the only things I knew about this game before diving in. I remember people complaining about the race. Honestly, I didnt find it too horrible but the physics are not great. I beat it on first attempt with the "simulation" handling. As long as you dont get collected by the other AI in the first lap, I found it to be pretty easy.

 

[R6Rider]

Was very fun. Can't compare the original as I never played, but was well worth it at launch.

 

[Agent X]

I noticed that this game was on PlayStation Now. I had considered trying it (never played the original), so it's good to hear some encouraging words about this game.

 

[DaGwaphics]

It does look nice, though I've only played through the opening parts.

The only criticism I have for it is maybe they should have tried to reuse the voice recordings from the original. Those come off as a little less authentic than the original, but that could just be nostalgia talking.

 

[THE DUCK]

Always meant to try mafia, never aged any of them, kept waiting for a sale on the remasters.
Sounds like I should get moving on this.

 

[Kuranghi]

I got it for freaking 12 pounds on PS4 with a coupon so can't wait to start it this week coming. I really wish they would unlock fps for PS5 though

 

[Fare thee well]

It was really well done. Story was done just as well as the first one for the most part. I wanted a little more fun out of the free ride mode like the good ol days but it wasn't quite there. I spent way longer in the OG freeride compared to the new one. Maybe that was just being a bored kiddo, idk.

 

[MikeM]

Got this for “free” from PS Plus. Besides the 30 fps its a surprisingly solid and great looking game.

Edit: PS Now.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Got this for “free” from PS Plus. Besides the 30 fps its a surprisingly solid and great looking game.

You mean PS Now, yeah?

I can see why they're going to restructure/rebrand.

 

[nemiroff]

It's a great remake indeed. Looks mighty fine on PC with ReShadE running on top.

 

[MikeM]

You mean PS Now, yeah?

I can see why they're going to restructure/rebrand.

My mistake- Yes, PS Now.

 

[IDappa]

Just picked up the trilogy for 30 bucks and beat the remaster in a weekend was a ripper of an experience. Story was great, I had never played the OG one so never experienced it before and the gamaplay was extremely satisfying, especially when using the shotty. You can just fold people in half with it. I Recommend everyone should give it a go.

Only disappointing thing about it was how short it was. I just wanted to keep experiencing the story I was that invested.

 

[Shmunter]

Do we get 60fps on new consoles?

 

[Denton]

You should replay the original, it is still significantly better at game design and storytelling (and physics, believe it or not).

Remake is still fun and has gorgeous graphics, but it needlessly changed quite a few aspects for worse. A consequence of having different people in charge and also only having 2 years to make it.

 

[Kenpachii]

Yea this game is a looker for sure.

 

[IDappa]

You should replay the original, it is still significantly better at game design and storytelling (and physics, believe it or not).

Remake is still fun and has gorgeous graphics, but it needlessly changed quite a few aspects for worse. A consequence of having different people in charge and also only having 2 years to make it.

What are the major differences that put you off the remaster compared to the original?

 

[anthraticus]

You should replay the original, it is still significantly better at game design and storytelling (and physics, believe it or not).

Remake is still fun and has gorgeous graphics, but it needlessly changed quite a few aspects for worse. A consequence of having different people in charge and also only having 2 years to make it.

Someone on youtube translated some of Daniel Vavra's comments about the remake:

"The worst part about the remake is that I had an idea I wanted to convey, but now the idea is gone and the only thing that remains is just a plain shooter game, just because someone rewrote the script, just because someone didn't put his own idea in it, just like "family is my everything, I would do anything for them" is a sentence you will hear from every guy when he drinks 5 beers, there's nothing more to this... If I was a script doctor, I would tell him to rewrite the whole thing, purely from the professional view, the original script from 18 years ago works better, if someone rewrote the script and didn't understand what the idea was, and ignored the biggest ideas from the first Mafia game, then I'm pretty sad and disappointed because all the effort and ideas we put in the first game are gone and this will be the only thing people will play in the next 10 years. (because of the better graphics) It's missed opportunity, it's pity that most of the magic is gone, don't get me wrong, the graphics are gorgeous, the acting is great, but the philosophy of the realistic game is gone, everything that made the game a classic is gone, now it's just generic third person cover shooter, and there has been lot of these games in the last 15 years. I put a lot of effort, time and a whole part of my life to make this game work, and trust me, it was a hell."

 

[xPikYx]

Well the original experience was on PC in 2002 and PC gaming back then was for a niche of people and generally more hardcore (as the majority of the games back then), nowadays everything is made for the sake of money to please the majority of people without picking any direction, but on PC at least you can mod the game, because the PC was the original platform and still is the platform, and choose that direction, on PC you can install the realism project mod (which I did) and the game magically become closer and so better than the original, just modifying those things that the developer didn't have the guts to. But actually it's up the user, if the user buy a console, he is choosing a mainstream platform and so will have mainstream experiences

 

[Chris_Rivera]

I can’t believe it never got a next gen patch. I would have bought it long ago if it did.

 

[legacy24]

started it today and I'm impressed so far I love stuff that's based in this era movies, games etc the 30 fps is rough however but I will get used it

 

[anthraticus]

Well the original experience was on PC in 2002 and PC gaming back then was for a niche of people and generally more hardcore (as the majority of the games back then), nowadays everything is made for the sake of money to please the majority of people without picking any direction, but on PC at least you can mod the game, because the PC was the original platform and still is the platform, and choose that direction, on PC you can install the realism project mod (which I did) and the game magically become closer and so better than the original, just modifying those things that the developer didn't have the guts to. But actually it's up the user, if the user buy a console, he is choosing a mainstream platform and so will have mainstream experiences

Yea, I'm actually playing 2 right now with this difficulty mod and it brings the gameplay a lot closer to classic Mafia 1 in terms of lethality, so there is some saving grace on PC with mods, at least as far as the gameplay goes.

AlteredMafia2

Brings a new challenge with a more realistic difficulty.

www.nexusmods.com

Unfortunate what they did with the story though, straying too far from the og, as nothing will fix that, so no, it can't possibly be "so better than the original". Everything else you wrote I agree with though.

 

[xPikYx]

Well for the story you are right, or you like it or you don't, I personally like it so for me it is better than the original

 

[J3nga]

It's good, I really like it, but it's not without flaws, mainly animations are very outdated and are ripped off from Mafia 3 which weren't really great to begin with. I would also recommend OP getting some mods installed from nexus mods, like better weapon sounds, original music, disable objects highlighting, those are some quality of life improvements.

 

[Vick]

I loved it. Graphics, from both technical and artistic point of view, are simply stunning and on every platform.
Enjoyed the collectibles alot, same for the story and characters. Played on Classic difficulty and outside of that portion of Chapter 5 i truly had a blast.

Only relative issues i have with it are the lack of things to do in the city, some changes made from the original, soundtrack non being in the same league as the second one, and controls wise it's just your average third person shooter = shit compared to something like Uncharted 4 but as funcional as the majority of tps out there, and definitely better than things like Evil Within 2 nonetheless.

One of the best Remakes i could think of. Sorry Vavra.

 

[Esppiral]

The remake does not get the praise it deserves, it is absolutely fantastic and I am still hopping for a Nex gen patch or frame rate unlock.