^If it runs you will enjoy it....
I'm now 15hours +- in... so my review of it:
Let's start with the negatives:
- Poorly optimized (fps, what
@Techy said a few posts above basicly, it reminded me instantly of Quantum break, where everything a meter away looks muddy and detail-less, but Quantum Break is far far worse, Steam version)
- The mentioned above lack of detail, muddy look
- Skybox that looks bad (I only noticed it after I saw it in a review)
- Textures that are hit or miss
- AI that is just okay
- Repetitive missions after the first 3 hours (when roaming becomes the main game, but they are still enjoyable, just stay in a district)
- Non story relevant missions : a lot of the missions, that are like in Godfather games, are just fillers. This is not true to the old Mafia games, where nearly every mission was essential to the story.
- Car sounds that seem to go trough a filter, lot of dynamic range noised out
- Upgrades, which could make the gameplay much more pleasable take too long to be unlocked...
The missunderstood parts of the game:
- While the breaching of the grid, bugging out phones lines seem trivial, it does affect the story. You will learn secrets about the Lt. and thus can blackmail them to work for you, giving more money...more unlocks. But it's again a feeled filler... (a few per district, whereas 1 would be enough)
- The Stealth mechanics actually work and are okay.... just that the AI is too stupid to spot that you just sliced their buddies throat... 5 meters in front of them
- Driving model on simulation is fun, not realistic but fun...
Now the good parts:
- The story missions, or even the filler missions that are relevant (Lieutants and Capos) are simply awesome
- Locations : the locations where the good missions happen are amazing... from a quarry to an amusment park...) The whole citsy looks good and detailed, just some textures are not worth of a AAA 2016 game)
- When all the boxes are ticked the game feels gorgoeus. really feels =/ to really is
- The facial animations
- The sound acting and lip sync are top notch...
- The atmosphere of the 60's, the social divide, the apartheid. It just fuels the game world, when every cops stars you down, when bypassers insult you, when dispatchers comment on the district, if it's worth for cops to show up or not.
- The atmosphere of the ambiant sound is amazing, going through the neighborhood at nights, hearing dogs bark in a distance and the like. It just feels and sounds awesome.
- The gun play, especially the pistols have a certain oomph to it. It's a joy to just stick with a 1911 and you will feel like Bruce Willis in Last man standing.
- The cops. I died mutiple times from their white hands
When "it" goes down, it starts to spill everywhere
To conclude, they stretched out the missions to much, trying to give more gameplay, to the cost of repetition and trying a bit to much of GTA-ing... They botched the release quality wise.
But other than that it still is an awesome game, that I still enjoy very much... especially when all the good points come together, it will leave a memorable gaming moment...
Some of the missions will be referenced in the future. Like the opening which is phenomenal...
Side note.... looking at youtube and early hands-on, it's seems like there was some sketchy business in play, showing off stuff that was better in preview builds than in the final. The opening suggests a better game than later the game really is.
So a bit misleading. Either from 2k or Hanger13.
But for their second game, Hanger13 delivered something special once everything is a bit better patched out...
I also paid 30bucks for it, and for that price it is worth it....
One need to take the nostalgic glasses of and be reminded that Mafia 1 and 2 where bug riddled when released, and actually worse than this...
Or the game breaking glitches or difficulty (The race in Mafia 1, anyone? (apparently that was a thing))
