Yeah, not 100% sure what he’s trying, but it doesn’t work (for me anyway).
Interesting: Karak’s review mentions skippable driving sections.
I stopped watching him too. Couldn’t suffer through reviews filled with sayings like “hotter than a diabetic pygmy prostitute eating a bag of donuts in a Catholic church”.
which sucks, because he’s an otherwise competent reviewer who – most importantly! – speaks in a normal tone and refrains from YELLING during his reviews.
Didn’t get that far, but I can see the point. Personally, I enjoyed driving around the city/countryside in Mafia 1 but some people just want to progress through the missions. Optional fast travel has become the norm nowadays.
I didn’t mind not skipping driving in Mafias 2 & 3, but i just thought it was an interesting development.
Finally got my pre-order download started. Work tomorrow as gonna draaaaag.
I played little less than 2 hours so far. I like it. It is not “Mafia: Definitive Edition” - that would be the 2002 original by far - but it is a very enjoyable modern game inspired by the original Mafia game. Some changes are for worse, some for better, but it feels like a very different game. Even when playing on classic difficulty, with simulation driving and cops, it feels more arcadey. But still enjoyable. And graphically beautiful. And unlike Mafia 3, I haven’t seen any technical issues yet and it never dropped below 60fps.
What have they done with that bloody race mission? Still scarred from that 18 years later…
It’s much easier thanks the the improved driving model.
Some quick thoughts:
- A Wilhelm Scream in the opening mission? Come on, sound folks! Stop using this tired-ass effect.
- Lost Heaven is simply gorgeous now.
- Why did the devs go with clear bubbles as the checkpoints for the test drive challenge?
- Did the original game have the freeroam option i the menu? I don’t remember.
It did have a freeroam mode separate from the story. Not that there was anything to do apart from joyride.
That’s what I used to think when I tried freeroam in the original too, which is why I didn’t bother for very long. But I read on Qt3 later that after you finished the game, the free ride extreme mode actually did have lots of missions. I missed out on those. I had no idea.
Freeroam also allows you to go back to rooms and buildings to pick up collectibles.
Were there collectibles in the original Mafia? I thought that started with the Playboy mags in Mafia 2.
No, me either. Wow. In fact, it even has a UFO!
I am 6 hours in. My impressions remain the same. I love it, but it does not replace the original game, it is too different. Different script in lot of ways, with characters acting differently, different soundtrack, different atmosphere. I am actually quite pleased with that, since it feels fresher than it would otherwise. Of course, some changes are good, some are less good as these things go.
It had story, free ride, and free ride extreme, with those crazy missions.
No collectibles in the original, which I prefer. Playboys from Mafia 3 are probably the only collectible (besides Gwent cards) that I enjoyed getting, because apart from nude ladies there were some amazing longform interviews with interesting people that I would not get to read otherwise.
Anyway, here is me doing the race on classic difficulty
It was a bit challenging, but not too bad. Might be harder with keyboard though.
Heh, I would not have thought about putting a full on race game in the middle of a crime RPG, but it sure looked fun. I never played the original or any of the series, mind you, so this is the first I’ve actually seen of any gameplay. I have to say, while the models of the cars and environments are pretty good, and the characters are fine, the voice acting… Let’s just say “The Sopranos” it ain’t. And, um, why are they all drinking beer while the tarantella plays in the background? Red wine should be flowing liberally! Though admittedly, my wife’s Italian family is all from southern Italy by way of the Bronx, so maybe these guys are, I dunno, northern Italians or something.
It irked me that the Playboys in Mafia 3 were the same ones from Mafia 2.
I played a few chapters earlier and im enjoying it so far, but man…i gotta remember I’m not driving Lincoln Clay’s car. Holy crow, these things move like tanks. Filled with cement.
I was having trouble with the race on classic when playing with keyboard and mouse, but after changing to a controller it wasn’t too tough. A little hairy here and there, but nothing compared to the pre-patch original.
Overall, I’m enjoying it so far but not as much as Mafia 3. I’m not the biggest fan of Paulie’s performance and look (certainly haven’t warmed up to him yet), but the rest of the cast do a decent job.