Others say...

"Mafia - Horrible Game - Save Your Money"
Mafia, good title, poor execution. this is not GTA! too much time driving in this game..for what!! no reward for good driving. Don't run anyone over, or the police will arrest you. a cut-scene would have been better between missions than this idiotic driving. speaking of missions, no in game save, so you must keep trying a level over and over until you win. the worst mission is when you have to drive a sports car at a race. this is hopeless. don't look around for health, you won't find it in many missions. no bonus points with the mob, so don't waste your time roughing up the town folks. don't even bother stealing cars. nothing increases your wise guy status. I have played MANY games, this is the WORST. This is very frustrating. Your partner, Paulie does not take direction, so he is always running into trouble, getting killed and your mission is over..guess what..start from the beginning..ALSO all you cheaters out there..NO CHEATS in this game to get you past the tough spots, just lots on mindless repetition. SAVE YOUR MONEY and SKIP this GAME!!!

"Live The Gangster Life"
Make sure you meet the minimum requirenments to run the game otherwise it will be a bit jerky. An enjoyable game with a good storyline to keep you interested.

"Great"
Even though the game is several years old - it is fantastic fun! If you just bought a new PC and havent played a PC game in a while - this is the one to buy (and the price is right!)

"Mafia"
This game tuyrned out to be a different game than what I was expecting. I must have gotten my information mixed up.

What a great surprise. I really enjoyed this game, once I learned the keyboard commands. I am only about half way through, and they keep surprising me with new things. This game is a joy to play.

"An amazing experience, and a pretty good game"
Whatever you feel about playing Mafia (PC), its place in gaming history is concrete. The very first open-world game to represent gangster life of the 1930s (and do so with a high degree of historical accuracy), Mafia drops the player into an alternate reality New York city. "Lost Heaven" is teeming with criminals, immigrants, and upper crust debutantes, each making their way in a fully realized cityscape of the past. Shantytowns, elegant Victorian era hotels, rural city outskirts, even a fully functional A-Train fresh off the engineer's drawing pad are at your disposal. Add in amazingly appropriate music tracks, a massive selection of ersatz 30s era jalopies, sympathetic characters living in a believable storyline, and great voice acting, and youve got a fully immersive experience. And the gameplay itself is nearly as good.

The developers made a commendable effort to give the player as much control over his environment as possible, and largely succeeded. The on-foot engine has a similar feel to the GTA (PC) scheme, and suffers some of the same frailties. A stiff somewhat unresponsive movement mechanic can make some basic interactions (like opening doors or hand to hand combat) awkward, but is honestly no worse than the average 3rd person shooter. And considering the lack of fistfighting required to advance, it's really not a hurdle. Much of the game is spent in vehicles, which is a saving grace of the gameplay. Like the boys at Rockstar, Mafia's developers (Illusion Softworks) are clearly car enthusiasts who put painstaking efforts into their digital machines. While none are licensed, car buffs will instantly recognize shapes, sounds and other characteristics of classic cars in Mafia's invented models. A Model T clone sputters and grinds its gears, emitting a perfect "A-OOOOO-GAH" horn blast; another closely resembles a Stutz Bearcat with its sleek lines, rumbling exhaust and powerful pull. There's even a brilliant race level where a vintage open formula racer gurgles, smokes, and squeals its way around the city's racetrack, leaving the player stunned with the sensation of speed and danger.

Unlike the world of GTA, however, Lost Heaven exists within an alternate reality instead of an inconsequential pulp-fiction fantasy universe. Bad behavior bears retribution in Lost Heaven: cars are not easy to steal (initially), traffic infractions result in tickets, and violent behavior brings grave consequences. Players who have completed the game certainly get this. And along with the compelling storyline comes a much stricter path of advancement. While the city is lovingly crafted with the finest era-specific details laid out over many square miles, there is honestly very little to do besides the main story missions. Besides indulging your wanderlust, visiting remote areas of the town bear no rewards beyond the visual. And close examination reveals a city that doesnt want to be examined. Many building textures are dull and low-res, and there is little interactivity with NPCs or objects beside cars. Buildings are non-enterable and even certain areas (like the racetrack and the countryside) are sealed off after their part in the storyline is played. And the "side-missions" are silly and superflous; probably only included to give the illusion of depth. This, for me, was the biggest disappointment of the game: that waking-from-a-dream feeling when I was continually reminded that Lost Heaven and the game overall were rather superficial or "fake". And that criticism only results from the occasional taste of the fully realized explorable universe Mafia could have been, although that may have been an impossible job for a small independent east European developer. I'm sure the game was a Herculean task as it is.

The graphical detail of Mafia supports what I've suspected for a while: that game level designers are frustrated architects. There are a few levels in Mafia, including the hotel assasination and farmhouse raid, that are just breathtaking. While the actual gameplay never strays too far from the simple "kill all bad guys" formula, I had to occasionally put down the tommygun and soak in the stunning atmosphere. Creeping about a deserted farmhouse on a stormy fall night in upstate Lost Heaven, not knowing if the next barn door I open would be my last, was a chilling experience. Sneaking about an opulent 19th century hotel detailed in near photorealism was a sight I can't begin to describe. (Screenshots you've seen dont do the game justice). Even if the game itself were mediocre, it would deserve a play just to witness the amazing level architecture. Yeah, that good.

So if you're a PC gamer who enjoys a solid adventure or 3rd person shooter, find time for Mafia if you havent already. As a final note, this is like so many other modern era 3-D PC games that flat out lie about system requirements. You really can't do the game justice without a decent rig, at least 2-2.5 gig P4 with a an Nvidia 6xxx or higher card. It eats some resources, but put it on a system that can display in a high resolution with no frame drop and it's an amazing experience. And I had good success with a Logitech Dual Action controller (in the left hand) and mouse (right hand) setup. The analog sticks are a great assistance with driving, although it will take some effort to map all the buttons to your liking.