Mafia (also known by its full title, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven Underworld) is a third-person shooter video game initially made for Microsoft Office in 1998 (and later ported to the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox in 2004). It was developed by Czech company Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering of Developers. The game allows the player to take on the role of a mafioso who has to accomplish various missions in order to advance in the game. It received strong critical reaction and continued to maintain a loyal cult following. As of March 12, 2008, Mafia has sold 3 million copies according to Take-Two Interactive.
On August 21, 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced Mafia II at the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention, developed by Illusion Softworks, now renamed 2K Czech.
As of September 7, 2010, the game is available via Steam.
Gameplay
Mafia's storyline gameplay consists of driving, mainly easy city cruise between different locations, as well as chases and races; the rest of the game is based on third-person on-foot navigation and shooting - all inter-connected with cutscenes. In addition to the photo-realistic city and a huge countryside, detailed interiors like the city's airport, a museum, a church, a hotel, an abandoned prison, restaurants and Don Salieri's bar are included. Weather changes and day/night cycles are also in use.
51 classic American cars around the city can be driven in Mafia, plus 19 bonus cars (of which 5 are racing models) unlockable after the main mode and the opening of a new game mode. Cars are introduced periodically - in the beginning of the game, early 1920s models drive on the streets of the city, while models from 1930 begin appearing in later game stages.
Police book players for minor offenses such as speeding or running a red light, and car accidents cause physical harm to the driving player. While other forms of transport are available, such as trams and elevated rails, they are only ridable and not drivable by the player.
Mafia is also noted for having comprehensive damage physics on nearly all vehicles. While substantially more robust than their real counterparts, smaller and weaker vehicles stand less abuse before breaking down and finally exploding, than large armoured vehicles. More realism is added here compared to other games in the same genre, such as the ability to puncture the fuel tank, overheat the engine, and the ability to break transmission gears. Many exterior components (such as windows, tires, headlights, and bumpers) can be removed from most vehicles with physical means such as crash-driving, hitting with blunt weapons (fists, baseball bat) as well as firing weapons at them.
Law and order
The police department in Lost Heaven uphold the various laws that have been set. When these laws are broken in view of the police, they will respond by booking the player with offenses that can be "minor" or "serious". Minor offenses (such as speeding in a vehicle or running a red light) will end up with the player being fined (-$1,000 in Freeride mode, no monetary value in campaign mode), and serious offenses (such as physical assault, or visible display of a weapon) can lead to the player being arrested for the first offense, or a shootout with the police until the player or they are dead. A series of four successive minor offenses qualify as a "serious" offense. Police force increases with the severity of the player's disregard of the law to a point where now well armed police form blockades with tire spike strips in attempt to defeat the player while firing from behind their cars.
Certain criminal acts most people would expect to warrant a response from the police do not, such as driving on the sidewalk or on the wrong side of the road. In the early stages of game development, ignoring "yield" and "do not enter" signs were to be considered as offenses, but this was later changed. The police AI do not recognize computer AI violations. In freeride, the police will ignore violent actions against the player.
