Mafia

The Good
Graphics:

The theme of the game is meant to be around the 1930's and it is done nearly perfectly. Im not saying that the actual graphics were the best i've seen but when I was playing Mafia I actually felt like I was driving around the city of Lost Heaven.

The cars you see driving around lost heaven look good as well. When i'm driving around the city in one of those I can fell like i'm a big mafia man and prove it by pummeling the guy who nipped my car. Another part of the graphics that adds to the atmosphere is the view when you are looking out off a building or looking over the water it always looks great.

Sound:

The voices of Tommy and all his boys sound surprisingly good compared to all the other voices i've heard in games lately (all the resident evil series etc.) The sound is actually one of the best parts of the game. The music is perfect for depicting a day driving (or walking) around the city around the era of the prohibition.

The cars sound awesome. If you have got a beast of a car then everyone will know that it goes off by the sound of it. Going around corners, your tires screeching while you can hear an enemy gang shooting there tommy guns at you all adds to the flavor of the game.

Gameplay:

The gameplay for Mafia was the best i've been lucky enough to come across (in the story mode anyway.) When you are playing through the missions running or driving away from enemy gangsters it feels like the game is unfolding like a movie. The story is great, I actually felt like crying when the ending was over.

When you are driving around Lost heaven you can to many things to keep you entertained if you are not doing missions. In GTA: Vice City you could shoot other cars tires and I thought that it was fantastic. Mafia takes it one step further and you can actually shoot the bolts in the middle of the wheel and make the wheel come of the car, even if this a bit unrealistic its still allot of fun to see a civilian trying to drive of with noi wheels on his/her car.

The Bad
Graphics:

I said above that the views look great, but that means you have to be far away. If you get up close the graphics on building, trees and people aren't exactly the best and saying that is a very big understatement.

Sound:

As I said before the sound is one of the best aspects of the game but there is one flaw. If you are driving along listening to the song and you need to look at the map or go to the main menu then the song will start from the beginning again once you get back in and so you could end up listening to the same song about 5 or 6 times and it tends to get a bit annoying after a while.

Gameplay:

The story mode of the game is one of the best I have ever played so I have no real complaints there apart from it being a bit difficult. But the real problem is when you beat the game and go to Free ride it gets boring after about 30 mins. After blowing up cars, killing a few people and getting shot by gangsters it just gets boring.

The Bottom Line
If you want a game with a great story line but not so great free ride option then this is a game for you. Don't expect secret packages and such like in GTA though.