Mafia (PS2, Xbox)

By JON MINIFIE

Herald rating: * * * *

Crime has been good for the gaming business. Czech-based Illusion Softworks, creators of the acclaimed Hidden & Dangerous series, developed Mafia for the PC over a year ago. This month they unveil new PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions (rumours of a Cube version look to have been false).

Graphically, the Xbox version is sharper and retains the full Dolby 5.1 sound — the PS2 features Dolby Pro Logic sound — but the differences are largely cosmetic.

Mafia is a third-person action shooter set in America during the 1930s. Prohibition has made the Mob more powerful than ever and the Salieri and Morello families are squabbling for the money from protection rackets, smuggling booze and prostitution. As a Salieri soldier on the rise in the imaginary city of Lost Heaven, you do as you're told, be a stand-up guy and try not to end up face-down in a bowl of spaghetti.

Mafia's single-player campaign spans 20 missions and primarily uses a third-person-perspective, though the clever camera converts to first-person when you are pressed against a wall (similar to Max Payne).

You have a small arsenal which includes shotguns, Italian sawn-off shotguns, Tommy guns, sniper rifles, baseball bats, about five kinds of handguns and a set of brass knuckles. There are 36 vehicles — 16
standard and 20 specialist models.

With a wide range of driving levels in open city landscapes, mixed with shooting levels, Mafia invites comparison with Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. But it's more story-driven and quite linear against the wide open spaces of the GTA series.

As much as they have in common, just as much separates them. Even though the gameplay is focused on stealing cars, avoiding the police and operating in the criminal underworld, you shouldn't buy Mafia expecting another GTA.

Price: $109.95