Mafia (series)

Mafia (2002)

Is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering of Developers. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in August 2002, and later ported to the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox consoles in 2004, in North America and Europe. The game traces the rise and fall of Tommy Angelo, a fictional mafioso in the 1930s.

Mafia received positive reviews for the Windows version, with critics praising the game for its realism, while the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game received mixed reviews.

Mafia II (2010)

is an open world action-adventure video game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K Games. It was released in August 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows; an OS X port titled Mafia II: Director's Cut was released by Feral Interactive in December 2011. The game is the sequel to 2002's Mafia and the second game in the Mafia series. Set within the fictional Empire Bay (based on New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Detroit), the story follows a gangster and his efforts to climb through the ranks of the Mafia crime families.

The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on-foot or by vehicle. Players control Vito Scaletta, a war veteran who becomes caught up with the Mafia when trying to pay back his father's debts. The player character's criminal activities may incite a response from law enforcement agencies, measured by a "wanted" system that governs the aggression of their response. Development began in 2003, soon after the release of the first Mafia game. At release, Mafia II received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise particularly directed at the story, though the less open world design was criticized.

Mafia III (2016)

Is an action-adventure video game developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the third installment in the Mafia series. Set in 1968 in the city of New Bordeaux, a fictional recreation of New Orleans, the story revolves around Lincoln Clay, an orphan and Vietnam veteran, who is on a quest to build a new crime organization to confront the Italian mob. The game was released on October 7, 2016, and received a mixed critical response.

Gameplay

Each game in the Mafia series allows the player to take on the role of a criminal in a large city, typically an individual who plans to rise through the ranks of organised crime. The player character is given various missions by friends and mafia figures in the city underworld which must be completed to progress through the storyline.

The use of vehicles in an explorable urban environment provides a basic simulation of a working city, complete with pedestrians who generally obey traffic signals. Further details are used to flesh out an open-ended atmosphere that has been used in several other games. Traffic rules and regulations are stringently and realistically enforced in the games; failure to obey them through speeding or reckless driving are usually met with penalties such as citations, with further violations resulting in efforts by law enforcement to retaliate more aggressively and thus incapacitate the player.

Setting

Games in the Mafia series are set in fictional locales through different time periods.

Mafia is set in Lost Heaven in the 1930s. Lost Heaven is loosely based on New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. Mafia II is set in Empire Bay in the 1940s and early 1950s, which is based on New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Detroit. Mafia III is set in 1968 in New Bordeaux, a fictionalised version of New Orleans.

Mafia II

Sonia Alfano, a member of the European Parliament and president of Italy's association for the families of mafia victims and whose father was murdered by the mafia, called for the game to be banned. Take-Two Interactive responded to the issue, stating that the game's depiction of the American Mafia was no different from organized crime films such as The Godfather.

They responded to allegations of racism from Unico National, who claimed that the game portrayed Italian-Americans unfairly and "indoctrinating" youth into violent stereotypes.

The game used to hold a record for the most profanity used in a video game, particularly the word "fuck", which is spoken 397 times, beating previous record holder, The House of the Dead: Overkill, until it is beaten by Grand Theft Auto V, which the word "fuck" is spoken over 1000 times.