As many of you have known I am a man who has next to nothing that is in monetary units. Meaning, I am a cheap bastard that when the chance is given I will most likely get something from the internet in a price that I can afford ($0 - $0).

And thats why I have grown fond of the internets and its naughty ways. Like a mistress of the night saying you know its wrong, but you snicker like a little kid and go along with it. Like a hooker, the internet is full of Viruses and other nasty bits. But every now and then you find a nice high class hooker that actually plays well enough to be reviewed. The hooker today is the game "Mafia: City of Lost Heaven".

Mafia is developed by people in the Czech Republic, which so far the only thing I have learned about Czech is that they are nice people but game makers, no not really. Prejudice aside, the Czech's have made a really awesome game no doubt about it.

Now lemme describe to you in a single sentence the game:

Its like GTA, but its the 1920s.

And that is the basic idea of this game. At first you are a taxi cab driver, but you manage to meet up with some mafia blokes and you manage to be good friends and you go about the game doing your gangster thing. Smuggling alcohol, killing traitors, driving around shooting the bad guys. Everything and everything. What makes the game interesting would be the person you are playing. He's not a ruthless gangster, he is a guy with a heart, that no matter how many individuals you kill as him on the street, he manages to let the person he had to kill get away cause he feels sad for the person.

If a game like this has a theme it would be that the mafia is basically making you a bitch in this whole charade. Every game its drive here, kill that, shoot him, car chase and fire you gun at the same time (which by the way can get frustrating!!!). Then the mafia throws money at you and says good job. Which after getting your ass kicked for the fact that you did not land a perfect headshot is a not so bad compensation.

The story is really something I must confess, I really see nothing wrong with it, I mean many of these things can be shortened and made into a feature film any day now. It is the story that separates this from other open world games like GTA.

The general atmosphere in the game is fairly okay. There are moments in the game which is not so 1920s as it is so very gangsta. The licensed big band music adds a nice touch and the original score makes-a-me so Italian!

As controls go I found something that truly angers the utter shit out of me. Games think I am left handed at times which is by far the shittiest thing you can do. The controls defult is by far the gayest thing in the world. I move with the arrow keys, but my hand has to move away from them to use anything like reloading or actions. WHY!! I want to move and reload, I wanna run. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to change and experiment with controls that worked for my hands until finally I settled with my friends the WASD keys. Thats love!

Overall I have grown fond of this game, its questioned morals and giving you a fairly okay ride. If your computer cannot stand GTA or your mommy won't let you play, you can pick this game up, and with a HUGE cult following you should get a chance to enjoy the many mods as well

overall: B

finale: its fun, and should keep you quiet until a greater game comes out