▼ Not recommended
2 hrs
Avoid this, like you avoid drinking alcohol in the mornings
1920, New York. Bootleggers, bruised knuckles, and the smell of moonshine in the air. And of course, a man with the American dream. You see, the glitz and glamour of a proper mobster story is right there. However, it takes way more than just an appreciation of The Godfather or Goodfellas to create a game with gangsters at its center. At a glance, I knew Game Of Mafia was intriguing but not to be taken seriously, yet it is a botched opportunity for a simple, retro adventure title.
In times when honest work doesn't pay off, Frank Costello is doing futile labor as an ordinary postman. Uncompensated for months, an old friend makes him an offer he can't refuse. Filled with big hopes and dreams, Frank finds himself whisked to the criminal underbelly of New York. What comes next is the rags-to-riches story of him opening a dive bar. It sounds like mafia hit material!
The Problem is, it's spewing out themes of love, family, success, and violence as if they were shot out of a Tommy gun, rapidly and all over the place. Heavy-handed presentation and narration have you hurled from one scene to another, with nothing to fill the gaps of abruptly ending sections but dip-to-black fade-outs. However uninspiring and Google-translated the dialogue may be, the writing makes sense at the very least—having a handful of typos here and there.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2584410942
As said earlier, Frank starts as a mailman without a penny to his name. Oh, what a mundane task to bring into a video game; Moving from left to right and right to left to provide the fine townsfolk with their deliveries at a single press of a button. For the first few minutes, it was exciting to take a stroll down the only street in the game, watching cars drive by, union workers have smoke breaks, and people carry on with their lives, only to realize I can't interact with any of them. Feeling like a ghost passing through everything, fading to grey as I find little to none to keep me interested.
"But it's in pixel art. That can't go wrong!" - It can and it does, woefully. Game Of Mafia adapts the well-known chunky pixelated style, but it is lacking the artistic touch. Of unremarkable locations, re-used models, and spiritless color palette, it is a retro fad just for the sake of jumping on the trend, to my eyes. As for the accompanying part of the visuals, the soundtrack's naught but a further dilution of the whole experience with the questionable choice of downtempo electronic and rock pieces—not bad to listen to but alien to the roaring '20s.
You've played about 30 minutes so far, but things are about to change for the better in the next 90 minutes... only by a little bit. A considerable part of Frank's life passes by clicks, clicks, and more clicks through conversations probably made by an eight-year-old... on too much sugar.
-"Hello, sweet gentleman." -"I'm not sweet. I'm a tough man. I want to become wealthy and bring you nice gifts." Frank said to his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2584408207
In between the decent and cringe-worthy lines, Frank has to make a living by running his bar. Bartending has never been easier thanks to the point-and-click nature of this job. Customers come and go, while you have to tap on them to serve them drinks. And click even more to fill the storage with wisky, bear, and wine—at least, that one is spelled correctly. This section could've been spiced up by adding a few intricacies and nuances on how to upkeep a bar. It is exceedingly shallow, however, and is not of much importance just like the rest of the game.
Though a few days of barkeeping are eventful, as Frank has to take down rivals in brawls or gunfights, yet it has no meaningful impact on your business. They all are just a drive for the narrative. He can only move in one direction given at a time: forward, backward, left, and right but not a mix of any. With sluggish controls like that and mashing the fire key, even the heated situations couldn't breathe some life into this mafioso lifestyle. Despite all, there were no issues serving bears in a pint glass at 60 FPS, on a Ryzen 5 3500X, GTX 1050 2GB, and 16 GB RAM.
The bottom line
Clicks, clicks, and just clicks. Simplicity is elegant, at times. Not in this case, though. Game Of Mafia is not worth the price tag, a discounted offer, or even pocket change. In fact, I am regretful that I let shovelware like this find its way to my library. Although if you're so keen to try it out anyway, I'm glad to announce that you can power through it just before the refund button is greyed out.
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