I distinctly remember how you could go to town on a vehicle with a bat and see every scratch and bend that you made. This was one of my favourite damage systems in any open world action adventure games, especially considering that Mafia 1 released in 2002.
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We always preferred using the manual transmission, giving you that extra level of control over your vehicle and damn it felt good. This made for a more serious driving experience, trying not to break the traffic laws as you go from mission to mission. Once you got used to the pace, you did not really want to crash because the cars in the 1930s did not have acceleration speeds that we’re used to in most other games. It was slower and, as we mentioned earlier, more of a simulation. Driving as we remember itĬoming straight from GTA 3’s fast-paced arcade-like driving in 2001, Mafia 1’s driving had a different noticeable pace to it. Every character had their own personality and agenda, making the interactions unique and fresh. Once you spent some time in the game, it truly felt like you were part of a family of gangsters. There were no cover systems in mafia so you had to rely on taking cover behind vehicles and well, anything close by to not get shot during a gunfight. The enemies felt challenging and to add to the realism, the recoil of your weapons felt on point. You couldn’t carry an entire army’s arsenal with you into every mission, so you had to choose your favourite primary and secondary weapons. When four mobsters attack you, you knew you had to play it smart or you will sleep with the fishes. Every gunfight felt like a life or death situation as it should be.
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Combat like we remember itĬombat in Mafia 1 was brutal, putting it lightly. This might sound clunky, but it gave the game so much charm. Cops in Mafia 1 kept you in check by enforcing basic traffic rules like not running over red lights or exceeding the area’s speed limit. From cops wandering the streets on foot to keep the peace to squad cars making their rounds, you felt like you really had to watch your step.
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It almost felt like a simulation when driving through Lost Heaven. The first thing that came to mind when thinking back to Mafia 1 was the police and how relentless they were.