Mafia

[Miller]

Glad they didn't go with "Primordial", but "The Old Country" sounds really lame.

Hangar 13 is still in charge? Why?

 

[eatler]

Hangar 13 is still in charge? Why?

I wonder if these guys will learn from their mistakes this time. Or will we have an entire open world slog fest like last time. Either way it sounds like this games set before the invention of the Thompson sub machine gun, so that will be odd.

 

[The Last Stand]

I wonder if these guys will learn from their mistakes this time. Or will we have an entire open world slog fest like last time. Either way it sounds like this games set before the invention of the Thompson sub machine gun, so that will be odd.

I hope 2K gives them enough time to flesh out this game. Mafia III was doomed from the start.

 

[Miller]

I hope 2K gives them enough time to flesh out this game. Mafia III was doomed from the start.

I think their biggest mistake was to hire a Hollywood guy as the director and a shitty comic book writer as the main writer who wanted to subvert the IP. Time or money weren't really the main issue.

 

[That Chris Guy]

Completed the Definitive Edition recently, haven't played the original. Was pretty fun to me, outside of some situations that were annoyingly cheap.

Finished it on Classic difficulty with aim assist off and Manual transmission. Sadly had to turn Automatic on during that stupid Story race and during the Bomb Disposal mission in Free Ride, and aim assist had to go back on during the obnoxious police tank turret part.

Outside of that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Driving was good, guns were strong and the graphics and vintage look was very different. There was a pleasant episodic feel to it where once I finished a mission I would be sucked into doing the next one because of how interesting the story was.

I will note one weird thing was sparing the prostitute that was made at Sam's request, and later on when he betrays you he says the Don found out about it like it was Tommy's fault for not killing her as originally planned, and I'm like, "YOU ASKED ME TO YOU FUCKING PRICK!".

 

[Big Brown Schlub]

I think their biggest mistake was to hire a Hollywood guy as the director and a shitty comic book writer as the main writer who wanted to subvert the IP. Time or money weren't really the main issue.

Explains why the game is about some mulatto doing nigger shit rather than a guido doing guido things. The Definitive Edition of the first game proved that they can put out a decent product, some changes in the plot and characterization I liked compared to the original while some I thought were stupid. Hopefully they can at least put out a decent product this time but I'm not holding my breath.

Finished it on Classic difficulty with aim assist off and Manual transmission. Sadly had to turn Automatic on during that stupid Story race and during the Bomb Disposal mission in Free Ride, and aim assist had to go back on during the obnoxious police tank turret part.

I swear the race is harder in the Definitive Edition's classic difficulty than the original game, if you make just one single mistake it's over, while in the original if you didn't fuck up too badly you could recover.

 

[That Chris Guy]

To add to the discussion. What the Mafia 1 remake spoiled, which I still enjoyed playing, comes down to the ending. In the remake it is all about 'family', the two sides of crime. "Family is forever" Tommy tells us. Due to his past, his new actual family, the family he is content with is also the reason why he struggled to be a gangster but also the reason he was one to begin with.

So he is executed and his family rush to be at his side. Despite his death, his true family is finally safe. This is nothing special. It it derivative of other films and TV show which did the whole family theme better. The Sopranos and Goodfellas come to mind as works that speak of the double and alienation that our work lives can have on the reasons why we work. It is a theme that is required for this sort of gangster story, not originating from any personal interest in exploring its theme. I could hear Vin Diesel say Tommy's speech on 'family being our greatest weakness and our greatest strength' in a Fast & Furious film. It is serviceable for a videogame as were the hiccups in the story of Mafia 2, but it does not make it good.

The ending of the original Mafia was different. Tommy dies (no family rushes out to hear his last words like a soap opera). We hear his disconnected voice, as though he is in the underworld looking back on the same story we have finished and he says:

"You know, the world isn't run by the laws written on paper. It's run by people. Some according to laws, others not. It depends on each individual how his world will be, how he makes it. And you also need a whole lot of luck, so that somebody else doesn't make your life hell. And it ain't as simple as they tell you in grade school. But it is good to have strong values and to maintain them. In marriage, in crime, in war, always and everywhere. I messed up. So did Paulie and Sam. We wanted a better life, but in the end we were a lot worse off than most other people. You know, I think it's important to keep a balance in things. Yeah, balance, that's the right word. Because the guy who wants too much risks losing absolutely everything. Of course, the guy who wants too little from life, might not get anything at all."

This is mediative. Ethical without degrading into moralism. Philosophical without sacrificing the humanity of Tommy's death. His story is personal but also a reflection on contradictions of life. Tommy struggles to answer his own story and leaves us thinking about what to make of it. The gangster film it shares most in common with is Once Upon a Time in America (my understanding is the final scene of Mafia 1 is modelled on the areas where Deborah and Noodles, uh, well you know). Both want to leave the audience with something to think about and question about themselves. They do not have answers because real people rarely do. The remake barely scratches similar ground.

Mafia 1 is a very dated game in a way even early GTAs are not. If I was given the option to play it again, I would decline. However, GTA, not even IV, or later Mafia games had a story as interesting. Games are bigger now. Sandbox have to be to be modern. To tell an epic tale is harder because of it, I think.

Yeah, I looked that part up after feeling like the ending in the remake was a little too pedestrian for my tastes, and was surprised to find that the delivery was completely different. Frankly, I like the original's ending more - the remake seems like a "happy ending" tradeoff to Tommy's death, but the original conclusion is more thought-provoking, and much more memorable. You're not supposed to feel happy after eventually having your criminal life catch up to you and dying for it. That's why RDR's ending felt poignant in a similar vein.

That, and making Tommy sound like Bill Pullman makes him seem like too much of a mafia guy from the get-go. I will be the first to admit that the original voice seems a little odd and occasionally awkward, but that's kind of the point - Tommy is not a mobster, he's a taxi driver who got embroiled in all of it. Sure he worked for them, but at his core he's not one of them.

 

[The Last Stand]

Mafia: The Old Country is confirmed to have Sicilian voice acting. Does that mean the option to have Sicilian voices with English subtitles will be present?

 

[DeadwastePrime]

alright gang, sub or dub?

 

[Miller]

View attachment 6332854

Mafia: The Old Country is confirmed to have Sicilian voice acting. Does that mean the option to have Sicilian voices with English subtitles will be present?

This sounds a bit pretentious. I hope someone mods the game and replace the voices with the cast of the Sopranos.

 

[The Last Stand]

alright gang, sub or dub?

This sounds a bit pretentious. I hope someone mods the game and replace the voices with the cast of the Sopranos.

I don't get it. If it takes place in 1900s Sicily, wouldn't it make sense to HAVE Italian voice acting?

 

[That Chris Guy]

View attachment 6332854

Mafia: The Old Country is confirmed to have Sicilian voice acting. Does that mean the option to have Sicilian voices with English subtitles will be present?

I'm hoping this isn't an Assassin's Creed Shadows scenario where they're all, "we pride ourselves on delivering an authentic experience, so here's a gay darkie in Japan who was totally a samurai that killed while listening to sweet hip hop beats."

 

[The Last Stand]

I'm hoping this isn't an Assassin's Creed Shadows scenario where they're all, "we pride ourselves on delivering an authentic experience, so here's a gay darkie in Japan who was totally a samurai that killed while listening to sweet hip hop beats."

I'm curious with how Sicilian women would be portrayed from that time period.

 

[Ventrue]

I wonder if these guys will learn from their mistakes this time. Or will we have an entire open world slog fest like last time. Either way it sounds like this games set before the invention of the Thompson sub machine gun, so that will be odd.

The kind of weapons the Sicilian Mafia used was pistols and shotguns. The Lupara (sawn-off shotgun) was their favorite because its discreet, powerful and sends a message. The Sicilian Mafia didn't have access to sub machine guns until the late 1940's and they didn't use SMG's until the 1960's.

Edit: Having no Tommy guns would definitely be a different experience from what we are used to.

I will note one weird thing was sparing the prostitute that was made at Sam's request, and later on when he betrays you he says the Don found out about it like it was Tommy's fault for not killing her as originally planned, and I'm like, "YOU ASKED ME TO YOU FUCKING PRICK!".

I think they did that as a way to add character to Sam, similar to some of the other characters in the remake. Sam in the original was honest where as in the remake they made him two faced which would illustrate further than the original that there is no such thing as friends in that life. In the original the reason Tommy did not kill Michelle was because she was Sarah's friend.

I don't get it. If it takes place in 1900s Sicily, wouldn't it make sense to HAVE Italian voice acting?

I would prefer if they did speak in Sicilian as to be more immersive. In Sicily they don't speak Italian but Sicilian, Italian is closer to Latin where as Sicilian is an amalgamation of various other languages because they were invaded by many armies over the centuries until the Sicilians fought back against their invaders which is the supposed origin of the mafia.

 

[Meriasek]

I don't get it. If it takes place in 1900s Sicily, wouldn't it make sense to HAVE Italian voice acting?

Not really, Italy used to be very divided in terms of language, with the regional languages and dialects being very different. Big reason why Italy has a strong dubbing industry for foreign movies, they used TV as a way to unify the language or at least teach everyone Italian. Since in many places they didn't really speak Italian, only their local languages and dialects, like Sicilian.

 

[NeroRisotto]

I can't wait to find out there have always been niggers in early 1900s Sicily actually.

 

[Miller]

I can't wait to find out there have always been niggers in early 1900s Sicily actually.

Actually black people created the mafia.

 

[Big Brown Schlub]

I can't wait to find out there have always been niggers in early 1900s Sicily actually.

You know, I read a lot, especially about things in history. I find that shit fascinating. Here's a fact, I don't know whether you know or not.

Sicilians were spawned by niggers.

 

[Agent of Z.O.G.]

I can't wait to find out there have always been niggers in early 1900s Sicily actually.

70% chance they do that and we get 20 journo pieces where they feed the True Romance quote above into ChatGPT with the instruction to write a video game article.

30% chance they have no darkies at all and try to pander to the #based crowd.

Though in the end it'll be a formulaic TPS with covershooting and shallow stealth mechanics that's best watched on youtube, or even better; ignored in favor of just watching an actual movie.

 

[Wot Zit Too Yah0996]

View attachment 6332854

Mafia: The Old Country is confirmed to have Sicilian voice acting. Does that mean the option to have Sicilian voices with English subtitles will be present?

Haven't played Mafia for years. This sounds cool as fuck.