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Mafia: Definitive Edition (2020)

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Mafia: Definitive Edition is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K. It is a remake of the 2002 video game Mafia. Like the original game, the remake is set within the fictional city of Lost Heaven, Illinois, during the 1930s, and follows the rise and fall of Tommy Angelo, a Sicilian American cab driver-turned-gangster, within the Salieri crime family.

The game's open world nature allows players to explore Lost Heaven at their leisure when not completing missions to advance the narrative. This is mostly done in the Free Ride game mode, where players are not restricted by the linear nature of missions and can find hidden side missions and collectibles exclusive to this mode. The gameplay builds upon 2016's Mafia III, and features enhanced mission dynamics and the introduction of motorcycles to the series. While some of the veteran Czech Mafia voice cast returned for the remake, the English voices were recast. An original score was also created for the game.

The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on September 25, 2020, both individually and as part of the Mafia: Trilogy pack, which also includes a remastered version of the second game and a lightly altered port of the third game which includes its additional story packs. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, with praise for revitalizing the story, performances, and graphics, yet faced some criticism over its animations.

Conceived as a full remake of the original, Mafia: Definitive Edition was built from the ground up with new assets and an expanded story, although missions and arcs from the original game are carried over. As with the 2002 game, players control Tommy Angelo throughout the game's single-player campaign, and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. New to the remake is the introduction of motorcycles, a first in the series.Mafia: Definitive Edition's gameplay mechanics are based on those of Mafia III. A 'Classic Difficulty' setting is also included, serving as the game's hardest difficulty setting that changes some gameplay mechanics such as ammunition management and police response to crimes, bringing the game closer to the original 2002 game.

Outside the main story mode, a separate Free Ride mode is included "as a nod to the original game", allowing the player to explore the city at their own leisure without any mandatory mission objectives. Unlike the original game, however, Free Ride and Free Ride Extreme are merged into one game mode, with the latter's outlandish and over-the-top side missions incorporated into the main Free Ride segment as hidden secrets to be uncovered by the player.

A post-release update released in October 2020 added new activities in the game's Free Ride mode, including taxi missions and a racing mode which takes place in the autodrome featured in the mission "Fair Play". Also included in the update is the ability to play the game in black and white, labeled in the game's settings menu as "Noir Mode" as a homage to film noir movies of the era, as well as various options allowing the player to show or hide parts of the game's HUD.

In 1930, impoverished taxi driver Thomas "Tommy" Angelo is strong-armed by two members of the Salieri crime family—Paulie Lombardo and Sam Trapani—into helping them escape an ambush by the rival Morello family. Tommy is compensated for his help and offered a position in Don Ennio Salieri's organization, which he initially refuses, but is forced to accept after being attacked by two Morello gangsters in an act of revenge. Tommy begins to assist with running Salieri's rackets across Lost Heaven, overseen by his consigliere Frank Colletti, and befriends Paulie and Sam while earning Salieri's respect for thwarting Don Marcu Morello's attempts to take over his businesses.

In 1932, Tommy, now a made man in the Salieri family, begins a relationship with Sarah Marino, the daughter of Salieri's bartender Luigi, after protecting her from a street gang. On Salieri's orders, Tommy and Paulie retaliate against the gang, but learn that their leader, whom Paulie killed, was the son of corrupt city councillor Roberto Ghillotti, who vows revenge. Later, Tommy is ordered to destroy a brothel for switching its loyalties to Morello, and kill an informant named Michelle who is working there, but ends up sparing her at Sam's request and covering up his actions.

In 1933, Morello ramps up his efforts to dismantle Salieri's organization, gaining support from the corrupt police force and Ghillotti. Following an ambush on a bootlegging operation, Salieri finds that Frank has disappeared with the family's account books, and reluctantly orders Tommy to kill him. Discovering Frank has become desillusioned with the criminal lifestyle and made a deal with the FBI after Morello threatened his family, Tommy allows him to flee the country with his family in exchange for the books, and covers up his actions once again.

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