Lupara gonna get ya.
QUEST LOG #8: MAFIA: THE CITY OF LOST HEAVEN (PART 2)
As with the previous post, which if you missed can be found by clicking below, this post will spoil the game for you if you haven’t played it.
After taking a breather, we’re offered up another mission, but this time it’s set at night. It’s raining too, and there is a storm brewing. The atmosphere in this mission is just about the best the game has to offer, and as we park up in our trucks at the out of town farm, we’re all ready for some booze trading. The scene a little too quiet however… Where is Sam? He was sorting things out for us, but he is nowhere to be seen. We best go and have a look around. The lashing rain, the building wind, and the forking lighting on the dark horizon. This builds the anticipation as we move from structure to structure in our search. Passing close to these tin roof outhouses we hear the pitter-patter of the rain and the banging of loose metal sheets. The sound shifts as we step inside the dimly lit interiors, and this adds such subtle depth to the scene. The sound design here is perfect. The farm being eerily quiet also builds the tension, and it’s eventually broken by… you’ve guessed it! Another shoot out. We corner the last few guys in a barn, and after storming the place, we find that Sam has been shot. He’s still alive, but not in good shape. More trouble then, as we see a bunch of lads incoming. Here we get our mandatory turret section as Paulie takes the wheel and we Tommy gun our pursuers. After that we drop Sam at some Doctors house and I drive back to the bar.
Once all that is settled, we have a chat with Salieri, and as it turns out, Frank, the consigliere has, according to the Don, broken the Omerta. Thus he needs to be rubbed out, and the books he’s offering to hand over to the authorities need recovering. So, we’ve got to find him. It’s either Big Biff in Chinatown or Little Tony near the museum who knows where to look. Turns out it was Tony with the intel, and he leads us to Frank’s safehouse. As we arrive, we see him being escorted into an armoured car and is accompanied by a group of police officers. We follow him to the airport and guess what? That’s right. A shootout. This one is a little tough, as there are a hell of a lot of people to kill. Crossing the airport runway, we’re met with a picturesque scene of a blimp in the distance and a plane circling above. Shooting our way to the furthest extent of the site, we find Frank. He then has the audacity to ask us to find his family and to get him some plane tickets. Choices in this would have been nice, the woman in the hotel, Frank here… would have been nice to have had the option to let them live or not. A bit beyond the scope of the game I suppose, can’t expect too much from this old thing. We oblige, because we have no choice, and we find both his family and the tickets, and we let them go to start a new life in Europe somewhere. All’s well that ends well, I guess.
Moving on rather emotionlessly, the Don has us on another mission to drive across the city to pick up a safe cracker called Salvatore – best in the business apparently. Unfortunately the bastard is useless in combat, and as shooting invariably happens, it would have been handy if he could at least handle a pistol. That isn’t the biggest problem with this mission however. After driving up into the hills, we come to the rich person district. We’re to break into the Councillor’s house and to steal more evidence against us. The place is teaming with shotgun toting guards, and bumping into any of them brings the whole bloody lot down on you. This is very likely to crash your game too, or at least bring it to a grind, reducing your fps to about 3. A companion controlling mechanic is also introduced here, and it extends to the following two commands, follow and stay. Great. We park Salvatore out of sight and sneak about (in a game without stealth mechanics) and knock out as many guards as we can with the baseball bat. Rather irritating mission, but not quite as hard as it seems on first impressions. Once we’re in, the bloody Councillor comes home early, and once again, we’re shooting. This is where it’d be nice if Salvatore would shoot. Luckily, the Councillor arrived in a spiffy car, so once we break in and steal it, we can zip on out of there. Straight onto the next job after that, and we’re in the whisky business. We’re to buy a truckload of it from some chaps in a multi-storey car park, and quite a realistic deception of a car park it is. You can almost smell the piss just by looking. Although there are plenty of free spaces, so perhaps it isn’t that realistic. Reaching the meeting point and after getting our introductions out of the way, our party gets crashed by a few carloads of Morello’s men. Everyone gets killed save for me and the boys, and we slowly fight our way back down to the ground. First go, I get caught out by the introduction of another feature as one of our attackers lobs a grenade at me in a stairwell. I blow up, of course, and have to start all over, including the cutscenes (these checkpoints show the age of the game, they aren’t working for the players benefit, and it occurs throughout the entire game). Despite the irritation, we get through it, and after leaving the car park, we get set upon by another gang. Drive off sharpish and with some lucky manoeuvring we manage to escape. We then cut to the café, with Tommy continuing his storytelling for the Detective.
After that, we’re back to the bar, and for some definitely not suspicious reason, the Don’s bodyguard is off, and no one else is around to babysit him as he goes to his favourite restaurant. After driving him to Pepe’s, we both have a lovely meal, and as Tommy ponders the possibility of taking Sarah there, a few cars park up outside and begin shooting the shit out of the place. All the patrons get cut down, and both the Don and Tommy hide behind a table. The Don holds them off, despite the incoming grenades, and we head out the back to flank our aggressors. Quite tough considering their numbers, but once the last goon breathes his last, we take stock, and the Don realises he’s been set up. Slow clap for his sharp wits. Eventually we find the backstabbing bodyguard, and we murder him nice and quick. He’s in his pants, and Tommy makes a point of telling the Don that he’s never killed a man in his underwear. Clearly he’s a novice of the highest order.
At this point, I almost feel as though I need to take a breather. Perhaps it is I who is a novice? Or is it that in the intervening years since I first played Mafia, open-world games have gotten me used to taking missions at my own discretion. In GTA, you do a mission, and then you’re free in the city until you choose to visit another of your contacts. Same goes for Saints Row, Red Dead, the Witcher, Assassins Creed… the list is pretty much endless, actually. Mafia sits in a strange place, being an open world game, but having the freedom to explore as a separate feature. You can, of course, explore a bit during missions, but quite often there are mitigating circumstances, and the pressure of the mission sometimes makes it impossible. In the Free Ride option, you get, as the option suggests, free rein of the city. This is great for a while, but it highlights the limitations of the game and the lack of interaction under the surface. Yes, there are plenty of cars to drive, and you can have fun playing around with the weapons and police, but the heart of the game is in the story, whereas in something like GTA, some of the heart is dedicated to the mayhem conjured up by the player between the story beats. Mafia is certainly stronger when the city is more of a backdrop. It feels like a wider world when you’re not focused on your missions, and I think that is actually a strength of the game. I’m not sure which I prefer, but I’m glad there are games that cater to both.
After thinking about open worlds for a bit, we head to the docks to infiltrate a steamer boat party, and after pinching some sailor’s uniform, we get onboard and begin our hunt for a gun. Luckily, as per the Godfather, Vincenzo has hidden a revolver in one of the toilers for us. Unlike the film, it isn’t taped to the back of a cistern, and in order to get it without rousing suspicions, we have to clear up a lot of piss and shit… Classy! After discarding the bucket, and returning the toilet key to the bosun, we pitch ourselves at the bow and watch the performers there entertaining the partygoers. After a little wait, and fighting the urge to vomit from the rocking of the boat, we see the Councillor emerging from his private room, greeting his guests as he makes his way toward the band. There, as he begins his speech, we place a bullet or two in his head, and as everyone goes fucking nuts, we peg it downstairs and leap off the side, landing in a speedboat there. Paulie then drives us off, and we get away scot-free. Tick the Councillor off the hit list, next is Morello’s right-hand man and brother, Sergio Jr. This mission, or set of missions are scripted failure, and you’ll go through a long variety of assassination attempts that all end in disaster. First up is to kill him while he’s in a restaurant, I suppose as poetic justice for the attempt on the Don’s life. I make a phone call and ask for Sergio, and as he stands by the window to take the call, Paulie fills him with lead. Wasn’t him though, so onto the next attempt. This time, it’s explosives, can’t go wrong with that, surely! Well, we hang out outside his apartment and wait for his bodyguard to finish his cigarette. Once he’s out of sight, we place the bomb under his car and wait it out. Unfortunately, his girlfriend comes out first, and as she opens the door, she blows up… Bloody hell. We’re going to run out of ideas soon. Next up we try to kill him at the bookies, but Paulie’s gun jams, and we’re suddenly on the back foot. Some of Saliari’s other goons take over then, attempting to have him run over by an oncoming train. Turns out that killing Sergio Jr is harder than it looks, eh? These guys die instead, and it’s up to us AGAIN. Big chase sequence takes place then, and we corner him at the docks. Lots and lots of guys to kill here, and managing health is a real problem on this mission. Eventually, we find the warehouse he’s hiding in, and after a big slog, we finally murder the guy. No respite there though, as escaping the port is just as difficult.
Morello himself is the next target and as we visit Vincenzo for some weapons, the lads get Tommy guns, and I’m left with the utter shit sawn-off shotgun… It would be a fantastic weapon in almost any other game, but the slow firing rate is an absolute killer here. The pump action is quite a bit better, but nothing beats the Tommy gun in Mafia, and like I say, we don’t get given one. Probably meant to be a kind of honour, as we’re to perform the killing with the traditional Lupara, but sod that, I’ll find something else during the ensuing firefight. No shooting just yet though, and actually, no shooting at all for once! We arrive at the theater to get the assassination done, but Morello is just leaving as we arrive. Here begins another epic chase. This time we really do head out into the country, and once again, if we bring the map up, we’re told that we’re off the edge. I really quite like this aspect, as every time we leave the city, it makes you feel as though you’re exploring the unknown. There is little exploration outside of the city however, but the country roads are long and windy, and make for good driving fun. This mission really makes use of them, and as we speed after Morello and his men, we come ever closer to a half constructed bridge. Morello’s driver notices a little too late, and their car teeters precariously on the edge, despite trying to brake in time. One slight nudge from us, and the car, along with Morello, tumbles off, falling a few hundred feet, exploding a moment later. Super dead. Another tick on the kill list. This, by the way, is an example of an alternate outcome to a mission, of which there are several in the game, and adds another layer of replayability. If I hadn’t been driving so close to Morello’s car as he passed the airport entrance, he’d have made it inside and would have tried to escape in a aeroplane. I’m sure we’d have managed to kill him either way however. As we drive back, the game feels somewhat different, vast almost, and open too… We’ve got a choice on what road to take home and speeding back along these isolated tracks gives me classic Bond vibes - I love it!
The freedom ends when we eventually return to the city however, as we’ve got a politician to assassinate. Work, work, work. This mission is a little different from the norm however, as we’re given a sniper rifle and we’re tasked with breaking into an abandoned prison to shoot our target from afar. This mission has us climbing through sewers and emerging in a quiet courtyard, dogs prowling behind the distant fence and muffled voices from above. We break into the building proper and as we explore the dilapidated interior, I’m reminded of Condemned: Criminal Origins, and this feeling is intensified as we eventually meet the violent squatters there. Slowly we ascend the staircase SWAT-style, clearing the building and reaching the top level. There we equip our rifle and gaze through the scope. On the nearby island, we see the distant politician mid-speech, and with a quick click, he too meets his maker. We’re getting rather efficient at this. After making the kill, we hurry back down and out into the courtyard. There we’re met with our first shootable padlock. A nice detail, but odd that it only shows up once. Breaking out, we load into the game to find a bunch of trenchcoated police officer waiting to kill us. Hide around a corner and pick them off, or steal a car and drive off. Up to you – I did a bit of both.
Back to the bar, and we’re given an apparently rather easy mission. Bollocks I’m sure! Grab a bat, a gun, and head off to steal some cigars. We follow a truck from the port, and after the driver makes his drop off, we steal his truck and licence. We also kill him, just to be safe. After that, we pose as the driver, enter the port, and park up where the cigars are behind kept. There we get ordered about by some prick, but having to keep our cover, we get to work moving boxes about. Luckily we have a couple of guys give us a hand. The overseer comes back and we feed him some rubbish and wait for him to fuck off again. While he’s gone, we load up the truck with the cigars and dart off out of there. We’re chased down, of course, but luckily the meeting place is pretty close, and we have some backup from Paulie and Sam when we get there. After the shootout, we get the truck back to the warehouse and find that hidden amongst the cigars is a fortune in diamonds. Is the Don being dishonest with us? Paulie thinks so…
With the Don being a bit shifty with the diamonds, Paulie invites me to his apartment and suggests we rob a bank to make a bit of cash on the side. Another fool proof plan, I’m sure… Getting to see Paulie’s flat is a bonus too. As we leave, he locks the door and walks off down sitars. Following him, I’m reminded of Max Payne again, the interior details being very similar on the depress-o-meter. Once we’re outside, we take a walk and catch a train for the first time. How exciting! This moment of downtime really adds to the depth to Lost Heaven, seeing the bustling streets below from a different perspective is a joy and makes you really feel as though you’re part of the city. As we set off, Paulie has a chat with us, and we hear that he’s a little envious of us having a wife and a child (we’ve never even met this child of ours), and that he doesn’t feel as though he’s got much going on in his life outside of work. It’s a little sad, but as the train journey adds depth to the city, this short conversion adds depth to Paulie. While this addition is appreciated, it could have been expanded upon considerably, and unfortunately the conversation dries up, and we’re just left to look out of the window for a while. No bad thing really, as there is plenty to look at. A little time passes, and eventually we reach our stop. A little walk to the bank, and we enter to scope things out. Paulie makes a plan, and after I’ve sourced some weapons from one of his contacts, and gotten us a speedy vehicle, we meet up again and go for it. The guards are pretty easy to deal with, and after scaring the manager into giving us the vault key, we swipe the cash make our escape!
Things went well for once! Next day we pay Paulie a visit and…oops, I spoke too soon. Paulie is dead and the cash is gone. Bloody hell. Paulie’s phone rings, and its Sam on the other end, telling that Salieri found out about our moonlighting, and that he’s out for blood… We arrange to meet at the city gallery before hanging up, and it turns out we need to get out of the apartment quick, as a bunch of police officers come snooping. We’re clearly in danger, so there’s only one thing to do. Get ourselves equipped at Paulie’s friend’s place again, Yellow Pete’s. The man has one arm, but they based his nickname on his yellow teeth instead… Poor bastard. Still, he’s got what we want, and after arming ourselves we go to meet Sam.
Upon arriving, we learn that it was Sam who had Paulie killed, and we’ve been lured into a trap… A trap with about 30 armed goons. Somehow, Tommy managed to kill one of the guys closest to us, and he does a very agile roll to cover. We’re then told by the game to kill all of the bastards, and I’m more than happy to oblige. We fight through the lovely interior of the museum, destroying exhibits and coating marble in blood as we go. Eventually we reach Sam and riddle him with bullets after a sort of boss fight with him. I say sort of, because it’s more of a shoot him until he runs away sort of deal, but it’s the closest thing to a boss fight we get in the game. After he falls to his death, we cut back to Detective Norman in the café and he agrees to do a deal.
We then see Tommy in a cell, writing up his statement, and after a little bit of off screen courtroom action, Tommy, Sarah, and the kid are put into witness protection and given a new life outside of the criminal underworld. It seems as though every ill deed catches up with you eventually however, as a few decades later, as old grey Tommy is watering his garden, a couple of goons show up and blast him full of lead – using a Lupara, of course. The end.
If you made it through all that, then welcome to the family. Did you play Mafia back in the day? Have you played it recently? What do you think of it? I think it’s a true classic of PC gaming. Many of the mechanics have aged, but none too poorly, and considering the context of its release, it really is quite an impressive title. The open world, the vehicles, the story, all of this combine to create a truly compelling pastiche of the mafioso genre. There are some jarring shifts in difficulty and many frustrations along the way, but it's well worth persevering with. Overall, a fantastic game that hasn’t aged too badly. Perhaps I should give the Definitive Edition a go now?
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