I’m certainly not advocating for any pointless filler content, and some missions have been tweaked or extended, but it is a bit of a shame that developer Hangar 13 didn’t see fit to inject a few additional story missions into the mix to take a bit of action to some otherwise unused corners of the map. Strictly single-player, the story will propel you from mission to mission, and Free Roam remains a separate mode.
Despite the open-world backdrop, it should be noted Mafia is a largely linear, story-driven action game, and the Definitive Edition remake hasn’t changed that approach. After a well-crafted intro that splendidly mimics the swooping tour of Lost Heaven that preceded the 2002 original, Mafia: Definitive Edition wastes little time getting down to the business of its 20 missions. It’s a wonderfully-realised riff on Chicago, one of the key epicentres of organised crime during the gangster era. Play Set throughout the 1930s, including the final years of Prohibition, the story of Mafia unfolds in the melodramatically-named city of Lost Heaven.