Set in 1930, Mafia follows cabdriver Tommy Angelo after an accidental encounter with the mob draws him into the Salieri family. His ascent brings greater rewards alongside increasingly dirty work, while the prospect of becoming a Made Man leaves him conflicted about the life he has chosen. That crime drama gives the game a personal through-line: its action is tied to Tommy’s changing place in an organized-crime family.
The design combines a story-led sequence of more than twenty missions with a city modeled on Depression-era American architecture and culture. Jobs span mob hits, bootlegging, shootouts and bank robberies, with car chases adding a getaway-driver role. More than sixty historically inspired cars feature realistic physics and real-time damage, while the available weapons include baseball bats, sawed-off shotguns, magnums and the Tommy gun. Those period details frame the action around the setting rather than a contemporary crime sandbox.
Mafia is categorized as a single-player action-adventure game, so its play format is a solo narrative rather than a multiplayer session. The rerelease also has an edited soundtrack and omits licensed music.
