Finally! Teased last week and the surprise pretty much spoiled immediately thereafter by some digging online, 2K Games’ revival of the Mafia trilogy now has some fresh details to take a gander at without the threat of video game PR rocking up at your house to measure your feet for some concrete shoes. Mafia II and Mafia III is getting the remaster and reminder treatment respectively, with the latter now existing as a definitive edition that slaps all of the previously released DLC into its bulky frame alongside 4K and HDR upgrades.
For anyone who already owns Mafia III, you’ll get the upgrade for free. As for Mafia II, that remaster of the lean and mean sandbox is just that. An updated take on the old sandbox, that brings it into the modern era. If you happen to own Mafia II on Steam, the upgrade is yours for free as well. The real story here though is that the original Mafia has gotten a full reake, now running inside of the Mafia III engine and looking like a made man in the process.
2K and developer Hangar 13 say that this version will sport 4K and HDR visuals as well, new gameplay, dialogue and cutscenes on top of the expanded map of Lost Heaven. While there’s no footage of it in action, the screenshots for Mafia: Definitive Edition do look slicker than a Sicilian gangster:
“The original Mafia made such a lasting impact on how video games can tell serious stories, and we know how much the series’ fans still revere it,” said Haden Blackman, President and CCO at Hangar 13, in a press release.
Nearly 20 years after the Mafia series started, we now have an amazing opportunity to introduce this beloved game to a new generation of players and give longtime fans a chance to relive Tommy’s story with a stellar modern presentation, as well as new story elements and gameplay features.
A couple of weeks when rumours began doing the rounds for the Mafia Trilogy, I joked about how it was going to be weird to see a 20 year-old game running on current-gen hardware because I couldn’t imagine anyone remaking an entire game from scratch. As usual, I was massively wrong. Just like that time that I predicted that Bungie would sell the Destiny IP to Activision and then cheese it.
To sum up quickly then: Mafia II and Mafia III Remasters are out today on console and PC, while Mafia: Definitive Edition will make you an offer that you can’t refuse come August 28. Which is a release date on this, the day of my daughter’s wedding. An HD remaster of Jane Austen’s Mafia! is still nowhere to be seen.
Last Updated: May 20, 2020
OddSockZA
May 20, 2020 at 09:01
Only one I actually want to replay is the first one, so I guess I’ll wait for August (especially seeing what a cockup the 2 remaster seems to be)
OddSockZA
May 20, 2020 at 09:01
Only one I actually want to replay is the first one, so I guess I’ll wait for August (especially seeing what a cockup the 2 remaster seems to be)
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 20, 2020 at 09:49
I just started playing Mafia 3 over the weekend. Got a surprise 15gb update when I quit the game last night.