Recent reviews by botnet

This game has truly excellent acting and writing. The former is on the level of very good films.
The game itself, of course, is no GTA, so it's mostly a rush through an amusement park, rather than a long stay in a living world. But Mafia never aspired to create an engaging sandbox. It always prioritized the story, characters, and mature writing. On these fronts, the remake is very, very good.

And the game is not a simple re-skin with sharper textures. It's an actual remake, where every cut-scene has been recreated almost from scratch, where all gameplay mechanics are implemented anew. The developers clearly have done a huge amount of work.

Overall, it's an excellent, thought-provoking, stimulating game. A rare thing even in its genre, one of the very best. It's a strong expansion of the original game in almost every way.

However, the developers might have made the wrong decision to create a "serious" story with real characters. They are constantly chatting among themselves and with the player, which hurts the melancholic and thoughtful atmosphere that was at the center in the first installment. They are also poorly voiced, with very weak acting and jokes and remarks that don't befit the supposedly thoughtful and curious yet humble androids. These robots are a little... silly and too human, which is dull, given how interesting the main themes of the game are.

There is not enough of this serene and mysterious atmosphere from the first game. But the terminals are just as interesting to read as before, the Easter Eggs are just as whimsical, and the main themes of the game are just as deep.

The environments are now spread over many natural, climate zones. The first game was split over three epochs instead. There is great variety in the puzzles, such that they don't become boring. The new puzzle mechanics are fun, and the difficulty scales exceptionally well with each new puzzle.

The music is on par with the first game's, and the graphics are excellent, though not easy on the hardware.

And yet... I find the first game to be made with slightly subtler taste due to its somewhat more melancholic tone and piercing music.