The main difference between the remake and the original game is that the latter was outstanding for its time, while the Definitive Edition is “merely” good. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time. What’s crucial here is the fact that Hangar 13 approached the original’s narrative with proper respect and refrained from changing it too much. Mafia: Definitive Edition might not be remarkable as an open-world action game, but it still has the story worthy of the most revered gangster movies. [12/2020, p.28]

All this time, the first Mafia was the best of the trio. It just took a phenomenal effort from Hangar 13 to do it justice with Mafia: Definitive Edition. This feels like the rare necessary remake that elevates and builds upon the original. It's truly an offer you can't refuse.

This remake manages to bring the 2002 hit back to life while improving it at the same time. Not only does it offer detailed graphics with good lighting effects, but the animations are very high quality. It's not state-of-the-art technology, but it's very close to it. There are a few synchronization problems and Lost Heaven might be a little small, but it fits Hangar 13's model like a glove. We enjoyed rediscovering the atmosphere of such a well-executed scenario, with its very high quality soundtrack and varied gameplay that gives a real rhythm to the game.

Completely rebuilt from the ground up, Mafia: Definitive Edition features excellent performances from its new cast, a fantastic driving model, and a beautiful and authentic city oozing with 1930s atmosphere like overfilled cannoli. It’s hobbled slightly by its fairly vanilla third-person combat – and it arguably wastes the potential of its entirely overhauled world by not crafting a few new ways to utilise more of it – but it’s still a successful rejuvenation of the best story in the series to date, and one that can now stand beside 2016’s Mafia III as an equal, rather than a quaint but crusty ancestor.

Mafia Definitive Edition is a remarkable example that a remake game should show to gamers. But there are a few glitches that need to be fixed.

Impressive remake, not completely true to the original and with some anachronistic gameplay mechanisms, but it remains the best Mafia game of the series.

The remake stays true to the original, but storytelling and mechanics feel terribly outdated, giving you the impression that this is more of a remaster not reaching its full potential.