They said it couldn't be done - and many will stick by the fact that it wasn't - but in its own way EA's attempt at muscling in on the Grand Theft Auto formula was still a huge success. In taking potentially the greatest films of all time - one that has a perfect blend of pathos, acting, direction and a slow release of tension bringing it all together - only to make it about tackling a number of different families and gang members, it was a strange choice, but EA left their mark. In the end the nearest comparison is the Mafia series, but by having huge-names like Robert DuVaal and James Caan on board to reprise their roles from the 1972 - as well as a Marlon Brando easter egg - fans were kept relatively happy. For the rest of us though the core gameplay actually had far more going on under the hood than that of GTA, as a context-sensitive melee system was used to rough up any store owners who owned you money, as well as gunplay employing a cover-based mechanic with which to work through large numbers of enemies with. Throw in a beautifully rendered New York and a fully-customisable protagonist (created in the hilariously-named Mobface mode) and you had another solid entry in the open-world crime genre back when it was still fairly novel and unique.
