How Mafia: Definitive Edition Changed HD Remakes
2. Using a Modern Game Engine
Mafia III, while far from the best feeling third person shooter, provided the perfect gameplay for the return to Lost Heaven.
Despite Mafia III releasing half a decade ago, the mechanics lifted to slot into the Definitive Edition of the first are more than suitable this time around. The series isn't known for excelling in the gameplay department, but dragging the first Mafia into modern day using a pre-established -albeit tweaked - engine was a decision that greatly improved the end product.
The gunplay feels great, cars control in a way that suits the setting (slow), and intense firefights offer a challenge even to those who cut their teeth with the finest of third-person shooters. Should the player have no prior experience with the first game or already have a relationship with Tommy, Salieri and co, the updated gameplay is sufficient for people in both camps to be satisfied.
It would have been all too easy to transfer obtuse controls of games past to the current day (not naming names, Shadow of the Colossus), but Hangar 13 understood that changes needed to be made this time around.