There's a certain romanticism about good old-fashioned organised crime, and you see it in Mafia's lengthy intro. It plays like the opening to an epic film, complete with sweeping, aerial shots of the City of Lost Heaven. Modelled on 1930s New York, the stylish direction then seamlessly blends into the first cutscene, where we're introduced to the star of the game, Tommy Angelo.

Tommy, a down-on-his-luck cabbie, is returning from work when he stumbles across a gangland pursuit. Two of Mob boss Salieri's henchmen are in trouble, and use him as an unlikely getaway driver - it's here you're thrown straight into the action. Assuming control of the cab, you make a 'speedy' getaway from the pursuing gangsters, problem being, your taxi's about as quick as Forrest Gump. There's no thrill of the chase, and no real sense of achievement once you evade the Mafiosi. After safely depositing your passengers, Tommy receives a job offer with the Salieri family, but, being a man of conscience, it's back to honest cabbying for the minute... that we get to enjoy in the form of great timed taxi missions.

The tempo is upped considerably, however, when Tommy ditches the wheels and starts up the on-foot fun. As well as running and jumping, our villain can climb objects, making the most of the surrounding scenery, and players have tons of weapons available, including baseball bats, pistols, Tommy guns and shotguns. Mafia uses a great targeting system, which although forcing players to crouch when firing, is useful when locking on to distant enemies.

As the game settles down players undertake a stream of driving/shooting/escorting/smashing-based missions, all flowing along thanks to the quality script, voice acting, and epic, cinematic cutscenes. You'd be right in thinking this all sounds a bit familiar, because Mafia is a carbon copy, Prohibition era version of the GTA series, from the street map in the corner and the frantic timed pursuits, to the complete freedom Tommy enjoys to hop out of his car at any point, inflict wanton violence on passers-by, then steal any suitable vehicle to make a getaway. However, as well as sharing all of GTA's high points, bizarrely, Mafia suffers from all of the exact same flaws as its modern-day counterpart.

The camera, such an important part of third-person action games, has been woefully overlooked. In vehicles it slowly switches between rear view (accelerate) and frontal view looking back (reverse) at the slightest change in direction. This is fine when tearing along backwards to escape an enemy, but a hindrance when you're trying to manoeuvre out of a tight spot with every hood in town firing at you. The game also suffers from terrible draw distances, and the character animation is questionable. Sure, the facial detail of each character is superb and startlingly lifelike, but at the expense of their normal movement, leaving them jerking round the screen.

Hefty relief is provided in Free Ride and Racing. The former lets Tommy loose in the City of Lost Heaven, in a completely free roaming mode where cash is awarded for miscellaneous misdemeanours including killing gangsters and blowing up cars. The complete absence of police means this is, just like the first time you go skinny dipping, a very liberating experience. The Racing section is actually a very comprehensive section of the game, featuring tons of cars and tracks, and has fully adjustable damage and difficulty settings. There's loads here to unlock, and by brilliant inclusion of three different third-person and one first-person perspective, this is deeper and more involving than a lot of driving titles currently out there - even if the cars do handle a bit sluggishly.

The core of the game remains the Story mode and the plot-driven missions. The driving tasks are fun, albeit spoiled by a slow framerate, but the on-foot missions are much more enjoyable. If you can stomach the glitchy camera, lock and load for a wonderfully cinematic experience.

Power
Fantastic-looking cutscenes are marred by a jerky framerate, and there's far too much pop-up.

Style
Great 1930s atmosphere, with a fantastic script and voiceover. The jazz score is repetitive, though.

Immersion
The initial driving missions are a bit laborious, but the action soon hots up once the guns come out!

Lifespan
A massive single-player game is complemented by the free-roaming and infinite Free Ride section.

Summary
A hugely playable, ambitious crime fest, that due to camera and graphical issues falls just short of Don-like respect.

1. Very cinematic
2. Great script and voice acting
3. Free ride is refreshingly violent

1. Slow framerate
2. Terrible pop-up
3. Long cutscences can interrupt the pace