I'm a bit split on this game. I do think the story and atmosphere are incredibly captivating and great, but the gameplay often frustrates to the point of anger. The required usage of the map to navigate is a pretty cool idea, but a lot of missions have incredibly cheap shootouts, with the second half especially boasting insta-kill shotgun/Thompson enemies placed in corners you'd never know about unless you died to them. The very awkward shooting doesn't help matters at all and you can easily get stunlocked if one of them even takes out as much as 3 HP while you're trying to aim at the guy and going out of cover, because Tommy really likes to shoot the wall unless you're fully in the open. The checkpoints also don't help matters, as they're spaced out enough that if you die almost at the end of a shootout or make a mistake, you go all the way back to the beginning.

What also doesn't help is how vague the objectives are. In the second half I had to straight up look up how to beat some of them, because there is absolutely nothing to tell you exactly how to do a mission in some parts. The game requires you to do each mission exactly how it wants and if you deviate in the slightest, you either fail or get killed. I understand this game was in development well before GTA III and has a different structure in mission progression, but even that game has a lot more freedom in mission approaches than this game does. I usually give old games leeway because of their age, but a lot of what Mafia does wrong is placed more in the design aspect than mechanics.

Overall, I still think the game has appeal in its great atmosphere and story, but the gameplay leaves me with a sour taste and very hesitant on ever revisting it. I would not recommend it to newcomers of the series. If you want to be captivated by the 1930s Americana atmosphere of the game and its compelling story, I would suggest opting towards the Definitive Edition instead.

I finally beat the meme game. Took me long enough, lol. I used to hate this game when the memes started to get annoying, even though I was under the mentality of "Fans can't ruin single player games", but I finally gave this game a proper chance and I did not regret it.

The story is pretty engaging, the characters are good and the music is a bop. My biggest issue with this game is the combat. Although it is very satisfying to slash up baddies, I encountered many situations where I was ganged up on by 3 enemies and was barely able to win. Having 2+ enemies attacking you in a game where the combat works best in 1 vs 1 situations is awful, and they also relentlessly stunlock you and drain your health. I especially hate the Mastiffs (the big monkey-like UGs), whoever came up with those can go fuck themselves. Other than that, I enjoyed my time with the combat and the rest of the game. As of writing, I have not beaten the DLC chapters, but I'd argue they're not essential to the enjoyment of the story mode.

All in all, while I believe this game is REALLY overrated (better villains can be found in other Metal Gear games, and the whole "omg so topical" thing all the kiddies are praising the game for was done better in Metal Gear Solid 2), I still think this game is really great, and I recommend playing it. At least it does more justice to Raiden's character than MGS4. (You'll know what I'm talking about if you beat that game.)

Teardown is simply one of the best games I've ever played. The moment I beat the campaign I already started to miss it. It was so incredibly fun and memorable, with satisfying progression via your headquarters' appearance and tool upgrades. The campaign revolves around clearing paths for objectives with your tools and figuring out how to solve certain other objectives.

The game also has beautiful graphics with it's stunning lighting, a great ambient soundtrack and simply groundbreaking physics. Even if you're not into the campaign, just destroying buildings and trying out new mods is incredibly fun. Super highly recommended.