With all these games that try so hard to be cinematic, it's nice when they actually go some ways toward successfully evoking their chosen genre; those who've played Mafia on the PC already know how well it sets the tone of a 1930s gangster picture, and with the release of the PS2 version, console owners will have the chance to see for themselves.

The most impressive thing about the PS2 version so far is how faithfully it recreates the fairly sprawling city of Lost Heaven, both in content and appearance. Not a single mission or aspect of the game has been lost on the way from the PC -- in fact, a mode has been added, in that you can take the cars earned in the main game for a spin in the new Race Mode that puts you on a sort of countryside rally-racing circuit.

The cars handle badly in any mode you choose, but then they're supposed to -- half the charm of the game is playing a vehicle-intensive crime story with vintage vehicles from the slow old days. The handling is bad, but the control is fine with the analog stick, allowing you to easily notice the difference between a good car and a bad car, or even between a mint car and one that's suffered some damage.

The on-foot control has also been overhauled slightly to allow for the absence of a keyboard and mouse. There isn't an auto-aim feature as such, but targeting has been simplified so that pressing R2 and L2 will snap your reticle to the nearest enemy, which stops you most of the time from having to fight the camera to get a fix on incoming mobsters.

More impressive than any of the gameplay tweaks is how much of the graphical power Illusion has maintained in the PS2 port. The city looks vibrant and alive when driving around, and the grizzled faces on the members of your new "family" are nicely detailed. Mafia is set for release on PlayStation 2 next week on the 27th.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in 1UP.