Mafia is one of the better non-GTA series in the open-world crime genre of video games. None of the games in this series really soared to the sales height that I’d say each deserved, but they all had merit and, to one degree or another, were good games with some killer storytelling.
In fact, the 2020 Mafia: Definitive Edition was an all-around total-package banger that probably would’ve landed on my Game of the Year nominees list had I not waited until the following year to finally finish the dang thing. It really made good on the promise of the original, which I feel was perhaps a bit too big for its britches and in some ways ahead of its time. I would highly recommend giving that one a go if you haven’t already — it’s really a crackerjack of a game.
I have been hankering to go back and dust off that old rust bucket, but I never found the time to actually get around to it. So imagine my surprise when 2K Games announced that in honor of Mafia‘s 20th anniversary, anyone with a Steam account will be able to claim the game for free between September 1 and September 5.
I should point out that this is the original version of the game rather than the 2020 remake.
But even so, this is awesome! That saves me (and obviously everybody else) $15 bucks, which can perhaps go towards buying Mafia 2 so you can continue the story. And hey, why not finish the trilogy with Mafia 3? The third game did take a different approach to the setting and characters, but it was still a Mafia game at its core, despite being a little repetitive in mission structure.
The even better news (at least for Steam Deck enthusiasts like myself) is that, although Mafia is currently designated as “unsupported” on the Steam Deck, it does appear to be playable — at least according to a YouTube video from SxyBiscuit. As long as you select one of the of the better optimized user-submitted control schemes and then tweak the sensitivity of the right analog stick, you should be able to run with your Costa La Nostra brethren with little to no issues. Brilliant!
