While I wouldn't say that I agree with the thesis statement of the game's actual name, I'd say that what the game has to offer more than warrants a recommendation and its asking price.

What I have to say comes solely from the experience of having completed the game on the "Classic" difficulty which is meant to craft a neat little lie that it's emulating the classic Mafia experience though it's mostly just an irritating showcase of the game's biggest minor gripes.

The original Mafia is an excellent game, one of the best video games of all time, in fact, and this game deserves to wear its predecessor's name however it is hardly its superior nor does it provide you with the definitive way of experiencing the original Mafia.

The original's story is wholeheartedly improved upon. Characters are fleshed out, the dialogues are polished and more believable, the setting and atmosphere translated without a flaw and even some of the original's inherent flaws such as its melee and melee weapon system as well as its stealth options are all polished and upgraded. In that case, this game is beyond just Definitive Edition of Mafia, it is an outright roaring improvement.

Driving, which comprises of most of the game is superior to that of the original as well though where the game improves on a few of the original's problems it also has some of its own. My feelings about the lack of the original's "car combat" mechanic where you and your chasers would engage in a struggle of both wacky 2002 physics and a bout of human mind against the AI where you're trying outmaneuver a faster and heavier vehicle is gone, replaced by cutscene checkpoints on the map that, upon passing, trigger cutscenes that "reward" you with victory over your wheeled enemy. In addition, I've noticed that the variety of cars in certain early to mid-section missions is lacking with the same 2-4 models of cars being recycled with different colors just because you're not supposed to have access to those vehicles just yet. Though it also serves as a fine praise for the game's atmosphere that I cared to drive around, following the traffic rules and breathing in the atmosphere to even notice that in the first place.

The music is kind of hit or miss. The period is definitely represented though I don't think I could give you nearly as many tunes off of the top of my head unlike the original Mafia where I can remember more than a few tracks almost 20 years later. The radio has the whopping total of two stations, one of which gives you the news and ads the other gives you some classic tunes but there weren't any that really drilled into my mind though the sound design does serve its purpose and stand its own ground more than adequately.

The race mission (which is an infamous point of its own) feels more like a miss. It feels like the developers have embraced its meme status and doubled down on making it as painful as possible though for all the wrong reasons. The story suggests that your car is meant to be the fastest out of all of the competitors and the original Mafia supports that by making a perfect run through the course reward the player with a breeze past his opponents whereas in this version it is impossible to come out first unless a few dice-roll circumstances fall to your favor. There are scripted sections of eliminations that you have to rely on and at times they either do not trigger or affect the wrong opponents which might render even a perfect run leaving you at the 2nd place. The opponent cars need to be slowed down significantly for an overall better experience. You shouldn't be punished for completing the track perfectly but the dice not rolling in your favor, in my humble opinion.

Combat is this game's biggest drawback. It's ultimately what will make me consider the original as the "Definitive Edition" over this one. Enemies are bullet sponges, plain and simple. They take 2-3 times the amount of damage you take to get done in and whereas in the original the case was similar, at least the original provided the player with a hit-stun mechanic that simply does not exist in this game. It has become not at all shocking to me to spray bullets into a pistol-wielding enemy and see him drown in a shower of spraying blood only for him to shoot me while standing outside of cover, just regularly juggernauting the bullets away. In the original you could have gotten stunlocked to death by mere fists which was infuriating but fair because it applied on both sides but here the game punishes you for shooting at the enemy at the wrong time and that time is not always when the enemy is shooting at you, in fact, at times that "right time" is ridiculously tough to catch since there have been cases of the enemy just standing outside of cover, pointing their gun at you and either popping you while you're in cover with some serious Wanted-style bullet curving or simply one-shot you when you move out of cover to shoot at them with reaction times only available to an AI.

The game also feels rather "scripted", almost like a rail shooter. The original planned its levels by sort of just dropping you into a specific area of a sandbox and seeing how you figure stuff out which is how the best games do things however this game goes more towards the gentle hand of God nudging you ever so slightly through a scripted rail-shooting and tunnel-driving experience which hinders the game's replayability because I know exactly the type of experience I'm going to get on my second playthrough - it will be absolutely identical to the first romp all the way through because of this creative choice.

Overall, it is not the Definitive Edition it sets out to be, though it is an excellent game regardless. A few simple fixes like slowing down of enemy vehicles during the race mission and the addition of an absent hit-stun mechanic would do wonders for the game and maybe make me less hesitant at giving it a shot a second time. Maybe even outright accomplish the goal of making this game the Definitive way of experiencing the original.

Oh, and Free Ride Extreme is also there...