Mafia: Definitive Edition will include new experiences and an enhanced story

Developer Hangar 13 says Mafia Definitive Edition won't just be a copy of the original game, and will feature new experiences and story enhancements.

In Official PlayStation Magazine's big Hot 53 issue, Hanger 13 game director Alex Cox talks in-depth about the upcoming Mafia Definitive Edition release, and reveals that it will be a remake that stays true to the spirit of the original, but makes it more palatable for players today with new features and enhancements.

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“What we want to do is rejuvenate the game, make it relevant to modern players, but keep the spirit of the original. We have made changes, it’s not a one-to-one copy of the original game,” Cox says. “Anything which we could add in to expand the game outside of the regular design [has been done]. We’ve done everything we can to embellish, enlarge, and enhance [the game]."

Cox talks about some of the "new experiences that weren't there before" in the original game, with one example being the addition of motorcycles. In one mission involving a high-speed chase in pursuit of a rival mobster, the car you would have driven in the original game has been replaced with a motorcycle to offer a new gameplay experience.

"It's an example of how we've tweaked the content to include some new mechanics," Cox explains. "It's the same story intro, the same story outro, but the gameplay in the middle is that you're chasing the guy on a motorcycle; guys are shooting Tommy guns out of the back window [of the rival car] and you're having to dodge around to avoid the bullets."

The interview also offers insight into remaking Mafia on a new engine for PS4, along with a more detailed look at the expanded narrative design of the remake. You can read all this and much more in Official PlayStation Magazine's Hot 53 issue, which is filled with previews of the latest games and exclusive developer interviews.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.