Lost Heaven, 1930. That’s where you’re headed again, and this time it’s running at 60fps.
On Aug. 14, a native port of Mafia: Definitive Edition arrived on PlayStation 5. If you already own the PlayStation 4 version, the upgrade costs you nothing.
The catch nobody reads until it’s too late
Here’s the part worth reading twice. If you picked up Mafia: Definitive Edition through the PlayStation Plus library, you’re not eligible for the free upgrade. You need to actually own the PS4 version. That distinction was confirmed on the Mafia Discord earlier this month.
It’s a small print detail that’s going to annoy a lot of people who assumed a subscription download counted as ownership. It doesn’t.
Why a port instead of another remake
Remakes and remasters have dominated the release calendar for years now, and it’s genuinely good to watch old favorites get the treatment they earned. But not every studio has the bandwidth to rebuild a game from scratch. Ports are the middle path, and they get hit titles onto newer-gen hardware for the first time.
Mafia: Definitive Edition is the 2020 remake of Mafia, which originally shipped on PlayStation 2 in 2004. So what you’re getting on PS5 is a remake of a PS2 game, ported forward again. The game is also available on Xbox Series X/S.
The PS5 version brings technical improvements and that heavily requested 60fps upgrade. For a game built around driving through a period-accurate city, the frame rate matters more than the marketing suggests.
Tommy Angelo, reluctantly
The setup, as the game itself puts it: “Lost Heaven, 1930. Rise through the ranks of the Mafia during the Prohibition era. After an inadvertent brush with the mob, Tommy Angelo is reluctantly thrust into the world of organized crime. Initially uneasy about falling in with the Salieri family, the rewards become too big to ignore.”
That reluctance is the whole engine of the thing. Tommy isn’t a wannabe kingpin. He’s a cab driver who takes one wrong fare.
What the 2020 remake actually changed
Mafia: Definitive Edition marks the fourth installment in the Mafia franchise, and it came with enhanced gameplay built on the mechanics from Mafia III. The veteran Czech Mafia voice cast returned for the remake. The English actors were recast, and an original score was written for it.
Reviews were generally favorable. The game has held a fond reputation since, and now there’s another reason to go back to it.
Check your PS4 library. If Mafia: Definitive Edition is sitting in there as a purchase and not a Plus download, Lost Heaven is waiting.
