Mafia Definitive Edition Open World

The original Mafia is being remade from the ground up on current-gen consoles, and going by the most recent gameplay footage, it's looking pretty good. Titled Mafia: Definitive Edition, there has been some concern among existing fans that the remake might be adopting the open world formula of something like Mafia III, but director Haden Blackman reassures GameSpot that this isn't the case.

When asked whether there was a temptation to add new open world elements to the remake, Blackman replies: "Honestly, not really. We wanted to keep true to the spirit of the original, which is this kind of linear, mission-based narrative-driven experience. That's really what we've stuck to, but with that said, though, there are some opportunities for exploration."

In other words, this is still the Mafia that you may remember -- it's just rebuilt. Blackman adds: "We treat the city as a character in its own right for all the Mafia games, but it really does serve as a kind of a backdrop to these missions. So it's more accurate to the original in that way, but I think for the fans who know the franchise, there's going to be many references in the narrative itself that they'll be able to point to. But like in the original, you can still play in Free Ride and the Test Drive modes, but now with the various new vehicles."

Are you glad to hear that Mafia: Definitive Edition is staying true to its roots? Shut up and drive in the comments section below.

[source gamespot.com]