Almost two years ago, Mafia III was one of the PlayStation Plus free titles, the third and middling entry of a series which seemed so promising back when Mafia first came out in 2002. 2K Games apparently decided to do something about that. They’ve announced that Mafia will be getting remade using the same engine as Mafia III and released as Mafia: Definitive Edition. Additionally, 2K also announced that all three Mafia games will be bundled together as Mafia: Trilogy and released on August 28.
There’s a lot to unpack here if you’re feeling the need to get your gangster urges sorted out. Mafia III is still available for purchase, and by this time initial launch bugs have almost certainly gotten fixed. Mafia II just came out in a remastered version which can be picked up for $30. Mafia: Definitive Edition will be coming out as a standalone title for $40.
If you buy the Mafia: Trilogy pack before August 28, at the typical $60 price point, you’ll get the remastered Mafia II and Mafia III with all DLC, plus Mafia: Definitive Edition when it hits its official release date. That’s a lot of rather flexible options for picking up missing titles or getting into a series you may have been reluctant to start up previously. Mafia: Trilogy will be available on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, with a Stadia release set to be announced later.
The big unknown is going to be Mafia: Definitive Edition. Initial press coverage of the remaster for Mafia II has expressed some disappointment over the seemingly minimal amount of work done visually and the lack of cut content brought back into the game. And while Mafia III is still the same, DLC or no, it’s already got an established reputation with gamers. While still images for Mafia: Definitive Edition certainly look good, we’ll have to wait until the end of August to see if the improvements are more than just skin deep.
