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Mafia Wars, a Facebook application/game by Zynga Inc., is primarily a roleplaying game with a few elements of a construction and management simulation. You play a member of the mafia, who builds family ties, makes cash, gets involved in real estate, builds a mighty arsenal of weapons and vehicles, and lives the high-life of crime.

We’ll take a look at the Game Flavor, the Game Mechanics, the Good, the Bad, the Final Review, and a bonus Second Glance! So, is this game for casual gamers, hardcore gamers, or no gamers at all? Read on!

Game Flavor

Mafia Wars imbues nearly all aspects of the game with a mobster-movie ambiance, from the updates written in Italian-English Mobster dialect to the ever-present Godfather gifting you with honorifics and rewards for important milestones. As you complete entire tiers of jobs, you get special titles and in-game bonuses (Job Mastery Items).

The game is pretty much what one imagines being a mobster would be like: making cash, offing your opposition, doing numerous illegal activities (and getting away with it), and of course being a down to heart member of the “family.”

Game Mechanics

Your actions are based on core attributes: Attack, Defense, Health, Energy, and Stamina. You earn experience and cash through performing various jobs, and each job requires the expenditure of Energy and the possession of the right equipment (weapons, armor, vehicles, special loot). Job and equipment availability are dependent upon your level. Attack, Defense, and Health are important for combat with bosses and fighting other players, and Stamina is how many times you can engage in player versus player activities (fight, sucker punch, add to hit list, and rob). Health, Energy, and Stamina all recover over time, while Attack and Defense are static attributes. Energy can also be refilled to 125% if your mafia sends you an Energy Pack (only available once every 23 hours). When you level up, you earn 5 points to distribute among your core attributes and your Health, Stamina, and Energy are refilled.

Where Mafia Wars takes on elements of a construction and management simulation (CMS) is in property development. You can purchase undeveloped land, develop that land into more profitable businesses, and earn an hourly income from your cut of the land. Other players can rob your properties, however their mafia party is limited to their level while robbing. Although the CMS is not very complex, it does play an integral role in generating cash for your mafia and offsetting the upkeep of necessary equipment.

Regarding equipment, you can buy vehicles, weapons, and armor but some of the best equipment only comes as loot, which is randomly found from performing jobs and through fighting other players. Some equipment is only available through the Godfather (you either complete special offers for Godfather points or buy them from Zynga). Loot also comes in the form of Collection items- collect all 7 items from the set and send the collection to your Vault, you get a Vault Bonus, which varies from collection to collection. One nice thing is that you can also Gift to other players, meaning some equipment, loot, and collection items can be traded between your mafia (to a limited extent).

Finally, there are some rules regarding your Top Mafia. You can select up to 6 members of your family to fill 6 different roles within your Top Mafia. Each role provides a different bonus to a different game mechanic. Furthermore, if you are selected to the Top Mafia of one of your fellow mobsters, you occasionally get an in-game bonus for being part of a Top Mafia.

The Good

Mafia Wars is a well-balanced game. Although mafia size greatly impacts your PVP power, the cap on your mafia is 501 members, which inherently retains a level of balance within the game between players. Furthermore, the game is not overly complex, and continues to offer additional activities, meaning continued playability. There is enough continual activity and in-game rewards occur frequently enough that the game remains engaging.

The Bad

Although a decent game, Mafia Wars fails to break free from the plethora of other mafia inspired games. Overall it has a generic feeling, perhaps due to the lack of any central plot line. While well rounded mechanically, and steeped in mafia flavor, Mafia Wars struggles to fully engage the player.

Furthermore, being that your power is inherently tied to the size of your mafia family, unless you plan on making a bunch of new friends, or already have 501 friends who want to play Mafia Wars, you’ll be limited in power and much weaker than many other players. While this isn’t that big of a problem, it means if someone wishes to continually rob your properties, there is little you can do other than stay off the radar of more powerful players. E.g., if you are robbed multiple times by a stronger player, your only recourse for revenge is to hire a hitman to take them out, however once the other player is taken out you’re name is once more on their Player Updates, meaning they can just go back to robbing you over and over and over again.

Final Review

Mafia Wars is easy to learn, easy to casually play, and also an easy game to like. Although it fails to break from the rest of the mafia pack, with very little negative baggage, solid enough game mechanics, and a consistent and prevalent flavor, Mafia Wars is an honest “C” game.

Mafia Wars – good for casual gaming, room enough for hardcore fans, but a bit generic – “C”

Second Glance

With recent updates, continued development on the game by Zynga, the introduction of Cuba, the addition of the Lottery (which I hope continues to give out free daily tickets), and continued refinement of the optional components of the game, Mafia Wars has taken that final step towards making this game go from generic to definitive. Because of the ongoing development on the game, the continued new additions that keep the game fresh and fun, Mafia Wars has earned itself a solid “B”.

Mafia Wars – great for casual gaming, good for longterm play, and engaging for any player – “B”