I don’t have much hope for the remake of the 2002 classic, Mafia, but there’s no denying that the new version of the 18-year-old game actually does visually look impressive. A near 15-minute demonstration was rolled out to give gamers a glimpse into what they could expect from the new version of the game.

The new trailer is an extended walkthrough of all the basic gameplay mechanics, as well as some of the new upgrades they’ve made to the overall playability of the classic open-world action title.

You can check out the extended video below, courtesy of GameSpot.

Based on the few minutes of the intro to the gameplay, it sounds like Hangar 13 Studios is doing right by the original, properly remaking the 2002 classic without any of the current open-world game features which might cancel the classic-vibe everyone misses.

However, so far the remake of the original Mafia appears to be done right, with the missions staying intact, the characters returning, and the weapons and vehicles properly remade to capture the authenticity of the era.

They’ve redesigned the city from the ground up and have all of the assets rendered with their very own proprietary lighting engine.

I’m not going to lie, it does look good… real good.

The tell, however, will be in the details: can you still blow out the tires on the vehicles without instantly blowing them up? Can vehicles deconstruct like in Mafia II? Will there be proper melee and not that one-button nonsense from Mafia III?

After three minutes and a lengthy cinematic, we finally get into the actual mission.

Tommy rummages around the rain-soaked farm, finding collectibles, and eventually encounters some gunplay.

Unfortunately, the gunplay is mirrored after Mafia III, the worst game in the trilogy.

The concept of the gunplay makes sense, insofar that you can die easily if you’re too exposed. I would have preferred if you could take positional damage, like in GTA IV or Max Payne 3.

Bullet penetration is also not present in the remake. While Tommy is hiding behind a thin wooden fence, none of the enemy fire breaks through the wooden planks, thus dampening any measure of suspense during the firefight.

You would think that remaking an 18-year-old game would have warranted the inclusion of some actual next-gen physics, but I guess that’s asking for too much from AAA studios.

To their credit, the vehicle designs and handling are well done, but the crash physics still needs a lot of work. When the armored truck ran into the other cop car it just kind of moved it off to the side like in those blocky collisions in Gran Turismo. Underwhelming is too soft a word to describe the disappointment that came with seeing the lack of proper collision effects and physics.

Anyway, Mafia: Definitive Edition is set to release on August 28th, 2020 for the PS4, Xbox One, and on Steam for PC.