Tired Mark: Mark of Mafia Review

Tired Mark: Mark of Mafia Review
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Have I Seen This Before?

What is this obsession with creating these text RPGs with tired mafia themes? The first one seemed appropriate, the second seemed like plagiarism, and the rest of the titles just seemed like post-drunk Déjà vu. With Mark of Mafia we simply get another one, and this time there is almost nothing here to recommend besides a slightly more involved system of activity.

Inside Gameplay

Mark of Mafia takes from games like Dragon Masters and Rockstars Live to create a few different avenues in its gameplay. You get little objectives in the top main screen of My Hood, which really boils down to combining Jobs with different item purchases. The design puts many of the main areas, like Fight and Bank, down in the lower task bar. Inside the main My Hood view you have almost everything, including places to spend Loyalty Points, buy Real Estate, check the “Black Market,” and engage in a number of other menial tasks. Mark of Mafia has tried to flesh out every area of this gaming model without actually adding anything to it. In Mark of Mafia, you can do the same things you could in M: Mafia, iMob Online, or the Live series, but here you can do it in extra ways and observe even more useless information about it.

Feels the Same

Beyond these slight “improvements”, there are all the things you have come to expect from the mafia theme text based iPhone RPGs. You can add friends using a Family Code, which is a clever use of the friend code. The Family Code is then entered to add people and you should try to put your Family Code everywhere you possibly can. Purchasing Real Estate is your main focus and you should avoid leveling up too quickly. Almost all the same tips can be used as tips for Mark of Mafia because it simply jumps on the established bandwagon.

Bottom of the Barrel

It is almost embarrassing to review Mark of Mafia because there is nothing here to warrant its download over any other game. The theme has already been established in better titles, the design is very sub-par to games like iMafia II or iMob Online, and it is pretty sluggish over all. A year ago this would have been a great game, but now Mark of Mafia is lower on the totem pole. Four and a half out of ten stars.

This post is part of the series: Mark of Mafia Series

Here are reviews for different Mark of Mafia games for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

  1. Fire the Cannon: Engines of War Review
  2. Mark of Mafia Review: Tired Mark
  3. No Race: Deathrace Mafia Review
  4. Speed Away: Gunshock Racing Review