The Mafia series ranks high on my personal list of favorite gaming brands. The first part, in particular, showed me at the time that games can tell serious stories that can be safely compared to movies. Over time, I also liked the second volume of 2010. When I had the opportunity to present to you the newly released The Art of Mafia Trilogy, I didn’t have to wait long.
- Issued by: Xzone and Cenega
- Number of pages: 237
- Guarded: corrected
- Dimensions: 300 x 230 mm
- The year of publishing: 2022
- Language: Czech and English
- Price: 999 CZK
20th anniversary celebration
The book is published jointly by the Xzone game store and Cenega publishing house, with the consecration of the owner of the rights to the Mafia brand in the form of 2K publishing house. When compiling the book, the authors also collaborated with the developers from the Hangar 13 studio. After scrolling through the first few pages, I realized that I had got my hands on a premium product, the production of which definitely did not pass by. The book has a hardcover, thick coated paper and high-quality printing. In this regard, everything is exactly as you would expect from a quality artbook with a higher price tag.
The Language of Numbers is 237 pages full of pictures, drawings and sketches from four different games.
If you have previous Xzone book works on your shelf in the form of The Art of Kingdom Come: Deliverance and The Art of Creaks, then you can imagine what awaits you in terms of quality with Mafia. The Language of Numbers is 237 pages full of pictures, drawings and sketches from four different games. The name already suggests that the main space is devoted to the remake of the first, along with the second and third parts, which were released in 2020 as part of a collection called Mafia Trilogy. However, the authors of the book have well guessed that fans, especially in our country, will probably find it difficult to forgive them if they do not focus on the original first part of the book. After all, the artbook came out precisely for the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Mafia.
As such, several introductory pages are devoted to the original Mafia, which, instead of illustrations, is mostly represented by real-time photographs from development, complete with short captions. Although you can find mostly images on the Internet, I was once again amazed by the conditions in which the original Mafia was actually created, and by how much the entire gaming industry has changed over the past 20 years.
Comprehensive mobile package
In the following chapters, which are devoted to the remake of the first, Mafia 2 and Mafia 3, you will already find mostly pictures, art and various visual materials from the developed versions of individual games. I can only praise the combination of elaborate promotional images from finished games with art and sketches, which, on the other hand, are taken from the early stages of development. First of all, never-before-seen content in the form of concepts gives the product a more exclusive character, and I have personally studied this type of content with great interest in the smallest details.
The visual material is supplemented by several shorter texts.
The sections dedicated to Mafia: Definitive Edition and Mafia 3 consist of a gallery of images and chapters dedicated to cars, locations, characters and the aforementioned concepts. In the case of Mafia 2, the chapter on locations has been replaced with images of various sketches that, in terms of design, bring the creation of the game closer. Since we are talking about an artbook, it is important to emphasize that the main space is really reserved for visual material of a diverse nature.
But the book also contains text passages and captions. In the case of Mafia 3, for example, this is a relatively detailed description of individual locations and characters, which is complemented by a description of the game by Dave Smith, who participated in the development of the trio as an art director. On the other hand, in the second part, a significant place is given to the technical data of individual vehicles.
For each game and chapter, the authors focus on something else, which I do not consider a bad decision. However, I should point out that, for example, the chapter on the city in Mafia 2 was clearly missing from the book. I also look at the way the characters are described in the remake of the first, which the book presents to you in the form of trading cards, among which some important secondary characters such as Sarah, Ralph, Lucas or Norman are not exactly a good choice. However, throughout the book, these are small things.
History window and personal stories of developers
The visual material of The Art of Mafia trilogy is complemented by several shorter texts. First of all, it is necessary to note the historical digression into each work of Kristina Sulkova. The sincerely written introduction and conclusion of the entire book also deserves great praise. Instead of a general conversation, these two chapters, which frame the entire experience of the book, offer you a personal confession of two developers.
In the case of an introduction, this is Roman Hladik, who currently holds the position of CEO at 2K Czech and, as one of the few, was involved in the development of all three parts of the series, as well as the remake of the first. Then Piotr Moteizik, who worked on the development of the second part as a graphic artist and on the remake as an art director, took care of writing the conclusion. It is these two personal stories of two developers who are closely associated with the Mafia brand that complete the overall very good impression of the entire artbook.
The Art of Mafia Trilogy book is a premium and unique product within the brand that is clearly aimed at fans of the series. It offers colorful visuals from individual parts of the series, which are complemented by a well-written historical digression and a characteristic introduction and conclusion by a pair of developers who have devoted most of their lives to the Mafia series.
Source :Indian TV
