Mafia shipped today for the PS2. This long awaited crime simulator, announced a little more than a year ago for the PS2, came out in late 2002 for the PC and was lauded for its excellent narrative and open-ended, crime simulating Grand Theft Auto-like gameplay.

Mafia is set in the 1930s in the fictional town of Lost Heaven. You play as taxi driver Tommy Angelo, who by a twist of fate becomes involved in Don Salieri's mob. You start off as a basic thug, and then you're given more important tasks such as offering "protection" to local businesses, running alcohol, escorting people, planting bombs, and performing "hits". You spend roughly an equal time on foot as you do in authentically crafted 1930s vehicles, used for both escaping and performing "old school" drive-bys. The Xbox version of Mafia is set to release on March 1st in North America.