It was a sunny day in New York City and while most natives of the Big Apple went on with their day with very little to worry about, Joey Verola wondered if today was the day he would become a made man or get whacked. Welcome to the life of a man whose career in the mob has spanned three decades as he tells his tale of honor, blood and bullets. Made Man for the PlayStation 2 does weave an interesting tale but when it comes to the action, this one comes close to swimming with the fishes.

Gamers assume the role of Joey Verola as he reflects back to his past and his life working for “la familia” when he is called by the boss. He thinks this might be the day he is accepted into the family as a made man … or maybe this was the day he gets a bullet in the back of his head. Either way, he tells his tale and it is an interesting one. The game follows Verola’s life, including his 1968 tour of duty in Cambodia during the Vietnam War where he rescues Johnny “Eggs” Biondo during a mission. After the war, Eggs brings Joey to his grateful Mafia Don father who offers Joey a place in the family and his first job. Joey accepts the job and from there we follow his career that takes him through the 1970s to the 1980s.

The game jumps to different periods but the game really begins in 1971 where Joey is asked to transport a truck carrying cigarettes to a destination in North Carolina. Stopping for some coffee, Joey’s truck is stolen by a group of what he calls “inbred hicks” that have gotten together with a rival family to steal from his New York family. Without a moment’s hesitation, Joey goes after the truck and we follow him through back alleys and even a swamp filled with hungry crocs. As he tells his story, Joey takes us through different times and places. One mission takes place in a cemetery as rival gangsters attempt to wipe you out and another mission has you taking out a printing press.

Mostly, though, Joey spends the game shooting everyone and anyone that gets in his way. Blessed with the ability to wield dual guns from revolvers to shotguns, Joey would have been the ultimate killing machine. He’s even handy with grenades (thanks to his tour in Vietnam) and since he’s an angry man he can go into a killing rage (called Kill Rush) you can activate when his Kill Rack meter is full. He can even execute injured enemies with the Retort Kill (the game goes split-screen and you’ll watch Joey finish off the injured enemy for a health boost). Joey can dive for cover thanks to a Jump to Cover icon that appears on surfaces and he can stick to walls for when the enemy has him pinned.

While we have seen moves like these before, Made Man handles action poorly. You won’t find a reticule and Joey won’t target an enemy. You’ll have to manually aim Joey’s weapons at an enemy and - while you can zoom in a little - you’ll find it hard hitting moving targets. Incidentally, you’ll find very few enemies that will duck for cover or move out of the way of your gunfire. Mainly, many of the enemies you’ll face will actually stand there while you shoot them. You can be standing there shooting one gangster while his friend simply waits his turn to get a bullet to the head as well. There are also a number of glitches here as well, such as enemies that can shoot through doors, disappear through walls and when you think you’re behind good cover an enemy will still manage to get a clean shot. Even the jumping for cover move is executed too slowly and not as smoothly.

Visually speaking, Made Man can be surprisingly detailed in certain levels and incredibly lackluster in others. For example, one level that takes place in a cemetery shows off some truly detailed backgrounds such as the New York skyline and the many rows of tombstones. Then you play the Vietnam level and the jungle looks dull and lifeless and the warehouse missions just look too plain. The character models that look awful as well and their mouths don’t move during conversations. There are even times when the cut scenes as well as the visual effects look like they belong on the original PlayStation.

Much like the visuals, the game’s sound can be both decent and just plain bad. For starters, the game’s soundtrack is actually pretty good and offers music that has the right tone for the specific time period in the game. The voice acting is quite all right as well (although filled with more profanity than an episode of The Sopranos) and manages to capture how these goodfellas actually talk. Then again, the sound effects are weak and everything from gunfire to explosions don’t have that right ring to it.

Sadly, even with an interesting story, Made Man simply falls flat in the action department thanks to a number of glitches that won’t fail to frustrate. While there are some fun levels here, it’s hard to enjoy the shootouts when the controls make everything from aiming to diving for cover way too clumsy. In short, Made Man just lacks all the things that could have made this a surprising action game with a mob twist. If it’s a mobster game you wish to play, I suggest you go back and play The Godfather. 

Gameplay: 6.0
Following the main character from the jungles of Vietnam to the hard streets of 1970s New York as the trusted mob enforcer is a nice change of pace for a genre. Unfortunately, the controls aren’t good enough to make the action flow smoothly and even the jump-for-cover move doesn’t work as well as it should.

Graphics: 7.0
The game can surprise you with surprisingly detailed backgrounds in certain levels and then disappoint with some washed out, flat textures in other levels. The character models in the game don’t look great either and the visual effects aren’t impressive as well. Also, do Mafia goons communicate telepathically because their lips don’t move during conversations?

Sound: 7.0
As far as the voice acting is concerned, Joey is voiced perfectly and adds credibility to the tale he spins throughout the game. There’s a lot of profanity in this game but what do you expect from members of organized crime? The sound effects are loud but nothing really special here. Even the soundtrack is just so-so.

Difficulty: Medium
You’ll go up against a number of armed enemies that range from rival gangsters to hillbilly goons and you’ll even go up against a skilled sniper who takes shots at you from a helicopter. While many of the enemies you’ll face won’t pose a challenge to you, they become deadly when they gang up on you.

Concept: 6.5
Following the life of a Mafia goon isn’t anything new but Joey Verola is actually an interesting character whose story is actually quite intriguing. His story takes him through different time periods but the result is always a bloody trail of bodies and shootouts that get more exaggerated the longer you play. After you finish the game there’s no reason to come back for more.

Overall: 6.0
Made Man possesses a slew of problems that would have made this Mafioso shooter an interesting action game. Interesting main character aside, the game’s controls feel jerky and the action is slowed down by the awful aiming and bad camera. Made Man, you broke my heart.