Action

Mafia

Description

Mafia is a 2002 action-adventure video game developed by Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering of Developers. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in August 2002, and later ported to the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox consoles in 2004. Set within the fictional city of Lost Heaven in the 1930s, the game’s storyline follows the rise and fall of mobster Tommy Angelo within the Salieri Mafia family.

Mafia received positive reviews for the Windows version, with critics praising the game for its story and realism, while the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game received mixed reviews. A sequel, Mafia II by 2K Czech, was released on August 23, 2010, and a third game, Mafia III by Hangar 13, was released on October 7, 2016. A remake, also developed by Hangar 13, was announced in May 2020 and is scheduled to release in September 2020.

Mafia’s storyline gameplay consists of driving, mainly easy city cruises between different locations, as well as chases and races; the rest of the game is based on third-person on-foot navigation and shooting – all inter-connected with cutscenes. In addition to the city and countryside, detailed interiors like the city’s airport, a museum, a church, a hotel, an abandoned prison, restaurants, and Don Salieri’s bar are included. Weather changes and day/night cycles are in use, though unlike in Grand Theft Auto, missions take place at a set time and the weather is fixed during the duration of the level. …

Freedom Fighters

Description

The Soviet Union became a world superpower by dropping the first atomic bomb on Berlin, ending World War II, and propping up communist states throughout the globe which begin to surround the US in the present day. New York plumbing brothers Chris and Troy Stone travel to meet with their next client, an activist named Isabella Angelina, only to find her apartment abandoned. The Soviet Union launches a surprise invasion of New York City and suddenly Soviet soldiers, led by General Vasilij Tatarin, seize Troy. Amidst the attack, Chris escapes to the streets, encountering a man named Mr. Jones and resistance member Phil Bagzton. After rescuing Isabella from a police station and Troy from a post office, the group retreats to the sewers and sets up a base of operations as New York is lost, with the media now being controlled by the Soviet Union.

Months later, Chris, Phil, and Isabella sabotage key Soviet facilities and reclaim areas within the city, building up a resistance group of New York citizens and disillusioned Soviet soldiers. Chris becomes known as the “Freedom Phantom” within the Soviet-controlled media network, SAFN. Troy is captured by Soviet troops and tortured for information. Forced into issuing a public statement aimed at the resistance to cease their actions, he breaks from the prepared text and urges Chris to continue fighting. In response, General Tatarin has Troy taken to Fort Jay and executes him personally. Mr. Jones suggests assassinating Tatarin in retaliation. Chris succeeds, but returns to find Isabella missing and the resistance base occupied by the Soviet Army. The operation was orchestrated by Mr. Jones who reveals himself to be KGB agent Colonel Bulba. Chris escapes with Phil and others to a new underground area while SAFN reports on the death of Tatarin, Colonel Bulba’s promotion to General, and the “end” of the resistance in New York. …

Tomb Raider II

Description

The story of Tomb Raider II surrounds the mythical “Dagger of Xian”, a weapon which was used by an Emperor of China to command his army. By plunging the weapon into its owner’s heart, the weapon has the power to turn its bearer into a dragon. The last battle fought with the Dagger ended when the warrior monks of Tibet removed the knife from the Emperor. The Dagger was returned to its resting place within the Great Wall.

In the present day, near the remains of the Great Wall, Lara Croft investigates the legend of the Dagger. She is attacked by a thug who claims to work for Marco Bartoli, a Venetian Mafia leader who has an obsession with the ancient lore. After travelling to Venice, Lara makes her way through Bartoli’s hideout and an opera house where Bartoli’s men are plotting a heist. Lara follows Bartoli aboard his aeroplane, but she is knocked unconscious.

The plane lands at an oil platform. The cult of Xian have killed the rig’s staff and are carrying out excavations on a sunken ship called the Maria Doria, a luxury ocean liner which was owned by Marco’s father. When Lara regains consciousness, she retrieves her weapons and makes her way through the oil rig. She learns from an imprisoned Tibetan monk, Brother Chan, that the shipwreck carries an ancient Tibetan artifact called the Seraph. Lara dives alongside a submersible, arrives at the shipwreck, and retrieves the Seraph. …

Tomb Raider (1996)

Description

Archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft is approached by Larson, who is working for the wealthy businesswoman Jacqueline Natla. Natla hires Lara to find a mysterious artefact known as the Scion in the tomb of Qualopec—a ruler of Atlantis—within the mountains of Peru. After recovering the Scion from Qualopec’s tomb, Lara is confronted by Larson, who reveals that she is holding a piece of the artefact and Natla has sent Pierre Dupont to retrieve the other pieces. Breaking into Natla’s offices to find out Pierre’s whereabouts, Lara discovers a medieval monk’s journal revealing that the next Scion piece is buried beneath an ancient monastery of St. Francis’ Folly.

Navigating the monastery, Lara finds the tomb of Tihocan, another ruler of Atlantis. There, Lara confronts Pierre and recovers the second piece of the Scion. After joining both pieces of the Scion, Lara sees a vision which reveals that the third and final piece of the Scion was hidden in Egypt after the third Atlantean ruler—the traitor who used the artefact to create a breed of mutants—was captured by Tihocan and Qualopec. Making her way through Egypt to the lost city of Khamoon, Lara kills Larson and recovers the third Scion piece. Emerging from the caves, Lara is ambushed by Natla, who takes the Scion. …

Tomb Raider III

Description

A corporation called RX Tech excavates the crash site of a meteorite that impacted on Antarctica millions of years ago and finds strange Rapa Nui-like statues alongside the grave of one of HMS Beagle’s sailors. Meanwhile, archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft is searching for an artefact known as the Infada Stone in the ruins of an ancient Indian Hindu temple once inhabited by the Infada tribe. After taking the artefact from a researcher working for RX Tech, Lara is approached by RX Tech scientist Dr. Willard, who explains that Polynesians came across a meteorite crater in Antarctica thousands of years ago and found that it held incredible power. Using rock from the meteorite, they crafted four crystalline artefacts, one of which is the Infada Stone. They fled Antarctica for unknown reasons, but in the 19th century, a group of sailors travelling with Charles Darwin came to Antarctica and rediscovered the artefacts. The four artefacts were distributed across the globe. Dr. Willard has been able to track the artefacts by using the diary of one of the sailors. Lara agrees to help him find the other three.

Travelling to a South Pacific island, Lara encounters a wounded soldier who gives her hints about the existence of a powerful deity. While pursuing the deity, Lara learns that one of Darwin’s sailors brought one of the artefacts to the island. She infiltrates a temple and defeats the deity, who has immense power granted by the second artefact, the Ora Dagger. In London, Lara searches for the third artefact, the Eye of Isis, now in the possession of Sophia Leigh, the head of a cosmetics corporation. Lara learns that the corporation has performed experiments on humans in order to achieve immortality and eternal youth for Sophia’s personal gain. Lara confronts Sophia in her office and ultimately obtains the artefact. In Nevada, Lara makes her way through a desert canyon and tries to enter Area 51, where the fourth artefact, Element 115, is located in an alien spacecraft guarded by the US government. She is taken prisoner after her attempted break-in fails. Freeing herself, she escapes the security compound and stows away in a truck to Area 51, where she obtains the artefact. …

Tomb Raider IV – The Last Revelation

Description

The story opens in Angkor Wat in 1984, when Lara Croft is 16. She and her mentor, Werner Von Croy, are exploring ancient ruins, searching for an ancient artefact called the Iris. They find it, but Lara finds inscriptions that warn of terrible retribution for any who disturb the artefact. Von Croy ignores the warnings and the temple begins to close. Lara is forced to run, leaving him trapped inside.

In 1999, Lara and a local guide are searching for the Tomb of Seth, hoping to find the Amulet of Horus, a charm in the shape of an ankh, set with a ruby. Upon removing it from a sarcophagus, she finds that the amulet is the key to sealing the dark god Seth away for eternity. Horus and his ally Semerkhet constructed the sarcophagus to hold Seth and that, by removing the amulet, Seth has been released. Her guide is revealed to be working for Von Croy, who is determined to take the amulet for himself. Lara quickly escapes after being chased by Von Croy’s mercenaries. …

Tomb Raider V – Chronicles

Description

Following the events of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Lara Croft is presumed dead, buried under the collapsed Great Pyramid of Giza. At Lara’s home of Croft Manor, three former friends and associates—Lara’s butler Winston, Father Patrick Dunstan and Charles Kane—reminisce over some of Lara’s early exploits following a memorial service.

The first story follows Lara’s quest through the catacombs of Rome in search of the Philosopher’s stone. She is pursued by Larson Conway and Pierre DuPont, adversaries she would later encounter during the events of Tomb Raider. The second story, recounted by Kane, sees Lara hunting the Spear of Destiny, lost on the ocean floor since World War II. Infiltrating Zapadnaya Litsa, she smuggles herself aboard a Russian Naval submarine commanded by Admiral Yarofev and his Mafia handler Sergei Mikhailov, who also seeks the Spear. Lara recovers the Spear, but she is ambushed by Mikhailov. The Spear’s power is unleashed, killing Mikhailov, damaging the submarine and wounding Yarofev. Lara escapes the submarine, but Yarofev remains behind as the Spear destroys the submarine. …

Scroll to Top