Mafia Wars

Good Morning All,
Since my forced retirement from ETQW and other IPX games I have found refuge in Zynga’s “Mafia Wars” due to limited access to a gaming computer. Below is just a brief review of the game I am currently addicted to.

Mafia Wars can be considered by its critics as one dimensional/ boring when in comparison with the fast pace and excitement of RPGs or Shooter games and can take at least two to three weeks to finally find the strategy and fun behind the game to start enjoying it.

MW is a multiplayer browser game created by Zynga and is set in New York City and Little Italy, with the option for players to travel between New York and Cuba once they reach level 35. From today the 25th September (AET) they are opening Moscow to be able to travel to at level 70.

The game revolves around doing jobs in order to earn cash, and eventually establishing and advancing one’s criminal empire. Players create mafias by recruiting players. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Friendster allow players to recruit from within their friend’s network to build their mafia and fight against other players. On Facebook alone as of September 2009, MW had more than 24.5 million monthly active users.

Game play revolves around timers: players have limited energy, health, and stamina meters, but these can be slowly increased over time. By using other mafia members whom that they have recruited, players can eventually fight other mafias, which usually results in the theft of cash.

The game operates on a level up basis. The player earns experience points by completing jobs. As they level up, more jobs become available, and extra features become available, such as robbing other mafias and visiting Cuba/ Moscow to expand their criminal empire.
Below are three main features of the game.

DO JOBS
Crime jobs are a way to earn cash and experience, especially when you’re getting your start. Some jobs require certain items, properties, or mafia size to complete. New jobs become available as you progress through the game by completing jobs, earning cash and expanding your mafia size.

FIGHTING
During fights players have the opportunity to kill or ice their opponents depending on their Mafia Strength. Up to 500 mafia members and hired guns help you in fights, each using a weapon, armour, and vehicle from your inventory.

Mafia Attack Strength is the total equipped offensive power of everyone in your mafia.
Likewise, Mafia Defence Strength is your total mafia’s defensive power.

Your three strongest offensive and defensive items add a bonus to your total mafia’s strength. Raising your attack and defence skills provides a secret increase to your mafia’s strength that your opponent cannot see.

During fights with other Mafias there is a fair chance to acquire an item that is dropped by your opponent that will be beneficial to your progress. Through continuous attacks the end result is either icing or killing your opponent though sometimes it is neither the case and they get away.

ROBBING
Robbing is only possible after reaching Level 15. By spending Stamina you can attack an enemy’s property and steal money from the property. Robbing is harder than a fight, as you can only bring a number of Mafia members equal to your Level, even if you have more members in your Mafia. When you try robbing another mafia and fail, the end result is that you lose money that you have on you that is yet to be banked to your attended victim. Therefore banking is an important part also however banking fees are 10% of money deposited.

When a property is protected (denoted by dark blue shields on the image) it has a higher Defence than normal. Each successful attack will remove one shield, damage the property, and reward you with money and experience. When a property is damaged to 30% of its original health, it cannot be attacked further. The police arrive to break up the party.

Extras
In addition to the above three, there are other functions like Banking, Property purchasing, adding people to the Hit List/ Hired Gun. There is also a Collection and Vault section where you can receive bonuses and also purchase Boosts to aid you in attacks and defence. There is also a Godfather where you can visit to use Reward Points to purchase rare items and receive special upgrades.
A recent addition to MW last month was the ability to go to War with Friends of the same mafia or helping another friend whereby friendly mafia member decide which side to betray or defend. However when warring with Friends no actual health/ stamina points are lost because it is considered in-house fighting where instead xp are up for grabs with gifts in reward for the victorious side.

Moscow (opens today 25th September)
Moscow, the second expansion to the mob-themed Facebook game Mafia Wars, lets players expand their criminal empire into brand new territory. As soon as you arrive in Moscow, you’re forced to choose sides. The Vory v Zakone, a group of old-school Russian mobsters, or the Mafiya, former KGB and military officers who have learned that organized crime pays far more rubles than a government job? The loot items for the missions will be different depending on which faction you go with. In addition to Moscow the creators are in the process of introducing further places of travel to West US and Asia in the future.

Conclusion on Mafia Wars
MW is a slow game that is meant to be played for over a long period of time with the objectives of expanding, owning lots of properties, robbing, acquiring better weapons and taking out other rival Mafias. The game is repetitive by nature but the constant hunger to improve character points/levels along with one’s own mafia strength in order to bully other Mafia groups into submission can be addictive and endless. Some new players are often bullied out of the game due to their small number of mafia members which makes them vulnerable to attacks and robberies though a way around this is normally to add your name onto a MW fan site and request members and you normally have a dozen people responding within the hour.
The game compliments the lifestyle of those who social network on a regular basis though at time MW players are known to cause annoyance amongst their network of friends who dont play MW because of spam requests that appears on their homepage.

Overall I would recommend Mafia Wars for anyone who is in my situation who is without a gaming computer for ETQW, tired of online chess and likes social networking.

8/10 willow trees