Often reduced to another in a long line of Grand Theft Auto clones, the original Mafia actually differentiated itself from the pack upon its August 2002 release on PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Mafia writer and director Daniel Vávra argued in an interview with International Business Times that the sole similarities between the two were their open-world settings and crime-laden narratives. Where 2001’s GTA 3 emphasized over-the-top action, outlandish characters, and excessive violence, Mafia paid homage to The Godfather and Goodfellas through a thoughtful melodrama conveying a sense of “soul, purpose, and meaning.”