Long ago retired game developer Acclaim began a project to make a more realistic game involving organized crime. Determining to bring in author and mafia expert David Fisher seemed an appropriate idea. However, with Acclaim closing and this game still in the pipes it seemed that this mafia thriller would never see the light of day.

Seeing opportunity, game publisher Aspyr Media stepped in and decided to finish this mafia thriller and pop on it an enticing $20 price tag. Price aside, however, Made Man is not the action-shooter it could have been.

Made Man features mob hit man Joey Verola and his rise through the world of organized crime triggered by saving the life of a mafia correspondent in Vietnam. Verola is voiced by an excellent voice actor, helping the player really connect with him throughout the story.

“My goal was to try and help you identify with the characters because that’s what makes games more fun,” David Fisher, the story’s writer said. “All the characters are based on real people with real traits.”

Made Man feels like an unfinished game, which is a shame because some elements in it could have made it fun with a little polish. Graphics are buggy and unimpressive, movement is choppy and confusing at times, and the shooting controls are sluggish and frustrating.

All the enemies can be separated into two categories: Characters that stand behind corners and shoot haphazardly and the ones that were trained from birth to shoot you. Unfortunately the latter seem to be the far more frequent of your problems. Making one of the game’s features of taking cover both needed and frustrating. Some of the objects you use for cover don’t actually block bullets, and even if they did any part of you exposed is getting hammered by gunfire from those crack shots. To top it off, sometimes the cover won’t let you shoot around it, hammering the wall with bullets when you’re clearly aiming for a mafia thug who can shoot you.

The only hope you have is to use the “kill-rush” feature, a mode that allows you to slow down time and get shot slightly less than normal. To charge kill-rush you need to either shoot roughly a whole level of people, leaving almost none left for kill-rush to be useful, or to perform a “retort-kill.” Retort kills happen when an enemy shot to death isn’t actually dead. He spouts insults until you execute him with a terrible line and a monotonous shot by aiming a gun and shooting at his helpless body. However, these don’t show up often enough to be useful.

Somewhere in Made Man lays a good game. The story and concept are sure things that just got lost and muddled in the transaction from Acclaim to Aspyr. While this is not a game I would buy, it is one of the better $20 games out there. Fisher does lend a good form of credibility to the game and makes it feel more down-to-earth and realistic while you climb through the ranks of the mafia.

“In the mafia there is vengeance, crime for profit, and just people trying to make a living,” Fisher said. “Regardless, in the mafia you have to start at the very bottom and move up the ranks.”

So will you stay at the bottom of the ladder, or be a Made Man?

Final Score: 5/10