The Family

An interesting concept, this small total conversion offers a slightly cliché story about a Mafia enforcer in the 1930s, with an even more accented noir setting than in the original game.

The authors even bothered to add new comic panels to narrate the story instead of relying on standard cutscenes or walls of text, which is a nice touch. The downside is that the dialogs abuse expletives so much that they seem to be written by a teenager (and perhaps that's the case here, who knows). Anyway, the plot is simple and nothing will catch you by surprise. Not that it matters anyway, as the emphasis is placed on action. Think old good Max Payne but with Thompsons instead of Uzis.

In order to get you in the proper mood, everything is now black and white. That's not a brand new visual filter, the assets were simply edited to remove color. It's true that it feels atmospheric for a while, but I can't imagine myself playing a whole game this way as my eyes would get tired quickly. Other works such as MadWorld can get away with it because of the cel-shading style, but The Family doesn't have those visuals. It's reminiscent of the thirties, yes, but a little touch could have been added, like keeping the blood red.

Don't dive in expecting a fully-fledged Hollywood story. It'll be over in 15 minutes (yeah, I mean that). There's also an unfinished bonus level with a street gunfight between rival outfits, and that's it. Well, at least it's intense, with lots of ammo expended.

Being so short, there's no excuse to ignore it and not add a new notch to your Colt 1911. Because you've got nothing to lose. Like poor Max Tony.

Playing

ModDB.