The first few hours of Mafia: Definitive Edition can be demanding, to say the least. It’s chock full of action-packed missions that require you to travel across the city, but you never truly get to explore and mess around in the sandbox in your own time. Luckily, the game’s Free Ride mode lets you dodge the stresses of the campaign, and much more.
Players can spot the mode in the main menu, but cannot access until the first mission, “An Offer You Cannot Refuse,” is completed – which takes about 20 minutes. Once inside Free Ride, players are liberated from Story mode notifications and can drive around the city without Paulie nagging you to complete a chapter mission. In turn, this is also a great way to search the Lost Heaven for a variety of collectibles waiting to be found.
The mode also carries secret timed-trials missions that are not marked on the mini-map and lets users test out all of the cars and guns that can be discovered in Story mode. It sounds like a criminals’ dream but don’t feel too secure, as policemen will continue to go after Tommy if a crime is reported.
As an added bonus, Free Ride players have the ability to alter Lost Heaven’s weather and time at any point. This easy, breezy secondary mode is available for all of the game’s platforms – PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
