Bootlegger’s Mafia Racing Story Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · Published January 10, 2024 · Updated January 10, 2024

For this Bootlegger’s Mafia Racing Story Review, we step back in time to the roaring 1930s and immerse ourselves in the high-stakes world of bootlegging during America’s Prohibition era. Get ready to join John Hamerton, a retired car engineer and mechanic, as he embarks on a daring journey to save his house and pay off his tax debt.

Bootlegger’s Mafia Racing Story Review Pros:

Nice graphics.
3.88GB download size.
Full controller support.
Graphics settings – resolution, graphics quality preset, and shadow quality.
Fast loading times.
Third-person perspective.
The driving is all controlled on the left stick, acceleration is up, brakes down, etc.
Mini nap along with a mission line showing.
Customize your car in terms of looks and color.
Earn cash from missions and events.
You have a damage bar and this will subtract money for repairs from your earnings.
Full police chase model whereby you have a bar that shows when hunted and one for cool down.
Clear mission end markers on the map.
When on a mission the whole map is available to you allowing you to play and go where you like.
A speedometer is shown at the bottom of the screen.
You can retry, or quit and restart a mission.
Missions populate in the map and you are free to choose which one to do.
Each mission shows rewards, driving length, and the risk factor.
Great looking world.
You can unlock and replay race events on circuits around town for extra cash.

Bootlegger’s Mafia Racing Story Review Cons:

No Steam achievements.
The mouse cursor stays on the screen even when using the controller.
Robotic animations and mouth movement.
Navigating menus with the controller especially is not great with some menus not working properly and you having to use the right stick like a mouse.
Hit detection is really bad.
Over-the-top ragdoll physics, a small hit can have you catapulting over the map.
Losing the police is not easy mostly due to their erratic behaviour and the world you race in.
The AI behavior for every other drive is that of violence.
No way to rebind controls.
You don’t have any camera controls.
If the police are right on you then you cannot see anything.
A lot of screen tearing, slowdown, and pop-in textures.
The handling is not great.
It’s a big grind to get better cars and parts.
Little replay value.
Very much a point-to-point driving game with occasional time restraints.