Introduction to the Mafia World
Welcome to Lost Heaven, a sprawling city inspired by 1930’s America, where the shadows of Prohibition loom large, and the streets are ruled by crime families locked in a volatile struggle for power. The city hums with the clash of ambition and survival, its skyline a backdrop to betrayals, shootouts, and whispered deals in smoky bars.
At the heart of this chaos is Tomw, an unassuming taxi driver with no aspirations of grandeur or power. However, in a city that never sleeps, Tommy’s life is changed forever when the Salieri crime family drags him into the dark underworld.
Through Tommy’s eyes, the story of Mafia I unfolds, jumping between past and present as Tommy, now older and disillusioned, recounts his rise and fall in the mob to a detective in exchange for witness protection.
Prologue
The game opens in the present, where Tommy meets Detective Norman in a quiet diner. Seeking immunity and safety for his family, Tommy agrees to tell his story, taking us back to where it all began.
In 1930, Tommy is an honest taxi driver just trying to make a living in the bustling, chaotic streets of Lost Heaven. One night, his routine is shattered when two men, Paulie and Sam, jump into his cab, frantically demanding he help them escape Morello’s men. A harrowing car chase through the city streets ensues, showcasing Tommy’s skill behind the wheel. Against all odds, Tommy gets them to safety, earning the gratitude of Don Salieri, head of one of the two rival crime families in Lost Heaven.
Tommy initially declines Salieri’s offer to join the family, wanting to keep his head down and avoid trouble. However, after several seemingly innocuous cab fares, Morello’s men retaliate, destroying Tommy’s cab and leaving him with no choice but to accept Salieri’s protection. From this moment on, Tommy’s life takes a fateful turn as he becomes a foot soldier in the Salieri family.
With the Don’s trusty consigliere, Frank Colletti, overseeing operations, Tommy begins working with the family across Lost Heaven.
1932
Two years later, Tommy has earned his place in the family after getting his retaliation. Tommy begins with small-time jobs—collecting protection money from local businesses, escorting shipments of bootlegged liquor, and dealing with rival thugs. He even gets involved in a race too, which he wins against all odds.
It’s not long before Salieri orders Tommy and Paulie to retaliate against the gang – hard. They do so with brutal efficiency but discover, to their horror, that their leader was the son of a corrupt city councillor, who quickly vows revenge.
Things escalate further when Tommy is ordered to destroy a brothel and to eliminate an informant working there. When Tommy finds out the informant is Michelle, a close friend of Sarah’s who betrayed the family to save her brother’s life, he faces a moral crossroads. Ultimately, he lets her go, covering it up while continuing his work alongside Sam, including a hit on a witness connected to the councillor’s son’s murder.
1933
Fast forward to 1933, and the war with Morello intensifies. Corrupt cops begin ambushing Salieri’s operations, with the councillor now firmly in Morello’s pocket. Things take a devastating turn when Salieri learns Frank has been secretly working with the authorities, handing over critical information about the family’s money laundering.
Despite his reluctance, Salieri orders Tommy to eliminate Frank. When Tommy discovers Frank only betrayed the family to protect his wife and children, tracking him down at the airport after fighting through a number of goons, he decides to let him go. He helps Frank escape the country and covers it up once again.
Tommy returns the incriminating documents to Salieri, earning his trust while silently grappling with the weight of his decisions. Around this time, Tommy marries Sarah, and they start a family, adding a sliver of normalcy to his increasingly fractured world.
1935
By 1935, Prohibition has ended, and both the Salieri and Morello families begin diversifying their criminal enterprises. Salieri sets his sights on controlling law enforcement, with a mix of legal and not-so-legal enterprises, but Morello retaliates, orchestrating an assassination attempt on the Don. At Pete’s Pizzeria, a tense shootout ensues but Tommy manages to save the Don and get away. This ultimately sets the scene for all-out war and from this moment onwards, the missions start to grow in intensity and stakes.
Tommy plays a key role in dismantling Morello’s empire, assassinating the corrupt councillor onboard a boat, in what seems like a complete suicide mission, in order to weaken Morello’s political influence. Later, he takes out Morello’s brother Sergio in the train yard, who controls the port unions. The war culminates in a thrilling chase where Tommy, Paulie, and Sam track down Morello to the airport, shoot his plane out the sky, and kill him as he tries to flee the city, cementing Salieri’s dominance in Lost Heaven.
1938
By 1938, the Salieri family is on top, ruthlessly eliminating anyone who dares oppose them. Tommy, Paulie, and Sam are tasked with recovering a shipment of impounded cigar crates, only to uncover a hidden stash of diamonds. Realizing they’ve been kept in the dark, Tommy and Paulie decide to pull off a secret bank heist. The job is a success, but it sets off a chain of betrayals.
Tommy arrives at Paulie’s apartment the next morning to find him dead and the money missing. The phone rings and it happens to be Sam. Tommy turns to Sam, who reveals the devastating truth when they meet at the gallery. Salieri ordered the hit on Paulie and now wants Tommy dead, too. Sam also admits that Michelle and Frank, the people Tommy had secretly spared, were later hunted down and killed on Salieri’s orders.
A deadly showdown ensues, and Tommy narrowly survives, fighting through a number of goons and killing Sam in the process. However, he’s also aware that his time with the family is over.
Epilogue
Fearing for his life and the safety of his family, Tommy reaches out to Detective Norman and offers to testify against the Salieri family. This catches us up to the moments at the start of the game. Tommy’s testimony results in the downfall of Salieri’s empire, with many key members—including the Don himself—convicted and imprisoned. Tommy serves eight years in prison before being placed in witness protection with his family, starting a new life in a faraway city.
Years later, Tommy is living a quiet life under a new identity. However, the mob’s reach is long, and his past catches up with him. In a chilling final scene, Tommy is assassinated outside his home by surviving Salieri associates. “Mr Salieri sends his regards” they say, before shooting him in the chest and letting him bleed out. It’s a haunting reminder of the inevitability of the life he tried to escape, and all the events leading up to this moment.
As Tommy bleeds out, his family surround him but Tommy is sure he’s protected them. “Family is forever,” He utters, as we fade to black.
And that’s pretty much it for the story to Alan Wake. There are, of course, extra intricacies to the narrative but this should be enough to whet the appetite for Mafia II!
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