Your mission is to be 'made' – that is, being firmly accepted into the fold of the Mafia elite. But what dirty deeds must you perform to get there? What will you have to sacrifice, and who might double cross you, on the way?

Made Man is a story of friendship, betrayal and greed told in seventeen action-packed chapters that span three decades, from the blood-soaked jungles of '60s Vietnam to the grime and high-rise hell of '70s and '80s New York City. The game has been created in conjunction with genuine Mafia insiders; New York Times best selling author David Fisher and Bill Bonnano, former high ranking member of the infamous Bonnano crime family. Such valuable insights ensure that Made Man's atmosphere, characters, style and violence are all as authentic as possible to real life.

"Made Man indoctrinates you into the family of the modern Mafia and lets you live the power, corruption and violence during the '60s, '70s and '80s," commented Andy Payne, Managing Director of Mastertronic. "Working closely with David Fisher and Bill Bonnano has resulted in a Pulp noire-style plot for the game rivalled only by Oscar-winning big screen epics. With Made Man, we're doing to the Mafia videogames genre what The Godfather did to Mafia movies."

"This is about as close to really being in the mob as a game can be. You turn your back on the wrong person, that's it, game over," continued Bill Bonnano, real life Made Man and former member of the Bonnano crime family. "I have worked with author David Fisher to make sure every level, every scene, every detail, actually represents the inner workings of organised crime. No question about it this is as real as it gets."

Players assume the role of Joey Verola and play through the key events in his life of crime. Along the way players will experience many innovative gameplay features, including:

• Avoid a hail of bullets by using the jump to cover technique, which launches Joey in the direction of the nearest safe spot. From there, Joey can sidle along and around the cover spot as well as fire over or around it before ducking back into safety. Joey can also create his own cover spots by strategically blasting away at the game's destructible scenery.
• Remotely view the action at key locations away from Joey's immediate environment by taking advantage of the picture-in-picture views. PIP allows players to memorise the locations of sentries and important items, as well as heightening Made Man's movie-like dramatic style.
• Joey can wield two firing weapons simultaneously for double the carnage! Melee weapons are also available for brutal bar room-style brawling and hand-to-hand combat using anything from chair legs, crowbars and knives to inflict the most damage.
• Joey can throw all manner of explosive missiles including grenades, Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs for maximum firepower. Missiles may also be used in stealthier stand-offs, in the form of empty drinks cans and rocks that can be used to distract and stun the enemy.
• Silverback's proprietary physics and 'rag doll' system is designed from the ground up to feature rich and dynamic environments that allow the player to destroy surroundings and enemies with realistic and spectacular results.

In addition to the key features above, Made Man also features a comprehensive reward system. As Joey fights he will be rewarded for performing various types of hits and kills. As Joey amasses these rewards he increases the effectiveness of his abilities and also gains new skills. Beware of hitting innocent civilians however, as doing so will actually punish the player by reducing accumulated points and, if too many innocents are targeted, Joey's speed, reload time and accuracy are all negatively affected.

Made Man is being developed by Manchester-based Silverback Studios and will be published by Mastertronic for PlayStation 2 and PC in September at full price.