PS2 Hard Drive Question

I've just picked up two PS2 games, Mafia and Final Fantasy XII, I was wondering if either one will take advantage of the hard drive? The loading times in Mafia are horrible, would the HDD make any difference?

On top of that I've heard that buying a PS2 hard drive comes with a few risks, such as that it may not work with my specific PS2. Is this true? I see quite a few for sale on Amazon and I was wondering if it was just a rumor.

I want a hard drive for Resident Evil: Outbreak anyway, so whether or not it works with Mafia or Final Fantasy is a bonus.

Thanks for any help.

Besides RE:O, you're mostly out of luck:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2_Expansion_Bay#North_American_Releases_with_HDD_Support

Also, the HDD only works for the old fat models, so if you have the redesigned slim, there is no official drive support. You also need the network adapter to interface with the PS2 and drive since the IDE interface is built into it.

Thanks, I was afraid of that. Guess I'll just have to put up with the load times in Mafia or upgrade to the PC version.