Every once in awhile a game comes along with such a powerful story and setting that it changes my view on the world a little bit. There’s been a few that I’ve played in my time such as Red Dead Redemption, Batman Arkham Asylum, Grand Theft Auto IV, and the Uncharted series being the most prominent. Recently video game stories have been kind of lacking for me as I don’t get as invested as I used to since writers seemingly can’t craft good stories anymore. Despite all of its shortcomings Mafia III is one of my favorite games of all time because of its story, setting, and fun (if a bit repetitive) gameplay.
For those who haven’t followed the amazing PR campaign leading up to release day, Mafia III takes place in a post-Vietnam New Orleans type setting where you play as a bi-racial veteran (Lincoln Clay) on a blood feud against the Italian mafia. On the surface this could have been played off a simple revenge tale and still be interesting because of the tumultuous time period it’s set in but the game doesn’t shy away from any of its aspects. All of the gritty details are there, from talk about Vietnam to enemies and pedestrians commenting on the lead character’s skin color, the attention to detail is insane.
What I found to be particularly interesting about Mafia was the fact that its story bled into its gameplay seamlessly. Throughout the game your goal is to take down the mob, that’s it. To some, that could become a repetitive drag of the same thing over and over. However, the strong story makes you remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Without spoiling it I’ll just say that it’s pretty compelling and sticks with you until you sit in your enemy’s penthouse overlooking the empire you just brought down.
As for the amazing story I’ve been bragging about throughout this article, the story focuses on a ton of heavy themes such as race, revenge, family, betrayal, and everything in between. The game’s cut-scenes jump to different times to create a faux Netflix crime documentary feeling that helps diversify the presentation from other games where the tale is told chronologically. These documentary scenes also make you want to cause as much damage as you possibly can. Investigators trying to bring down Lincoln Clay in 2016 say that, “he caused more damage than all the wars and hurricanes combined,” and it makes you want to mess this city up big time.
The gameplay is pretty simple, if you’ve ever played a Ubisoft open world game you’ll feel right at home. Imagine Grand Theft Auto V if it were made with some aspects of The Division and Watch_Dogs mixed in. Since you’re trying to take down the mob you need to do it district by district, taking away crime rackets one by one. These can range anywhere from PCP manufacturing to blackmail and marijuana smuggling, you conquer it all. If you’ve ever wanted a game that explores every aspect of the criminal underworld this does it in spades. In each district, you have two rackets to take down, both of which contain members of the mob or concerned citizens feeding you information. You drive around, killing and stealing as much money as you can until the racket is flat broke. Once that’s done you take care of the person in charge of the racket by either killing him or recruiting him to your syndicate. Rinse and repeat that same process and you’ve got about 75% of the game down pat. If that might sound repetitive to you it should because it can seem like that a lot from time to time. However, the other 25% of game-play helps even it out a bit.
Aside from the compelling story cut-scenes there’s under-boss recruitment and distribution of territory. From the start of the game, Lincoln meets three people sidelined or hurt by the mob and recruits them to his cause and each one gives you something new and exciting. Cassandra, the leader of the city’s Haitian gang, is able to provide you with weapons. Thomas Burke, the disgraced leader of the Irish mafia, is able to draw cops off your tail and provide you with a ride if you ever need. Fans of Mafia II will recognize former player character Vito Scaletta who can provide Lincoln with a place to store his dirty cash and a small hit squad to help him in battle. Whenever you take over a racket or district you have to choose which under-boss to give it to which is surprisingly difficult seeing as how each under-boss has something new and exciting they can provide you. What makes this mechanic even more compelling, though, is the ability to accidentally make an enemy with one of your under-bosses.
The final chunk of game-play lies in the impressive ways you take down key members of the mafia. Sal Marcano, head of the Italians, has recruited his family and friends into vital positions and if you make Lincoln push hard enough they break and bring themselves out into the open. These lead to exciting shootouts in abandoned quarries, fighting in an underground black fight club, attacking a political fundraiser on a ferry, disrupting a Ku Klux Klan meeting, and drugging the 1% during a funeral procession at the local country club. All of these missions are a ton of fun, next to the story they’re part of the reason why I want to go back and play this game again.
All in all, Mafia III was a blast from start to finish. I was never bored with what was presented to me and I couldn’t be happier for having had played it. I could probably talk about how great this game is all day as I’ve only barely scratched the surface on how well done this was. If you’re able to look past the repetitive mission design you might be able to find an experience you won’t soon forget.
Pros:
- Fun action set-pieces
- Amazing story
- Phenomenal acting
- Complex character arcs
- Tons of replay value
- Fan service for Mafia II players (finding out what happened to Joe was great)
- The soundtrack
- Tough in-game decision making
- Satisfying conclusion
Cons:
- Very repetitive mission design
- No fast travel
- Driving can be sluggish depending on what you drive
- The game can be a big buggy
- The good graphics are very inconsistent
- Should really be played in small doses only
