Mafia 3 Review
Mafia 3, Hangar 13’s new iteration of the Mafia series hit consoles and PC on October 7. The game follows Lincoln Clay, a black biracial orphan who served in the Vietnam War and returns to New Bordeaux in the year 1968. So how is the game? Does the story hold up? Is Mafia 3 a buy? Let’s find out. Below is my Mafia 3 review.
Less Then Stellar Launch
Before I jump into my review there is one thing to address, Mafia 3’s launch was pretty rough on PC. Let’s not sugar coat this. The game lacked many basic 2016 PC game settings and had the community in an uproar. A quick patch came out of Hangar 13 which unlocked fps and salvaged some reputation, but still the fact the game is such a port is just dirty. Did this ruin my experience? Not really, but as a consumer this is something you should seriously consider before picking up the game.
Story
When I launched Mafia 3 I had no idea what to expect. As a virgin to the Mafia series, I really was experiencing things for the first time. Immediately I was drawn into the story. Lincoln Clay is an interesting and well acted character. This can also be said of the games other characters, who are well voiced and motion captured superbly. Characters are mature, well written and have motivations that feel in tune with the main story arc. Hangar 13 did an amazing job on this aspect of the game.
The story plot is so thick you could cut it with a… knife
The setting of New Bordeaux in 1968 adds another layer to the story, highlighting racism and discrimination through in world interaction. While running down a few collectibles, I was asked to leave certain establishments or have the police called due to the color of my skin. The racism grows as you venture into the more ‘upscale’ areas of New Bourdeax and npcs react in ways that feel very real and very raw. Police response times change according to the affluence of the neighborhood, adding both an interesting game mechanic, but also a side of social commentary as well.
What a beautiful building
Mafia 3 ties the story and era together with a brilliant soundtrack. AND I DO MEAN BRILLIANT. The experience of jumping into a car and having Jimmy Hendrix’s All Along The Watch Tower greet me was simply epic. The OST is easily one of the best I have heard in my entire gaming life (still love OOT though). Hangar 13’s selection of music feels thoughtful, well curated and had me staying in my car, simply to finish the song I was listening to.
Gameplay
Unfortunately, Mafia 3’s gameplay fails to meet the high bar set by the games story and soundtrack. Many people want to compare Mafia 3 with GTA V, but I would compare it more to The Division or Shadows of Mordor. If you go into this expecting a GTA V level open world experience, you will be disappointed. Simple things like character customization*, car customization* and purchasing, and fast travel are inexplicably missing. The lack of these kinds of features really removes the open world feel of the game.
Shooting and driving, two things you will do a lot of, feel good and handle well. Unfortunately there is a real lack of interesting weapons and cars to really make these gameplay elements stand out. The game also suffers from a vicious gameplay loop of doing the same 5 things over and over. I found myself locked in for the first few hours, but then quickly wanting to complete the tedious missions in order to get that next piece of storyline. Not all mission are done poorly, some of the main mission set pieces are fun to run through, but none really wowed me.
Mafia 3 also lacks interesting open world activities and has a low number of side quest to complete. This makes the over world feel barren and uninteresting. While the game does posses a bevy of collectibles, they appear to unlock nothing really interesting (unless you lack internet, then fap away).
On the third day, God created gameplay
With a game like GTA V, the world is a literal sandbox, but the world in Mafia 3 is just sort of there. The lack of depth of open world content really hurt my experience. Given how good the main story is, it is hard to swallow the fact that much of the open world and side-quests are pretty bland. Whether this was budget or time constraints, it really feels like Hangar 13 slapped the open world together.
Conclusion
Mafia 3 is a decent game. Is it game of the year? No, but it does manage to do most things pretty well. If you enjoy playing a deep story line, this is a good pickup. If you are just looking for a new open world sandbox, I recommend you move along. Hangar 13 shines in certain aspects of design, but stumbles at some of the more genre specific feature.
6.5/10 OKAY
