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Mafia III
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Preview: Mafia III

The Mafia III booth dazzled the eye in an expo hall lacking the expositions of Call of Duty and fanatical cheers of FIFA at E3 2016. Someone had to step up to fill the void and 2K decided Mafia was the perfect choice for the limelight. Entering the south hall of the Los Angeles Convention Centre, I was immediately struck by a 1960’s cinema, complete with a fortune teller and an upbeat folk band that played live to usher us out during the final hours.

It signified Mafia III means business.

The original game, released 14 years and two generations ago, has been forgotten. Mafia II was an entertaining period piece masking a thinly veiled generic third-person shooter. I tried to go back to it this week, and it’s just too last-gen; I can see why it hasn’t come to Xbox One via backwards compatibility. Both games were promising but weren’t awarded the resources of Take-Two’s bigger franchises and didn’t reach the same dizzying heights. Mafia III is when it all comes together.

We didn’t actually get to play at E3, which is a little disappointing with a release just three months away. Instead we were given a presentation by developer Hanger 13, which incorporated footage of pre-recorded gameplay (you can see most of it, without the live commentary, in the video below).

https://youtu.be/REiXl6QE9VI

From this brief introduction, it feels more narrative focused. Mafia III presents 1968 New Bordeaux (a fictional version of New Orleans, Louisiana) and its people with the utmost care. The intricate cutscenes, incorporating elements of choice, are reminiscent of a Netflix Original. The demo only portrayed a snippet, but if it’s a taste of what’s to come, binge-worthy will be an understatement.

The open world spans 10 districts that you, as protagonist Lincoln Clay, fight to control. We saw Clay conversing with three of his sub-bosses, Cassandra, Burke, and Vito Scaletta (potentially there are more), as each made their case as to why they should lead the charge to reclaim each of the districts. The decision lies with Clay, which will ultimately shape his allies — the three could follow him through to the end game, but if one feels under-appreciated, he or she will choose to cut ties with Clay and become a problem.

The driving mechanics looked much improved, as the demo took a joyride around the stunning recreation of Louisiana. We’re looking back 6 years, but vehicles were rubbish in Mafia II.

Mafia III

As a mob boss, Hanger 13 was most eager to show off combat. We saw Clay ambush a brothel, causing as much damage to the property as possible – bullets, explosions and bodies were flying everywhere.

It’s impossible to say without having actually played, but combat presents as a polished third-person cover shooter. He’s certainly a ruthless killer – in 30 minutes Clay must have murdered two dozen people – so there’s the lingering question as to if it will endure the duration of what appears to be a compelling story. It runs the danger of establishing a strong cast and an intriguing backstory, but failing to capitalise on its strengths by getting too bogged down in murdering goons; Uncharted 3 knows all about that. However, from the mission on display, I’m confident Mafia III will avert that trap.

That mission was to takeout a fat bloke named Uncle Lou, a classic rich mobster delusional with power and consumed by a life of incessant partying. How he gets to Lou is Clay’s prerogative. He could infiltrate his organisation and interrogate goons for information, or he could try and overrun his drug cartel or brothel. As I mentioned, we saw the latter.

Mafia III

Facing financial ruin, a desperate Lou exposes his vulnerability by hosting a fundraiser on a party boat; this is Clay’s moment to strike. Here’s where the goons came out in droves, but so long as variety remains the spice of Mafia life, it shouldn’t be a problem. Unique objectives fitting of its characters is what will make or break Mafia III.

When he finally corners Lou, an ill-timed explosion sees both of them jettisoned from the boat and into a murky swap. Bringing a knife to Lou’s gunfight, Clay stealthily hunts the erratic fatty, carefully avoiding his hasty gunshots, before eventually moving into a position to strike.

As the mission unfolded, culminating in Clay’s meeting with his trio of mob-bosses, I bought into the Mafia III concept. There will be a lot of murdering, but it runs much deeper. Unlike its predecessors, this doesn’t look like another stock-standard action game with a mobster flavour. It appears to have a strong backbone, in its characters and buoyant city, and I can’t wait to actually get my hands on it.

Mafia III will be released worldwide on 7 October for PS4, Xbox One and Windows PC.


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About the author

Ben Salter

Ben has been writing about games in a professional capacity since 2008. He even did it full-time for a while, but his mum never really understood what that meant. He's been part of the Stevivor team since 2016. You will find his work across all sections of the site (if you look hard enough). Gamertag / PSN ID: Gryllis.