Mafia 3 marks a drastic change from the Italian-focused metropolitan cities of Lost Heaven and Empire Bay. However, other changes to the combat system and mission structure of Mafia 3 weren’t met with similar enthusiasm around the board.
The third entrant to the Mafia series brought players to a scenic fictional New Orleans-esque setting. Developer Hanger 13 upped the ante by transitioning away from the player being a member of the Italian mob in a series first, shining a spotlight on the systemic racism of the times.
Reviewers were quick to praise Mafia 3 for its engaging narrative and beautiful setting, but after delving deeper into New Bordeaux it turns out there wasn’t enough substance underneath the flashy cover to keep players entertained through hours repetitive and dull gameplay. The result is a game that comes with several parts fine-tuned, but also completely missing some of the puzzle pieces that fit together to create a truly memorable experience.
PC Gamer (Andy Kelly)
Score: 5.4/10
Ars Technica (Sam White)
Score: N/A
IGN (Marty Sliva)
Score: 7.5/10
GameSpot (Scott Butterworth)
Score: 6/10
Eurogamer (Edwin Evans-Thirlwell)
Score: N/A
As it turns out, the off-putting gameplay trailers certainly foreshadowed the main flaw of Mafia 3. That is, its lacklustre and repetitive gameplay simply didn’t due the engaging narrative and carefully-calculated scenery justice.
The entire Mafia series has been chock full of interesting characters and gripping plots, and we can only hope in the future that 2K Games can polish off the elements of gameplay that Mafia 3 needed to keep par with the high expectations such consistent writing brings to the table. The game isn’t a bad experience, per se, it just didn’t go the distance that fans had expected to.
Mafia 3 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
