Mafia's always been one of those game series that kept the cinematic nature of itself tight and intriguing. The first game's introduction spilled you into a sense that you were getting yourself into a playable film, rather than a video game, and the second wasn't too far off either. The third, though, presents a story to the player as if it's an historical event that plagued a community. It presents a story worth telling, and a character worth delving into. Its introduction sucks you in under the pretense of a documentary, and then gives you the meat as though you were reliving the actions of its characters through memory rather than re-enactment.
-STORY-
The player is thrust into the shoes of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam veteran returning home from the conflict to his native New Bordeaux, Louisiana (a play on New Orleans). His festivities are cut short, though, when his surrogate father, and do-gooder criminal Sammy Robinson, informs him he's in deep with the local Italian mob don Sal Marcano. A plan is hatched by the Don and his son, Giorgi, to rob a government vault on Mardi Gras, and collect a sizable amount of cash. In the process of planning, though, Sal gives Lincoln the option of taking over Sammy's operation, to which Lincoln outright refuses.
The job is done with some slight hiccups, and the gang makes away with millions. The amount is divvied, the mob is called to collect, but Lincoln's brother, father and friend are all killed in an act of betrayal by Sal and Giorgi. Lincoln is left for dead, a bullet graze permanently scarred on the side of his skull as a reminder of what he's lost. When he awakens, he vows revenge against the mob, and all involved in making New Bordeaux their criminal underworld.
-GAMEPLAY-
This addition to the series brings in a grand scope of new gameplay to the mix. Stealth elements, accurate portrayal of Vietnam soldier training in Lincoln's movements and tactics, and a solid driving mechanic all lend to Mafia III's appeal.
The shooting is solid, however it might be advised on turns down the aim assist as NPC's have a tendency to be madly accurate. Some chase scenes involved getting chased by enemy cars. They managed to flatten all four of my tires, leaving my car a useless wreck until I could find another one, but my quarry would manage to get away before I could acquire a new mode of transport.
NPC AI seems uninspired. Sometimes they come off as too responsive to Lincoln sneaking around, but this can be forgiven given the fact that he's a fairly bulky fellow. That being said, the stealth experience is solid but slightly hollow. It's simple to hide behind a wall, whistle for an NPC to come over, kill them from behind cover, rinse and repeat. One minor annoyance with the AI was that they would often repeat lines in different voices, but also give accurate context to what they might be doing/looking for/find in the environments. However, whilst walking about on the streets, you'll slowly notice that the background NPC's get stuck on each other while driving, among other things. I witnessed on NPC stop at a red light, get out of his car and run away, with nothing prompting him to do so.
One thing I did note and enjoy about the AI was the design to match the era and environment in which they resided. White NPC's will often treat Lincoln with the stand-offish behavior that wasn't far from the norm during the 1960's, being that he is African-American. Some characters would greet Lincoln as he strolled by, to which he would respond without my causing him to do so. It felt like it put another aspect to Lincoln as a character. That he's friendly to those who are friendly to him. But when he would bump into an NPC and forcefully tell them to "move out of the way", it lends a feeling that he's a man on a mission, and in the moment has no time for nicety.
Some of the environments themselves seem uninspired, also, and the background NPC's have a tendency to feel artificial, breaking some immersion. At one point, during a raid on an enemy stronghold, I paused the game, and when I un-paused, the background NPC's had returned to their chairs, speaking and acting as if I hadn't just blasted goons left and right on the premises. It was a disappointing moment in an otherwise fruitful and exciting gunfight.
The driving, though, is phenomenally more advanced than the previous entries in the trilogy. The options menu gives you the choice of Simulated, realistic driving or Normal, more easy-going driving experiences. Some folks seem to have beef with the camera work in cars, but I found it to be cinematic and it made me feel like I was watching a cool car action sequence while I played.
The characters and missions are a big highlight to the developer's effort. Each cutscene is beautifully acted, there's never a sense that the voice actors put little into their performances.
The missions are very rinse and repeat, however there are often differences between how one might approach a mission, or the objective of the mission, leaving every one feeling unique. Their open-ended nature means that you can switch objectives at will. While one objective might tell you to go see someone about a thing, you can put it off to pursue another with no constraints, lending credence to the idea that Lincoln is a man out for his own means and results.
The User Interface is a shining example of how to make a game's menu and HUD smooth. As a result of making allies with the other criminals in the game, you get special perks, including car and ammo delivery services. The NPC's delivering upon said requests are responsive and I've rarely seen them get caught on the scenery, where-ever I may be. One cool thing of note was the fact that, while driving, if the pause menu is brought up, the car radio will continue to play. So you don't have to worry about interrupting one of the many classic 60's songs playing to check your map or change an option.
-GRAPHICS-
The most disappointing aspect to the game, as a whole (on console and in my opinion) would have to be its graphical presentation. For a game in production for over a decade, the lighting, draw distance, and overall textural feel of the game seems dated and outmatched by other drive-and-shoot sandboxer games like Grand Theft Auto V.
The lighting was often glitchy. Sunlight would shine into interiors through unseen holes or slits in the roof, or characters would be illuminated in unrealistic ways.
The environments, while detailed and intriguing, seem bland and sickly with no palpable texture to them. The sky would often change on a dime instead of keeping a consistent time of day or weather pattern. Interior-wise, mirror textures are blatantly unfinished. They display a fish-eye effect of the room behind Lincoln, instead of portraying an accurate reflection of Lincoln inside the room. A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme, but a noticeable, immersion-breaking error in graphics. For a game on next-gen, and given the window of development, there could've been a lot more love given to the graphics.
One cool thing of note is in the way the characters are portrayed in cutscenes. Noticeable muscle movements in their face when they speak, ala Red Dead Redemption's graphics, give a realistic feel to each character, which is something that was somewhat lacking in the previous entries. However, some of the realism is broken with dropping framerates and screen-tearing, atop the lighting issues, in most cutscenes.
-OVERALL-
While Mafia III is a grand return to the series in gameplay, story and acting, its a fine mess of a game. The graphics seem more like they were unsuccessfully ported to the next-gen rather than fully next-gen. The environments are somewhat lacking, but they do what they can with what they've got and its a welcome change from Empire Bay's urban environments.
The characters are wonderfully portrayed by their actors. Not a single dime was wasted in hiring them. Each one feels like they have an established personality, and it was a welcome treat to see Vito Scaletta's story continued.
The gameplay is a shiner. Each moment kept me coming back for more, and Lincoln Clay is one of those multi-faceted characters that you don't know whether to love or hate.
If this story were presented in the medium of film, it would be a classic. It stands well enough on its own as a story, but it stands on a busted kneecap as a game.
