A Way Too Early Look at Mafia III
It may not be released until October 7, but man after watching gameplay and trailers, I am very excited for what Mafia III has in store.
Mafia III is developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K games. It is the third game in the Mafia series (clearly).
Here is what we know so far about the game: Mafia III takes place in 1968 in New Bordeaux, a fictional name for New Orelans. You play as Lincoln Clay, an orphan and a Vietnam War veteran who is on a mission to get revenge on the Italian mob.
Why is he trying to get revenge? Well, according to what we have seen so far, after coming back from the war Clay joins up with the black mob, then the Italian mob murders them. Clay however, is the lone-survivor after being saved by the local priest. He then teams up with three other characters, (no word yet on if they are playable) Burke, Cassandra and Vito Scaletta, to fight the opposing mob. Does that last name sound familiar? That’s right, Vito from Mafia II makes an appearance.
So far there have been a few different trailers leading up to this game. Let’s dive into them.
Trailer 1
My favorite part is the line is in the beginning when the judge asked him if he was involved in the murder of Sal Marcano and the guy simply responded with “you god damn right I did.” Aside from that, you can tell just from the first scene that this will be a game that’ll keep you motivated for hours on end. You are introduced to Lincoln Clay and how he miraculously survived a fire. From there, you get to see what this game will be all about; interrogations, gunplay, driving and everything in between.
Trailer 2
In this trailer, you see Clay going on different rampages as he attempts to get revenge on the Italian mob. This felt like more like a movie then an actual video game, which is something I am a fan of. This is one of the shorter teasers for the game, but it had a lot of action in it and made me excited for the game to come out.
Trailer 3
This is my favorite trailer so far. In this, you see Clay driving by a swamp with a man tied up in the back. During the drive, Clay speaks to the man whose mouth is taped, about God and family. While that is going on, he has flashbacks of his childhood and his time during the war. Those flashbacks help us get to know about the main protagonist in Mafia III better.
He then pulls over and drags the man out. As this is going on, you see the three other characters mentioned earlier pull up; also they watch Clay gruesomely stab the man and throw him to the alligators.
It shows that Clay is all about family, not necessarily the one you are born with, but people you meet and adopt along the way.
Gameplay footage
IGN released a video a while back showing the gameplay of Mafia III. In the gameplay video you see Clay roaming around the streets, alleys and inside of buildings in New Bordeux. From the bright lights on “Bourbon Street” to the bars inside, the graphics and lighting look great and are detailed. The stealth and shooting mechanics is nicely developed. It is interesting to see that Clay is an ambidextrous shooter, which is something that you are trained to do in the military.
The interrogation system is also interesting to look at. While it was not fully explained in the gameplay video, you saw a glimpse of what Clay is trying to accomplish and he is willing to do whatever it takes. The driving seems like it’ll play a huge part in this game as you attempt to get away from cops or members of opposing mobs.
Here is some other stuff that Mafia III will be all about: The game is an open-world set up in a third-person perspective. While the game has a lot of gunplay, the players can choose to use stealth tactics. With that, there can be more than one way to complete each objective.
There will be three different versions of the game. There is the standard, deluxe and collectors edition. The standard edition just comes with the game for $59.99, while the deluxe edition comes with the game and the season pass for $79.99. The collectors edition, which is $149.99, comes with not only the game and season pass but also:
- The Art of Mafia III Collectible Art Book by Insight Editions: A 56-page visual look at the creation of New Bordeaux
- Lincoln Clay Replica Dog Tags: 1960’s US military issue replicas
- Faux Leather Establishment Drink Coasters: which represents the Paradiso Casino
- Exclusive Collectible Art Prints
- Mafia III: Original Game Score: 180 gram vinyl pressing of the original game score of Mafia III.
- Mafia III: Official Soundtrack of New Bordeaux: 180 gram vinyl
In addition, if you pre-order any versions of the game you will receive the “Family Kick Back” which includes three exclusive cars and three exclusive weapons Clay can use during the game.
Overall, I am very excited about this game. There are many ways to play with the open-world style and many ways to complete objectives. The trailers and gameplay show that Mafia III will keep you thinking and on your feet from when you first put the disc in.
