2K Games’ latest entry into the Mafia franchise has problems on the Xbox One — a lot of problems. The game is plagued with graphical bugs, mission glitches and crashes throughout. The game’s appearance looks good, but it’s certainly not the best-looking game on the market, and it’s definitely not worth all the technical issues that come with high quality graphics.
Much of the gameplay has little variation — the game portrays largely a third-person shooter perspective and while the gunplay is decent, the simplicity of the enemy “artificial intelligence” makes it quite easy to accomplish the assigned missions. In most situations, the enemies will simply sit behind, cover and shoot blindly before peeking around the corner. All the player has to do is just wait for them to poke their heads out, and the mission is over. One aspect of the combat which stood out, though, was the brutal kill mechanic, which was diverse and satisfyingly barbaric.
“Mafia 3” has a large amount of content, with some players taking over 20 hours just to beat the main plotline — this is perhaps the one highlight of the game. The sheer quantity of material is a large increase over “Mafia 2,” which only clocked in at around 12 hours.
The story of revenge-driven Lincoln Clay grants complexity and likability to the anti-hero despite the damage he causes to the city, and despite being a cold-blooded killer. While the game is based on a simple revenge plot, its depiction of complex, richly voice-acted characters keep the story interesting. The setting of southern America during the 1960’s suits the game well and establishes racial tensions which permeate the story but never feel heavy-handed. Much like “Mafia 2,” the soundtrack of “3” is excellent, matching songs from the period with the pacing of the story to enhance the overall player experience.
In comparison to it’s predecessor, “Mafia 3” focuses less on the general Mafia and more on one man's vendetta. While “2” does follow one character, Vito Scaletta, it spends more time on the intricacies of the organization than “Mafia 3” does. However, the Mafia organization is present and utilized well in the newest installment. Returning fans of the franchise will be happy to see Scaletta’s prominent presence in “Mafia 3” in the story of Clay.
Nevertheless, the story alone doesn’t warrant a $60 price tag, especially when the plot is broken up by mediocre gameplay and game-breaking bugs. “Mafia 3” is ultimately worth playing, but should become more popular with a lower price and smoother technical play.
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