Hello and welcome to my review of the August 2018 Playstation Plus monthly game, Mafia 3. I can remember when this game came out, there was a huge hype feeling around this game and upon it’s release the game wasn’t quite a masterpiece but many reviewers were impressed nonetheless. So with this in mind, I was really excited that I could get this game for free and that it was a game that was as interesting as when Far Cry 4 was released earlier this year.
Playing through this game on a regular PS4 (I refuse to buy the PS4 Pro due to my principles) I can’t help but wonder if this game was designed with more powerful hardware in mind as on multiple occasions the technical limitations were exposed. More on that later.
As usual I shall start on graphics, as it is the least important part of a game in my opinion. The graphics are kind of a mixed bag, with your main character Lincoln Clay looking very good has a giant guy, the character model looks really good and the detail they have put into him is clear for Al to see. When you’re in the water or it is raining on you, Clay looks legitimately wet and the sheen in a nice touch. The frontal environment also has had some care dedicated to it, as the streets in the city have been rendered nicely and this again is especially true in the rain.
Unfortunately other characters don’t turn out as good as Mr Clay. Special mention to Donavan who looks like a member of the undead, the hair especially attracting unwanted attention as it kind of looks like an deep sea plant. This issue of some characters looking better than others is notable for the entirely of the game.
A point I have to make is that Hanger13 have nailed the feel of 1968 America, New Orleans. The music, the style and the general vibe all feel like you are really there and credit is due for that.
Onto gameplay, the game can be split between on-foot and driving. Driving takes a little getting used to, as the cars are a lot heavier in those days cornering in them is something of an acquired skill. Still, once you get it down, there’s nothing more satisfying than hitting a corner perfectly, though in my case I still frequently drift into little old ladies on the sidewalk. The shooting mechanic from the car is good and bad, the good being that it locks onto your target, which you can cycle through an variety of, and one shot it once it turns green. The other side of the coin for this mechanic is that it doesn’t give you a lot of control of where your shooting at. I like it but I acknowledge it isn’t for everyone.
On-foot is where this game is streets ahead of its predecessor. Generally on-foot means fighting and you can feel like the world greatest assassin here. The cover mechanic is good and the shooting comes with aim assist which you can turn off, but this means you can shoot through a lot of enemies. Note that you aren’t bulletproof, Clay drops like a lead balloon pretty quickly if he’s just standing around taking bullet fire. The really cool mechanic is stealth, which allows you to sneak around enemies and systematically take them out. This quiet approach is helped by the whistle mechanic, which causes an enemy to investigate. If you do this at two people, and try the same trick twice the second guy is really suspicious why his buddy didn’t come back. The unfortunate thing about this mechanic is that it highlights how stupid the AI is. If you are cautious enough, you can kill all the men with a whistle and a knife and the enemy is that worried that there seems to be fewer people around the place.
The witness system was a nice touch to the game, where you are reported if you perpetrate a crime to the civilian population and you have to catch the witness to make sure that they don’t talk. I say civilian because stabbing a mafioso in broad daylight doesn’t seem to bother anyone enough to call the police, they’d rather just scream and run instead.
Special mention to the use of cultural racism, where you as a black guy, are made to experience this throughout the game. Two moments really highlighted it to me in the game, one was when I was in a well to do area and noticed the amount of police was higher that it was more racially diverse and poorer areas. The second was when I went into a bar and the warning for a broken law came up, I looked and found a ‘White Only’ sign and discovered I was indeed breaking the law. These moments happen throughout the game, with some people stopping to stare and others flat out running for their lives.
I found that for all the talk about replicating the nemesis system from the Middle Earth series, when it comes to taking over districts the recruiting mechanic was there to just add a bit of extra money to your earn. You don’t ever see the recruited people again, they’ve just been added to great spreadsheet in the sky. That aside, the tasks to take over the districts aren’t boring and are never too repetitive. In fact I enjoyed dismantling the rackets and taking over the districts, the underboss missions being varied and fun.
You also have your own underbosses who are all vying for favour, you have Vito from Mafia 2 who’s in charge of the Commission, Cassandra who runs the Haitian gang and Burke, the Irish mafia boss. As you conquer the city, you assign districts to these members and they give you greater perks and pay. I enjoyed the system and split everything evenly to keep everyone happy, as it is possible that if you don’t give enough, then you can be betrayed. This may seem like an easy thing to avoid but the temptation is that the higher tier perks can’t be reached without some favouritism.
Bugs, this game has them and they are annoying. Nothing that can stop you playing but there is one particular bug that makes next story objective not show up. Exiting and reloading the game can fix that but it’s just disappointing to see that the quality control is not picking this up.
The major plus point is the story, where Lincoln Clay is betrayed by his ‘family’s’ boss, Sal Marcano, and tries to kill Clay too. This happens after pulling off a heist of the federal reserve and you reject his offer to betray your don, Sammy. This sets the stage for a good ol’ fashion revenge mission, where your handler from Vietnam feeds you intel about how to take down Marcano and his entire family business. You forge an alliance with Vito from Mafia 2, Cassandra and Burke, who act as your underbosses as you take down Marcano’s business’. They all want Marcano dead and their motivations aren’t hard to figure out but they are very valid. Throughout this vengeance story is Father James, who raised Clay in the orphanage, trying to inject some morality into the story and attempt to save his soul. The story is very good and is a strong reason to play this game.
In conclusion, this is not a diamond of a game with issues and difficulties cropping up regurealy. That being said, the driving story of this game will keep most gamers playing it. I’d liken it to an offroad race, it’s a bumpy ride but you’ll enjoy it.
Hints and tips to taking down a crime lords business’ and associates:
- Use cover well, Clay is far from a bullet sponge so make sure you keep to cover.
- Practice driving, its more difficult than a lot of games so it’s worth getting used to it.
- Make use of junction boxes. Collecting the parts is a pain but they show all the enemies in the area, as well as the collectibles. Crucially they give you the option to recruit racket bosses, which earns you more cash.
- Think about which districts you give your underbosses, would high rise Vito make the most money in the Hollow or Downtown? Think about If Cassandra would prefer smuggling or making moonshine.
- Speaking of underbosses, they’re side quests are worth doing for the extra cash they bring in.
- Remember to stop by your safe at home to store your cash, if you die when it is in your wallet, you lose it.
- Underboss favours are worth doing also as it leads to upgrades for yourself.
- Remember to collect kickbacks regularly from your bosses, a pain but once they are max they won’t earn anymore until collected.
- Upgrade Vito’s earning until you get the perk that collects your kickbacks for you. Fantastic perk.
- Get a silenced weapon as soon as possible, this can really simplify a lot of missions.
- Your associates provide you with services that can be really useful, from weapons, hit squads and temporary reprieve from the police.
- Green markers on the map are generally useful things to collect, from health and armour to wiretap parts. Blue dots tend to be collectibles for you to have.
- Stealth is easy in this game, so even if you aren’t playing it super stealthy, employ it a little bit to thin the herd before you go all kill bill on everyone.
- Sentries are a huge pain in the a**. They will call in reinforcements so I advise you prioritise them before you shoot up a place.