“Mafia isn’t GTA”
I will admit, I am not the biggest Mafia fan. I first got into the series with Mafia II, and probably spent an hour at most playing the game. At the time Mafia II was released, the world had already played through Grand Theft Auto 4, and it’s DLC, and Mafia II seemed to just be a cash grab on the open world gangster style that GTA opened up for it. While I did not have an open mind going into Mafia II, it quickly grew on me and I threw most of my comparisons to GTA out the window.
The premise of Mafia II begins with our protagonist, Vito, who becomes a World War II soldier after being arrested while being a troubled youth with his friend Joe, who were committing a robbery. Vito comes back to America to start a new life after an Italian Mob Boss convinces their soldiers to stop the assault. Vito meets back up with Joe, who helps him get discharged from the Army but slowly introduces him to the Mafia underworld. Similar to Mafia II, Grand Theft Auto’s premise begins with a foreign War Soldier, Nico, who travels to America to start a new life with his cousin Roman, who slowly introduces him to the “American Lifestyle”. There’s many more comparisons, such as the
“Pay and Spray” or Wanted Levels( which ,exclusive to Mafia, can also be attained by going above the speed limit, but there’s a speed limiting function built in the game as well, which is small, but felt restricting after coming from GTA)When the story is first introduced this way, it immediately screamed “How can 2K cashgrab the GTA profits”, but after the first hour or so of gameplay, it slowly shows it’s subtle but great differences, such as the lockpick system, a more realistic market, where prices for items could be believable in 1940’s Market, if not today’s market, even with inflation. With the approach Mafia II takes on New York City during War times, I think the story, was written extremely well, bringing the feeling of the gritty Mafia movies like Goodfellas(1990),The Sicillian(1987) or GodFather(1972) and the setting and world building that Mafia II brought along, helped this case.
“Mafia III has a great set up following Mafia II”
With Mafia III’s gameplay reveals leading up to the titular release date October 7th, it is expected that Mafia III will be a game that is accessible to all gamers. The game’s setting is in a Fictional version of New Orleans, Louisiana after the Vietnam War, similar to Mafia II’s premise. However, the game already has created it’s own unique world by the developers using New Orleans as inspiration for the setting, which has rarely been used in video games, the most notable games being Left For Dead 2 by valve and ,Infamous 2 by Sucker Punch. The game is also committed to having it’s own identity while not being afraid to rely on it’s predecessor’s story. Back in 2015, Hangar 13, developers of Mafia , stated “”People are worried that we are just ignoring Mafia II, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. From a narrative standpoint, we are absolutely committed to making sure a lot of your questions about Mafia II are answered in Mafia III.”
In Mafia III, the protagonist is Lincoln Clay, a mulatto man who grew up as an orphan until he fought in the Vietnam War. The story will place a lot more of an emphasis on more controversial topics, such as racism and prejudice against the African Americans who lived in the South East United States during the 1960s, and the developers stated that “This is 1968 in the Deep South; the cops are going to come down on you like a Hammer.” which is interesting, since the cops were already aggressive towards the player for speeding. The story doesn’t have much more details revealed; Lincoln returns from war to join the mob, only to be left for dead by an Italian crime boss, and now Lincoln wants revenge. The graphics look sharp and crisp, taking advantage of the current generation’s technology, since it has been primarily focused for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC.
The vehicles are more relatable, since the setting is closer to modern day than Mafia II’s 1940’s theme. Mafia III also uses a light stealth system, similar to Assassin’s Creed or Metal Gear Solid, but instead of assassinating targets, you have a possibility to recruit them. However, the gameplay is not forgiving in these stealth situations, where the player does engage in a difficult battle if the “assassination” is botched, such as getting spotted by witnesses, or not successfully apprehending the target. The guns are more modern as well and it seems like their bullets will carry that fatal impact after the enemies hit you with 6 well placed bullets.
The game also introduces Vehicle delivery, a weapon delivery van where the player can buy weapons on the call, a hit squad mob that can help the player in firefights, and even alligator attacks in the Bayou. With more things to come, as the game is slowly coming to the public, Mafia III is a game, not just Mafia fans should buy, but the gaming community as a whole ;There’s something every gamer can enjoy here.
Are you excited for Mafia III? If so let us know in the comments section below.