Fortunate Son: Mafia III’s compelling narrative rises above messy gameplay.
Mafia III is a game that gives players the exercise of giving and taking. For every one thing it does right, there is an equal amount of easily noticeable flaws. It’s an exercise of enduring technical issues, inconsistent visuals, and repetition that plague so many open world games wrapped in a story and atmosphere that absolutely nails the music, mood and societal values of the late 1960's.
Main character Lincoln Clay, back from the Vietnam War, comes home to his family to begin his post-war life. However, after a short series of events, things take a turn for the worse and after unfortunate circumstances involving his entire family (members of the Black Mafia), Lincoln must take on the role shared by countless characters of open world titles, explore his city of New Bordeaux (modeled after New Orleans) and take it back from the clutches of unsavory characters one section at a time.
While this may sound like a cliche tale told countless times before, the way it’s presented offers the game’s biggest draw. Presented as a historical documentary interspersed with interviews and clips of real life historical footage, Lincoln’s tale of revenge comes alive in a way that keeps players eagerly anticipating the next part of his plan to take back his city. While players will know the end game from the very beginning, the way it’s presented to the player is something that most open world tales lack: suspense and surprise, and a reason to keep progressing through the story.
New Bordeaux is as much of a character as Lincoln and his cohorts are. People walk around talking about the Vietnam War and Malcolm X. Restaurants are still segregated and will even call the cops if Lincoln enters one. Radio stations play everything from The Supremes to The Rolling Stones as you travel the city. Developers Warehouse 13 made a huge effort to place you in 1968, a period that offered a significant turning point in American culture.
This also helps out due to that fact that there actually is very little to do outside of story based missions. If one were to look at an open world game like GTA V and Saint’s Row 4 in terms of sheer mission variety, this would be the opposite end of the spectrum. While it can be argued that side missions and the world itself often have the opportunity to break away from narrative and let the player loose to exercise their digital vices in a variety of creative ways in open world titles, Mafia III chooses to focus on its narrative first and foremost. The world, while detailed to a stunning degree, offers little for the player to do outside of finding a few mundane items and driving around.
This wouldn’t be an issue if the story missions from a gameplay perspective were interesting and varied, but this is also not the case. Missions follow a formula of going to a location, sneaking around or shooting your way past thugs, interrogating a boss and taking over the location for your partners to take over. Rinse, repeat, do it again. The narrative is constantly moving forward, the gameplay stays firmly in first gear and never moves beyond it.
It’s a shame too, as the actual mechanics are quite good. Shooting feels responsive and driving also feels incredibly satisfying, letting players pull off power-slides and shoot out tires with ease. When the situation calls for it, stealth sections also offer a ton of fun opportunity to distract guards, and silently take them out one by one, as you make your way to the objective.
What hurts Mafia III the most though is the wide variety of graphical glitches and bugs, some of which brought my game to a screeching halt. There was numerous times scenery would suddenly pop in, the brightness would adjust itself making New Bordeaux look like the surface of the sun and objectives that would disappear and reappear at random intervals. A few times the game would not save and one time the game continually crashed after loading a mission later in the game. This isn’t even mentioning the inconsistent graphics that seem more at home in a PS3/Xbox 360 era title than an open world current gen title.
And ultimately this is what Mafia III comes down to and whether you will enjoy the experience. Are you willing to put up with numerous and noticeable technical issues and repetitive gameplay to get to a compelling tale of revenge and crime set in a time where the US was going through one of its most iconic eras?
For me, the technical issues were worth the frustration to see Lincoln’s story through to the end. In a market where triple A titles are pushing multiplayer and a more is better mentality when it comes to open world design, it’s refreshing to see a title confident enough to stand on its own narrative as a main draw. It may be a give and take experience, but what Mafia III gives is well worth taking in this 20-hour journey.
