Earlier this week, I spent my evening in New Bordeaux and clocked 8 hours into Mafia 3 by the end of Thursday night. I traveled between shady nightclubs and the murky Bayou, all while fulfilling my racket goals. Although the PC launch didn’t go as expected, I still managed to have tons of fun and learned a lot about what the game has to offer.
While my final review won’t be ready until later next week due to receiving a review code on release day, I’d still like to lay down my initial thoughts on some of the key elements that struck out to me in Mafia 3. This is a game that seems to be trying really hard to do things the right way. While not everything is in place, you definitely won’t want to miss out on the story driven experience offered in this brutal sequel.
The prologue has a slow, yet steady start. I spent over 3 hours going through the prologue itself. There were new tutorial pop-ups well beyond the introductory missions. For what it’s worth, the storytelling seems to be well paced and I found myself being immersed within the character dialog. In my opinion, Mafia 1 has one of the best stories in any game whatsoever, so I’m hoping Mafia 3 comes close by the time I finish my playthrough.
Mafia 3 exhibits plenty of style. From the multi-layered menu tabs to the billboard advertisements and colorful street graffiti, everything looks superb. Unlike most open-world games, practically all of the interiors have unique architecture as opposed to being replicas. Speaking of interiors, there are plenty of unique enterable locations and places to discover throughout each district.
Weapons are exceptionally satisfying to use. The overall combat system is much more refined in comparison to the previous games in the Mafia series. There is an abundance of quality in everything from the weapon sounds to the melee takedown animations. You can also retrieve guns and body armor from a weapons locker, which is usually hidden throughout each level.
Police AI is not challenging. While you will undergo an intense police chase here and there, losing the police is child’s play for someone who mastered Grand Theft Auto V’s difficult police chases. Despite the above, I do enjoy shooting out the tires of a moving police vehicle and watching it destruct in mid-air.
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There are a lot of classic songs on the radio stations. The soundtrack in Mafia 3 is quite special and contains a large variety of artists ranging from Johnny Cash to The Misfits. In total, there are three radio stations and over 80 classic tracks. In addition to that, there is an original game score that plays during missions. While I’m enjoying the abundance of music in this game, I have to admit that I’ve gotten sick of hearing “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones over and over again.
Racism is very prominent throughout New Bordeaux. People will target Lincoln when he enters a segregated restaurant and ask him to leave. Refusing to do so will result in the cops showing up. I found some of the racist gestures to be somewhat heartbreaking to witness and can only imagine how people felt back in the 60’s.
Graphics are underwhelming. The visuals have a bland, almost washed out look. I believe the game was trying to portray a vintage effect, which didn’t sit well with me. To top it off, the FXAA on the PC version is not doing this game any justice by blurring out the textures. Luckily for you, there is a ReShade preset which I created that will increase a bit of color vibrancy and sharpen out the blurry anti-aliasing. In spite of the odd color palette, the game models are very detailed and appealing.
Collectables are back. Similarly to Mafia 2, you can continue collecting various Playboy magazines from the 60s and they’re more detailed than before. You can now scroll through and read some of the magazine pages, which include biographies and interviews with some of the playmates. Other collectables including Vargas paintings, Hot Rod magazines and more. The only downside is the Playboy collectables show up on your mini-map once you’re within the radius of a nearby magazine. I feel as if this defeats the challenge factor when it comes to finding collectables on your own.
Speed tickets and fuel tanks are gone. Those that played Mafia 2 will recall how every vehicle had a speeding threshold, which would put the cops on your tail if you went past the mark. Fans may also remember the ability to refuel your vehicle’s gas tank when low on fuel. Unfortunately, these features were removed from Mafia 3 and will not be making a return. I think Hangar13 should’ve left these two features as something optional for players that are looking for a more realistic experience.
Spending money feels rewarding. It’s not remarkably difficult to earn cash in the city of New Bordeaux and there are plenty of ways to do so. However, spending your hard earned currency can be a bit of a drag, considering certain weapons cost up to $6000 a piece. If you die during any point of the game, you will lose a good chunk of your money. To avoid this problem, the game lets you deposit some of your funds into a safe vault.
Parts of the UI are unnecessary. For example, every vehicle has a rear view mirror that is displayed on the top of the screen, with no way to disable it from the options menu. I haven’t used this feature at all and find it to be rather pointless. I’m not a fan of the on-screen damage effect either. There should be a way to completely disable the HUD for those that want a more cinematic experience.
The PC version is a complete mess. Perhaps you’ve heard about this before. There’s a 30 FPS lock, no option to change the texture quality, keyboard controls are horrible by default and require remapping, ultra wide support is shabby and the game doesn’t have proper 4k resolution support. The devs have promised to fix these issues in a patch releasing within the next few days, but the damage has already been done. Consumers are not happy about this and the steam user score is on somewhat of a decline. Additionally, there are numerous physics related bugs that deter from the overall quality of the game.
[ Editor's Update: The first Mafia 3 PC patch just landed on Steam. I'm now getting a stable 60FPS at 1080p and around 42FPS at 4k resolution. To enable 60fps, you have to go into the display settings and change the FPS cap from 30 to 60, although there is an option for unlimited as well. ]
Level design is phenomenal. Each and every object is carefully placed throughout the levels and makes for some exploration. Tiny details such as cobwebs, historic posters and antique artifacts made my experience much more captivating. You will also find handwritten notes during missions, which will give you insight on what’s going on around you.
Outside of the story missions, there are plenty of activities which unlock as you continue to progress through the districts. I’m still very much early into the game, considering I haven’t even discovered 70% of the map yet. While I don’t plan to take the PC specific issues into full consideration when deciding on a review score, I will be addressing any glitch or gameplay related problem that I encounter.
Once the first PC patch is released and irons out the framerate issues, my overall experience will be heightened and I’ll enjoy the gameplay on a much more positive basis. As you can see, Mafia 3 is far from perfect but still worth a purchase for those looking to take a historic trip to the past.
