MAFIA III DEFINITIVE EDITION PS4 PLUS

The story is well presented but lacks the spark you find in more straightforward RPGs. It looks good and sounds good, but the core gameplay tasks aren’t as tight as they should be. With a couple more years of open-world games behind us, I think it’s clear that Mafia 3 is middle of the pack. In our original review of Mafia 3, we gave it a 75, calling it a fun time. That doesn’t come as a surprise, but that means that I am essentially just reviewing a 2016 game. The changes to the relatively recent game aren’t as radical as the changes to the very old games.

MAFIA III DEFINITIVE EDITION PS4 PLUS

But it doesn’t position it as a step above a Complete Edition plus a graphical patch, since that’s pretty much what it is. That positions Mafia 3 as a step above the sort of Complete Edition you tend to get a year after a game is released. I wouldn’t go so far as to call those elements exploratory or fun, but it does feel like the gameplay systems are built to work together, which is not something Mafia 2 could boast.

You learn about the local rackets, move in on them, and then beat in said heads. Taking over a neighborhood isn’t just about beating heads. Some of the mechanics even lend themselves to this style. Unlike previous entries, you really are on an open-world map, and you can explore it. Big Map, Easy DrivingĪs for the game itself, it plays a bit better than the previous installments. It’s a great touch, and one that I would love to see more games experiment with.

The game effectively makes you feel less like a selfish goon, and more like a folk hero. You feel like years later, locals are still telling this story. The Ken Burns style turns Lincoln’s story from just another rags to riches crime tale to an American epic. The story is told through interviews, complete with cutaway testimonials with identifying caption boxes.

This is best demonstrated in its documentary style. Instead of the dreamlike tone of the first game, or the brutalism of the second, Mafia 3 tries to capture warmth and specificity. Casting a black lead in a crime story isn’t a major progressive coup, but it does give the third Mafia game a lot of personality the first two lack.

Mafia iii definitive edition ps4