Mafia III Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Mafia series is publisher 2K’s take on the GTA-style sandbox crime spree set in fictionalised versions of historical American locales. The first game put you in Depression-era Lost Haven, an amalgam of ’30s Chicago and San Francisco. Mafia 2 dropped your felonious feet down in Empire Bay, a mash up of post-WWII New York, LA and Detroit.

Mafia III is out on October 7, and this time you’ll be driving, shooting, racketeering, stabbing and shooting your merry way across New Bordeaux, a ’60s-infused spin on New Orleans. Yes, I said shooting twice. There’s a lot of shooting.

2K Games

What is Mafia III?

New Bordeaux is your playground. If you’ve ever played a GTA-style sandbox game, you’ll know the score here. Drive around, shoot things, complete missions. Mafia III follows the story of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam War vet who returns home and becomes embroiled in New Bordeaux’s criminal underworld.

Lincoln is an African-American returned Vietnam vet, so it’s safe to assume that Mafia III gets a little political with that period of US history. Mafia III opens with a warning that it won’t shy away from racial issues, and it lives up to that. That’s not to say Mafia III isn’t funny — even in the few hours I sampled, there were a dozen laugh-out-loud moments.

Mafia games track the rise and fall of larger-than-life underworld figures, and Mafia III is poised to deliver more of the same.

New Bordeaux, 1968?

Open world games like this live and die by the setting, and the city is brought completely to life in Mafia III. It’s a pleasure to drive around and soak up the atmosphere. From Mardi Gras parades to stalking gangsters through the bayou, New Bordeaux feels alive. A period soundtrack perfectly accompanies the story and the setting, and you won’t just hear the killer licensed tracks on the radio. Big cutscenes or story moments are all set to music, and it really pushes the cinematic feel.

In addition to gameplay and the usual cutscenes, the story is told using documentary technique, talking heads, with snippets of found footage and recordings of senate hearings set decades after the events of the game. The combination of story moments set in the ’60s and the regret-filled memories of the survivors in interviews gives Mafia III an engrossing true-crime sensibility.

2K Games

So it’s just like GTA?

The sandbox gameplay is similar. Drive around, and complete story missions at your own pace. There’s a huge city to roam, cops to avoid and an endless number of rival crooks to deal with. But after getting some extended hands-on time with the game, it feels far less tongue-in-cheek than Rockstar’s GTA series.

There’s also stuff above and beyond the usual driving, running and gunning. A decent stealth system has Lincoln make use of his army-issued Bowie knife for some truly gory takedowns. As you ascend the ranks in the criminal underworld and take over more of the city, you’ll also need to assign districts to your lieutenants and manage the income and bonuses.

Do I need to play Mafia I or II?

Nope. Lincoln is a new face and New Bordeaux is a new city. Previous knowledge is not required.

Can I feed people to alligators?

Yes. But I would like to remind you all that alligators are actually gentle creatures unlikely to attack humans.

2K Games

When can I play it?

Mafia III will be out on PC, Mac, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 7. Stay tuned to CNET for our full review.