If like me, you're into old timey/retro cars, fashion and music. Then this game will be an all you can eat buffet for you.

Mafia III drops you in the middle of the late 1960's, everywhere you look you'll see a really inspired and accurate recreation of the time period. But things are not as pretty as they seem.

After the exciting intro, the story takes a fast and surprisingly dark turn. Leaving you as a player with a strong motivation to complete your characters daunting mission.

You play as Lincoln Clay, a dark-skinned Vietnam veteran who's just returned from battle. You'll discover with him that the world you've come back to could very well be worse than that of the battlefield. Crime, Racism, Crooked cops and Sinister politicians infect the streets of your hometown.

Right off the bat, the game does it's very best to remind you constantly that these are not happy times. The story is formatted like a dark Netflix crime drama, missions are broken up by cut-scenes of interviews about the events that take place in the story.

Exciting blocks of fast paced action are very neatly divided by these intriguing interviews, but you're not limited to the story. Mafia 3 permits you to travel around it's exciting open world at your will. And with the incredible choice of classic songs at your disposal, cruising around the city is a genuine joy that you'll want to experience as a gamer. You may very well be reminded of L.A Noire.

But this is where there's a couple points of complaint, despite the fantastic racing mini game. And incredible (But not overwhelming) collectibles, You might quickly discover how there isn't much for you to take part in, but this absolutely does not ruin the game, let me convince you why!

Firstly, the objectives in the game are very open ended. You're never limited as a player, you're instead given many different ways to conquer a mission. Do you prefer stealth? Guns blazing? Being a sniper? Drive by shooting? Your objectives are never closed areas, You can approach or escape any mission whenever you fancy. Need to escape and stock up on ammo? That's fine!

Secondly, the game world sometimes feels alive. You can enter bars or night clubs that are always bustling with life inside. But because of your skin color, you may find that you aren't welcome in most of the joints. It's little things like this that really differentiates Mafia 3 to other Free roam titles.

You may find that the police even present some racism, in a black neighborhood police are less interested, they arrive later and the dispatch call seems generally bored. Whereas if you cause trouble in a wealthy white neighborhood, the police will be all over you before you have a chance to say sorry.

And you best always be ready for a gunfight, a well placed shot (Even on easy mode) can do some serious damage. Sometimes even killing you instantly. Gunfights are brutal, you're forced to be light on your toes and dance around the battlefield. Always keeping an eye on enemy locations.

The characters are also surprisingly interesting, the story is missing any 'good guys' meaning you're likely to be conflicted at some points about who your friends and enemies should really be.

In conclusion, Mafia 3 is a really solid free roam title. The historical accuracy is a fantastic experience. And the dark story should intrigue you in a really satisfying way, don't believe all of the negative hate for this game. It's absolutely worth giving it a try for yourself.

The mob double crosses muscle bound African American Vietnam veteran Lincoln Clay and executes him with a show in the head. Fate dictates that he would not die in that violent act and a one man army bloody revenge on the powerful city Kingpin and his gangs ensues.

I love action movies almost as no other genre, well with the exception of horror.

if you ever wondered having been Rambo a product of the 60's how the Blaxploitation Cinema era would have treated the subject, well this game is the best possible answer to that.

There was Blackenstein and Blackula, the wonderful Shaft Movies with Richard Roundtree were an answer to the tough white rogue cop. The black Bullitt.

I'm gonna digress a lot in this review because i love this game so much since it touches a lot of passions of mine not only in video games but specially in movies.

So as i was saying, the 70's where awesome for genre action and crime movies like The Godfather, the aforementioned Bullitt or Dirty Harry but also their over the top B versions like everything Italy churned out as homages/exploitation of those movies: stuff like Live Like a Cop, Die Like A Man (1976) or Wipeout! (1973) Rome Armed to the Teeth (|1976) Holy Crap! If you haven't seen those movies you can't begin to imagine how much kickassery is contained in their duration time!

Those movies where the reaction of exploitative producers to the USA movie hits, but with all the subtlety left out. "Yeah yeah , great cinematography, character development and dialogue man but let's cut to the goons being blown apart by shotguns blasts already!"

And THAT is what this game is about!

Sure, there's a lot of characters, and plenty (skippable) dialogue scenes and they are very well written and the cgi characters even show uncannily subtle expressions! But what you gonna love if you are anything like me is just sneaking through gangsters or white supremacist territory all over "New Bordeaux" and shoot them down like the rage of God! All while playing it as a huge black MoFo dressed exactly like Stallone at the beginning of First Blood!

This is Boss N*gger (1975) meets Massacre Mafia Style (1975) in a video game- Hadn't had this much fun sin GTA San Andreas or Manhunt, i'm loving every minute of it and i can't recommend it vehemently enough!

Well, If you are here then you definitely like open world games. So simply just go and buy it, it really worths the price. Yes it has some issues, yes propably all the yapping about it being a not finished game with glitches is true but there is more to it than that. As far as I am concerned it is not as good as mafia 2 concerning the script, feeling and how close you get to the characters BUT it is a whole other story so let's just get over with the nagging. I definitely enjoyed playing the game. Did all the main & side missions along with getting all the city wire tapped and finding all the collectibles. I gave it an easy 8 out of 10. I hope we ll see another mafia game soon..

Greetings from Lithuania.

I picked up "Mafia" III (2016) for free as a PS plus free give away. After playing trough the half of the story i eventually quit it. That happens for me ultra rare. Why? Because "Mafia" III is one of the most disappointing game i have ever played - at the end of day.

"Mafia" III has to be the most repetitive game ever. First i enjoyed it. Shooting mechanics in this game are great. The sound when bullets hits your target, head shots - it done great. Other and the last good thing about this game is driving mechanics, i really enjoyed it. Other then that, there is nothing in this game that would make you to come back to it. Every single mission (literally, well except one where you have to box someone inside of the ring) is a copy/paste of previous one. All of the side missions are copy/paste. Literally. Outside of the main story which is kinda OK and side quests which are as boring as hell, there is absolutely nothing to do in this open world. It feels dead and empty, and it is dead and empty. There are glitches as well.

Overall, even for free i couldn't finish Mafia III. Its the most repetitive and boring game i have probably ever played.

Mafia's always been one of those game series that kept the cinematic nature of itself tight and intriguing. The first game's introduction spilled you into a sense that you were getting yourself into a playable film, rather than a video game, and the second wasn't too far off either. The third, though, presents a story to the player as if it's an historical event that plagued a community. It presents a story worth telling, and a character worth delving into. Its introduction sucks you in under the pretense of a documentary, and then gives you the meat as though you were reliving the actions of its characters through memory rather than re-enactment.

-STORY- The player is thrust into the shoes of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam veteran returning home from the conflict to his native New Bordeaux, Louisiana (a play on New Orleans). His festivities are cut short, though, when his surrogate father, and do-gooder criminal Sammy Robinson, informs him he's in deep with the local Italian mob don Sal Marcano. A plan is hatched by the Don and his son, Giorgi, to rob a government vault on Mardi Gras, and collect a sizable amount of cash. In the process of planning, though, Sal gives Lincoln the option of taking over Sammy's operation, to which Lincoln outright refuses.

The job is done with some slight hiccups, and the gang makes away with millions. The amount is divvied, the mob is called to collect, but Lincoln's brother, father and friend are all killed in an act of betrayal by Sal and Giorgi. Lincoln is left for dead, a bullet graze permanently scarred on the side of his skull as a reminder of what he's lost. When he awakens, he vows revenge against the mob, and all involved in making New Bordeaux their criminal underworld.

-GAMEPLAY- This addition to the series brings in a grand scope of new gameplay to the mix. Stealth elements, accurate portrayal of Vietnam soldier training in Lincoln's movements and tactics, and a solid driving mechanic all lend to Mafia III's appeal.

The shooting is solid, however it might be advised on turns down the aim assist as NPC's have a tendency to be madly accurate. Some chase scenes involved getting chased by enemy cars. They managed to flatten all four of my tires, leaving my car a useless wreck until I could find another one, but my quarry would manage to get away before I could acquire a new mode of transport.

NPC AI seems uninspired. Sometimes they come off as too responsive to Lincoln sneaking around, but this can be forgiven given the fact that he's a fairly bulky fellow. That being said, the stealth experience is solid but slightly hollow. It's simple to hide behind a wall, whistle for an NPC to come over, kill them from behind cover, rinse and repeat. One minor annoyance with the AI was that they would often repeat lines in different voices, but also give accurate context to what they might be doing/looking for/find in the environments. However, whilst walking about on the streets, you'll slowly notice that the background NPC's get stuck on each other while driving, among other things. I witnessed on NPC stop at a red light, get out of his car and run away, with nothing prompting him to do so.

One thing I did note and enjoy about the AI was the design to match the era and environment in which they resided. White NPC's will often treat Lincoln with the stand-offish behavior that wasn't far from the norm during the 1960's, being that he is African-American. Some characters would greet Lincoln as he strolled by, to which he would respond without my causing him to do so. It felt like it put another aspect to Lincoln as a character. That he's friendly to those who are friendly to him. But when he would bump into an NPC and forcefully tell them to "move out of the way", it lends a feeling that he's a man on a mission, and in the moment has no time for nicety.

Some of the environments themselves seem uninspired, also, and the background NPC's have a tendency to feel artificial, breaking some immersion. At one point, during a raid on an enemy stronghold, I paused the game, and when I un-paused, the background NPC's had returned to their chairs, speaking and acting as if I hadn't just blasted goons left and right on the premises. It was a disappointing moment in an otherwise fruitful and exciting gunfight.

The driving, though, is phenomenally more advanced than the previous entries in the trilogy. The options menu gives you the choice of Simulated, realistic driving or Normal, more easy-going driving experiences. Some folks seem to have beef with the camera work in cars, but I found it to be cinematic and it made me feel like I was watching a cool car action sequence while I played.

The characters and missions are a big highlight to the developer's effort. Each cutscene is beautifully acted, there's never a sense that the voice actors put little into their performances.

The missions are very rinse and repeat, however there are often differences between how one might approach a mission, or the objective of the mission, leaving every one feeling unique. Their open-ended nature means that you can switch objectives at will. While one objective might tell you to go see someone about a thing, you can put it off to pursue another with no constraints, lending credence to the idea that Lincoln is a man out for his own means and results.

The User Interface is a shining example of how to make a game's menu and HUD smooth. As a result of making allies with the other criminals in the game, you get special perks, including car and ammo delivery services. The NPC's delivering upon said requests are responsive and I've rarely seen them get caught on the scenery, where-ever I may be. One cool thing of note was the fact that, while driving, if the pause menu is brought up, the car radio will continue to play. So you don't have to worry about interrupting one of the many classic 60's songs playing to check your map or change an option.

-GRAPHICS- The most disappointing aspect to the game, as a whole (on console and in my opinion) would have to be its graphical presentation. For a game in production for over a decade, the lighting, draw distance, and overall textural feel of the game seems dated and outmatched by other drive-and-shoot sandboxer games like Grand Theft Auto V.

The lighting was often glitchy. Sunlight would shine into interiors through unseen holes or slits in the roof, or characters would be illuminated in unrealistic ways.

The environments, while detailed and intriguing, seem bland and sickly with no palpable texture to them. The sky would often change on a dime instead of keeping a consistent time of day or weather pattern. Interior-wise, mirror textures are blatantly unfinished. They display a fish-eye effect of the room behind Lincoln, instead of portraying an accurate reflection of Lincoln inside the room. A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme, but a noticeable, immersion-breaking error in graphics. For a game on next-gen, and given the window of development, there could've been a lot more love given to the graphics.

One cool thing of note is in the way the characters are portrayed in cutscenes. Noticeable muscle movements in their face when they speak, ala Red Dead Redemption's graphics, give a realistic feel to each character, which is something that was somewhat lacking in the previous entries. However, some of the realism is broken with dropping framerates and screen-tearing, atop the lighting issues, in most cutscenes.

-OVERALL- While Mafia III is a grand return to the series in gameplay, story and acting, its a fine mess of a game. The graphics seem more like they were unsuccessfully ported to the next-gen rather than fully next-gen. The environments are somewhat lacking, but they do what they can with what they've got and its a welcome change from Empire Bay's urban environments.

The characters are wonderfully portrayed by their actors. Not a single dime was wasted in hiring them. Each one feels like they have an established personality, and it was a welcome treat to see Vito Scaletta's story continued.

The gameplay is a shiner. Each moment kept me coming back for more, and Lincoln Clay is one of those multi-faceted characters that you don't know whether to love or hate.

If this story were presented in the medium of film, it would be a classic. It stands well enough on its own as a story, but it stands on a busted kneecap as a game.

(After he and his friends are betrayed the Italian mob, Lincoln clay sets out on a bloody path of revenge to murder everyone that works for sal Marcano including sal himself.)

the six years was totally worth the wait, especially since I was dying to know what happened to joe barbaro (he's alive). mafia 3 is way better than the first two and one of the best games I've ever played, it's both a great gangster and revenge story, it has all the 60's isms like a great soundtrack, fast cars, and cool clothes, great voice acting, a great protagonist, and tons of bloody action and brutal gore (even more than the first two), as well as suspense and drama too since it's a dark game. My only complaint is the lack of clothing stores, but other than that, i love it. do yourself a favor and go buy it, get the deluxe edition though, it has the season pass and family kick back DLC which comes with awesome goodies, it's worth the purchase. now I'm just for the three story expansions to be released

These were the highlights for me

1. The KKK Shootout (It was so satisfying murdering them)

2. The Sanatorium Shootout From The Sign Of The Times DLC (In One Word, EPIC)

3. The Hotel Shootout (definitely how I imagined the deleted shootout from Deadpool went down)

4. The Amusement Park Shootout (sorta like a nod to zombieland, but with mobsters instead)

The game is full of annoying glitches and flaws. But that does not make it any less enjoyable. It is better than playing a game which is flawless yet not enjoyable.

Honestly I have not played GTA V and not played Mafia 2. However, I loved Mafia 1 and that was the sole reason I purchased this one. I am not disappointed at all. In fact its a pretty good game with a good revenge story. The characterization could be better though. The game mechanics are awesome and driving is really a lot of fun. Shooting and fist fights are quite enjoyable. In fact it is a much better game in recent times wherein the makers have kept the game fun. Who cares if the graphics dont leave you spellbound. There is a complaint that the game is a bit repetitive. Agreed. But its so much fun.

Read a lot of negative reviews here, there and everywhere and I dont understand what are their expectations from a game. Is this because its heartbreaking to see how the African origins were treated in the late 60s in America? In my opinion that was needed to build the character of Lincoln. The background music is all 50s and 60s songs and amazing. There is a takedown of a mobster in an amusement park which pans out marvelously. There is a similar takedown inside a hotel again brilliant. There are a few more enjoyable takedowns in the game. But the most enjoyable part for me was the KKK shootout. Never completed a part of any game, I can remember, with more satisfaction.

A good tip for you : "Ignore the criticism and enjoy the game"