Mafia 3 - WTF?

[Thanas]

Anybody else catch the announce of Mafia III?





Does this in any way look like a spiritual successor to this?

Why is it suddenly an open-world game?
Where is the atmosphere of the previous games gone?
Why does this look like a cross between GTA and a shitty Michael Bay movie with cars exploding en masse?
Protagonist looks like any standard character, but in any case, why are you now fighting against the Italian Mafia? Wasn't the franchise supposed to be about the different eras of said Italian Mob?

[Grumman]

Does this in any way look like a spiritual successor to this?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nohp4uo-Xo[/youtube]
Why is it suddenly an open-world game?

Were the previous games not open-world games? This, this and this look like the same genre as GTA3+ to me.

[Thanas]

Not really. For example, you could deviate during Missions and go get a coffee or something, but there was no open world really.

[Enigma]

I wouldn't mind this game if it was called something else but I was hoping for some real closure with Vito. I hoped that Joe would be saved.

[Flagg]

Anybody else catch the announce of Mafia III?





Does this in any way look like a spiritual successor to this?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nohp4uo-Xo[/youtube]
Why is it suddenly an open-world game?
Where is the atmosphere of the previous games gone?
Why does this look like a cross between GTA and a shitty Michael Bay movie with cars exploding en masse?
Protagonist looks like any standard character, but in any case, why are you now fighting against the Italian Mafia? Wasn't the franchise supposed to be about the different eras of said Italian Mob?

Who cares, anything would be an improvement over the first 2. I absolutely loathed how the first game forced you into a narrative of being the "nice guy mobster". And I can barely remember the second one beyond being in prison for 5 minutes and getting speeding tickets.

[Metahive]

Mafia 2 was open world in the sense that you could drive around in the city all you wanted between missions, there just wasn't anything to do in there.

[Flagg]

Mafia 2 was open world in the sense that you could drive around in the city all you wanted between missions, there just wasn't anything to do in there.

It was the same in the first one. It's so dumb. "Drive from "here" to "here" to start mission, and drive slow and stop at lights so you don't get a ticket!" The only other game with as useless an "open world" was that horrible LA Detective game whose name escapes me since it was that bad and forgettable, but it had the decency to at least offer a button to go right to the location, skipping the 20 minute drive.

[Grumman]

that horrible LA Detective game whose name escapes me

L.A. Noire.

[Thanas]

you are entitled to your opinion Flagg. For me Mafia 1+2 will always be great games for the same reasons you seem to loathe them.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

[Terralthra]

I wouldn't mind this game if it was called something else but I was hoping for some real closure with Vito. I hoped that Joe would be saved.

...is this a joke? No, Joe dies. Joe dies and Vito accepts this, as the final step in his character arc from a naif who idolizes the Cosa Nostra to a cynical member who sees them for the hypocrites they are, but can imagine no other life for himself.

[Enigma]

I wouldn't mind this game if it was called something else but I was hoping for some real closure with Vito. I hoped that Joe would be saved.

...is this a joke? No, Joe dies. Joe dies and Vito accepts this, as the final step in his character arc from a naif who idolizes the Cosa Nostra to a cynical member who sees them for the hypocrites they are, but can imagine no other life for himself.

Not a joke. I liked Joe.


Is it too early to release gameplay footage of Mafia 3?

[Thanas]

They did, it sucked. See the video in OP.

[Enigma]

They did, it sucked. See the video in OP.

Yeah, I still have trouble seeing youtube vids on this board. Don't know why. I'll copy\paste the relevant links instead.

[Enigma]

I saw the links and reserving judgement. Visually, to me at least, it surpasses GTAV. The characters look a lot better than GTAV's rubberized muppets. Other than that, I'm taking a wait and see approach.

[Venator]

Mafia 2 was open world in the sense that you could drive around in the city all you wanted between missions, there just wasn't anything to do in there.

It was the same in the first one. It's so dumb. "Drive from "here" to "here" to start mission, and drive slow and stop at lights so you don't get a ticket!" The only other game with as useless an "open world" was that horrible LA Detective game whose name escapes me since it was that bad and forgettable, but it had the decency to at least offer a button to go right to the location, skipping the 20 minute drive.

There was that North Korean state-developed game where you drive around Pyongyang and gather factoids about various buildings/monuments as powerups. That was way worse.

[Purple]

There was that North Korean state-developed game where you drive around Pyongyang and gather factoids about various buildings/monuments as powerups. That was way worse.

What is that thing called? Is it available to us in the west? Where do I get it?

[Venator]

There was that North Korean state-developed game where you drive around Pyongyang and gather factoids about various buildings/monuments as powerups. That was way worse.

What is that thing called? Is it available to us in the west? Where do I get it?

Pyongyang Racer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0WhdhbImLM

---

Back on topic... I think that moving to a sandbox/open world/roaming style is just an industry-wide thing, so it shouldn't be too surprising in a game where there was already an "open" "world" mechanic. Games get slagged for being too linear regardless of genre, and games with less-than-dynamic open areas get slagged for not fleshing them out and accused of lazy development.

With so many big titles (Arkham, Watch Dogs, GTA) having full sandboxes and reviewers seem to expect it, everyone else is jumping on board. Remember how physics puzzles became a thing every game had to have, regardless of how inappropriate, after Half-Life 2?

[Purple]

Thanks. You just made me very joyous with glee!

[Metahive]

So if we are already going to scrape at the bottom of the barrel, might as well introduce the "Crime Line/Life" series of GTA clones. Here's an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMH49Y7nv4E

I still think they're funnier than modern AAA games though...

[Flagg]

you are entitled to your opinion Flagg. For me Mafia 1+2 will always be great games for the same reasons you seem to loathe them.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Well the second one was far superior story wise just for the fact that the game didn't make you a goody two shoes who was "forced" into the mob by happenstance and didn't give the player the option to follow the orders you were given (I wanted to kill the bitch, she was a fucking informant and snitches get stitches. In the morgue after the autopsy. ) rather than leave the snitch bitch and the IIRC fuckup alive.

And the driving between missions was equally horrid shit. I wouldn't have minded if there'd been quick travel that cost money or something, but the 15mph speed limits and stop lights and signs you has to obey or worry about cops was like senseless busywork, and if I wanted busywork I'd finish my time machine and go back 20 years to school.

I did like aspects of Mafia II a lot, but they weren't enough to make it good, IMO. Like the prison segment was great, but would've been better had you had a breakout rather than him serving the sentence (and I'm still baffled why GTA IV had this huge, full prison complex, the brother of a close "friend" you do missions for arrested and put in this prison, yet there was no "break him out and get him to Ireland" mission) but the fact that they showed the main character actually pay a real penalty for his actions and is incorporated in the game was fun.

But at the end of the day, to me, it was basically just a shooter with an unnecessary semi-open world that was more frustrating and annoying than freeing. But it had its moments.

[Thanas]

you are entitled to your opinion Flagg. For me Mafia 1+2 will always be great games for the same reasons you seem to loathe them.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Well the second one was far superior story wise just for the fact that the game didn't make you a goody two shoes who was "forced" into the mob by happenstance and didn't give the player the option to follow the orders you were given (I wanted to kill the bitch, she was a fucking informant and snitches get stitches. In the morgue after the autopsy. ) rather than leave the snitch bitch and the IIRC fuckup alive.

And the driving between missions was equally horrid shit. I wouldn't have minded if there'd been quick travel that cost money or something, but the 15mph speed limits and stop lights and signs you has to obey or worry about cops was like senseless busywork, and if I wanted busywork I'd finish my time machine and go back 20 years to school.

I did like aspects of Mafia II a lot, but they weren't enough to make it good, IMO. Like the prison segment was great, but would've been better had you had a breakout rather than him serving the sentence (and I'm still baffled why GTA IV had this huge, full prison complex, the brother of a close "friend" you do missions for arrested and put in this prison, yet there was no "break him out and get him to Ireland" mission) but the fact that they showed the main character actually pay a real penalty for his actions and is incorporated in the game was fun.

But at the end of the day, to me, it was basically just a shooter with an unnecessary semi-open world that was more frustrating and annoying than freeing. But it had its moments.

See, that's the thing. To me the speed limits and police being on your ass made it more real than anything. I loved the open world, limited though it was. And the first Mafia had some of the best mission designs ever, like "A trip to the country".