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Mafia 3 |OT| "Family isn't who you're born with, it's who you die for"

Sub Zero

his body's cold as ice, but he's got a heart of gold
I'll give it a crack eventually, but for those playing, how does this compare to Sleeping Dogs (my favourite GTA-like sandbox game), and The Godfather (a criminally* underappreciated sandbox game)?

*pun intended

It's basically a non-shitty version of the second Godfather game. Most of the story is locked behind the open world racket takedown stuff, but the core gameplay is pretty fun so it never becomes a chore like Godfather II or some Ubisoft games
 
I'll give it a crack eventually, but for those playing, how does this compare to Sleeping Dogs (my favourite GTA-like sandbox game), and The Godfather (a criminally* underappreciated sandbox game)?

*pun intended

I love Sleeping Dogs, but I'm not quite ready to compare it yet. The beauty of that game was how shooting, driving stunts, and melee blended together in the bigger missions in a way no other open world game has done quite as well, or even attempted really. Mafia 3 is a much more lean gameplay experience, where you do map clearing takeover activities that build up to bigger set-piece missions, but it's all built on third person shooting + light stealth mechanics.

And though Sleeping Dogs' story/characters were likable, Mafia 3's is much higher quality and touching on much heavier themes with a lot more nuanced performances.

SD was more polished at launch though :X

Does this play as a better thirdperson shooter than GTA or Watch Dogs or Sleeping Dogs? Like, speaking about gamefeel.

I'd say it's even with Watch_Dogs, though with a different combat focus. W_D is very fluid but sometimes feedback is a little light. Mafia isn't as smooth, though still highly responsive, but combat is more weighty and brutal. Sleeping Dogs has good melee combat, but shooting/cover is mushy and imprecise. GTA has no place in this discussion aside from having the most consistent physics/hit detection.
 

Shari

Member
6h in, unlocking my third associate. I dont know what the game wants me to spend my money on aside from guns.

No crime open-world game as ever done this correctly aside from Scarface on PS2.
 

Nyx

Member
I have no idea how to earn money in this game. After four hours I still have the same amount of money in my safe (and wallet)

There's money laying around in most racket locations when you clear them out and you get kickback from your underbosses after taking over districts.
 
I have no idea how to earn money in this game. After four hours I still have the same amount of money in my safe (and wallet)

Steal all the money at mob locations. Recruit mob lieutenants instead of killing them. Boost your rackets with optional activities. Collect your kickbacks (look for the underboss map icons when your money is available). Stash the money in your safe manually, or call the consigliere to pick it up.

I think there's a perk in one of the underboss lists for auto kickback collection or something.
 
Just got one month of gamefly for a $1 and wondering if I should bother renting this... seems good but if it's really deep I don't know if I could finish it in time.
 
There's money laying around in most racket locations when you clear them out and you get kickback from your underbosses after taking over districts.

Steal all the money at mob locations. Recruit mob lieutenants instead of killing them. Boost your rackets with optional activities. Collect your kickbacks (look for the underboss map icons when your money is available). Stash the money in your safe manually, or call the consigliere to pick it up.

I think there's a perk in one of the underboss lists for auto kickback collection or something.

Nice, thanks!


Oh shit, there are crocodiles :/
 

kipsta

Member
6h in, unlocking my third associate. I dont know what the game wants me to spend my money on aside from guns.

No crime open-world game as ever done this correctly aside from Scarface on PS2.

Couldn't agree more. Scarface was amazing. How hard can it be to create a decent ECONOMY?

I wanna be able to buy cars, boats, houses, mansions, assets, upgrades for safehouses etc... Not just guns and hot-dogs like in GTA 4.
 

Arkanius

Member
Playing Mafia III with Gsync on PC is a completely satisfactory experience.
But that unlimited framerate patch can't come soon enough. My GPU usage is at 50% so I get enough headroom for dem 60's
 

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
I don't have the energy or time to clear areas anymore. I think I need a break. The repetitiveness is getting to me.
 

Nokterian

Member
I got the xbox one version i haven't installed it yet but the C.E does look beautiful. Will play a bit later this month since i just started playing Gears of War 4.
 

TheKeyPit

Banned
This game is missing a "Here's your last used car"-icon on the map.

After playing this for a while I think that Mafia 3 can be described as a mix between Mafia and the Mad Max game. The look indoors reminds me sometimes of Red Dead Redemption.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
I can totally understand the complaints about repetitive gameplay loops.

Here's what I had to to the last couple of hours:

- NPC directs me towards a location
- I go there. It's a brothel. I need to get in and release four prostitutes to damage the income of the area boss
- I make my way through the location, clear it out and achieve the objective
- I go back to the NPC that gave me the objective
- I now have to kill 2 or 3 henchmen. Every situation is the same; the henchman inside a building or room, and a handful of thugs guarding/patrolling. I can stealth or shoot my way through. The setup is identical to the "assassinate" missions in Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
- After that the area boss reveals himself, and I have to go back to the first location and make my way through it AGAIN and take out the area boss.


Directly after all this I had to do the exact same stuff in a different part of the neighbourhood, only now it's drugs-related and I have to destroy four crates instead of releasing 4 prostitutes, and the henchmen are dope dealers instead of pimps. But you get the gist of it. I know it's videogames and all, but Lincoln killed at least 67 people today. The game goes out of its way to justify you killing all these people, they're all dirtbags to the extreme. Extremely racist, abusing women, the whole lot.
 

rdytoroll

Member
I might sound crazy, but Mafia 3 is my substitute for my yearly Assassins Creed game (just love the series, no matter what). The stealth gameplay option reminds me heavily of AC, together with some of the mission structures and "repetitiveness" in the open world. Also that we have a great historical setting, with a beautiful city. I love it
 

Lego Boss

Member
I was pretty hyped for this, but still playing FH3, so not buying just yet.

Judging by this thread it's a jankfest, but is it salvageable in the medium term.with a shitload of patches?
 
Been taking my time with the story as i'm been caught up on setting up
wiretaps and getting fuses (fuses, so many fuses)
i initially had my doubts about lincoln being able to pull of the "boss" vibe given he's dealing with lieutenants that are far more experienced in the crime world than he not to mention older but with one cutscene, all my doubts went out the window.. When linc puts his foot down and demands that attention and respect, it feels a lot more believable and natural than i would have thought. The acting, voice work and animation is just top notch


The devs have said they're patching it in later based on feedback they were receiving before release. I agree. The beard is badass and looks really good in the game

That's quite literally the whole game, no joke. It's do side missions to advance the story: The Game.

I get the feeling they have overcompensated for the minimal 'busy work' in Mafia 2?
 

psychotron

Member
Sampled the game on PS4 - wasn't sure if I was playing Mafia 3 or Bloodborne. The frame pacing is so bad, it's hard to tell. The game would run at a fairly steady clip otherwise but the micro-stuttering is awful.

This is what I had been commenting on after every video I saw of the game. Ugh, that could be a deal breaker for me.
 

phant0m

Member
Can we talk about the insane install times? Been sitting here for like 20 minutes now and it's only at 80% on PS4.
 
Also the Shotgun you get in the Family Kickback is brutal. Absolute force and the blowback is just damn.

I've been using it for 90% of the rackets so far.

How do you equip the guns and cars from the pack? And are they always available at your safe houses?

Can we talk about the insane install times? Been sitting here for like 20 minutes now and it's only at 80% on PS4.

It took me 3.5 hrs to "install" from 70%-100%. I'd take a nap if i were you...

It takes almost exactly 30 minutes to install. This doesn't include however long it takes you to download the 2gb patch. If it took 3.5 hours then your PS4 is on the fritz.
 
D

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member
So it seems the game is a repetitive grind after the tutorial and I'm wondering if it's worse than Mad Max? I loved the combat, voice acting, world etc but it was basically the same list of objectives in every zone with pallette swap bosses, from what I'm reading Mafia III is exactly the same. I gave Mad Max a 7/10 as the core gameplay was great and it ran perfectly whereas Mafia III doesn't, at least yet.
 

Mafro

Member
Does anyone else think some of the HUD elements on PS4 are far too small? I've had trouble making some of them out without squinting or having to move closer.
 

Bedlam

Member
The reports about the repetitive structure and the grind are a real bummer. If it wasn't for these issues, I'd be running to buy the game right now. I can deal with technical problems to a certain degree (more than many here it seems, BB's frame-pacing did not bother me) but I value my time too much these days and don't want it to spend on these types of games anymore. Sold Mad Max too after about 3-4 hours.
 

c0pium

Neo Member
It takes almost exactly 30 minutes to install. This doesn't include however long it takes you to download the 2gb patch. If it took 3.5 hours then your PS4 is on the fritz.

I dunno. No issues otherwise... At least one other person i've encountered has had an extremely lengthy install.

Did you install from disc? I had a digital download.
 
I can totally understand the complaints about repetitive gameplay loops.

Here's what I had to to the last couple of hours:

- NPC directs me towards a location
- I go there. It's a brothel. I need to get in and release four prostitutes to damage the income of the area boss
- I make my way through the location, clear it out and achieve the objective
- I go back to the NPC that gave me the objective
- I now have to kill 2 or 3 henchmen. Every situation is the same; the henchman inside a building or room, and a handful of thugs guarding/patrolling. I can stealth or shoot my way through. The setup is identical to the "assassinate" missions in Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
- After that the area boss reveals himself, and I have to go back to the first location and make my way through it AGAIN and take out the area boss.


Directly after all this I had to do the exact same stuff in a different part of the neighbourhood, only now it's drugs-related and I have to destroy four crates instead of releasing 4 prostitutes, and the henchmen are dope dealers instead of pimps. But you get the gist of it. I know it's videogames and all, but Lincoln killed at least 67 people today. The game goes out of its way to justify you killing all these people, they're all dirtbags to the extreme. Extremely racist, abusing women, the whole lot.

Yeah the core design is just flawed tbh. Why couldn't they just make it one big lineair story. Sure, it would only be about 8-10 hours of gameplay perhaps but at least it doesn't feel like a grind then. Not every open world game has to have an insane amount of missions to feel like we get value for our money. It's too bad this is what this series (and the whole industry) has turned into.
 

leng jai

Member
Yeah the core design is just flawed tbh. Why couldn't they just make it one big lineair story. Sure, it would only be about 8-10 hours of gameplay perhaps but at least it doesn't feel like a grind then. Not every open world game has to have an insane amount of missions to feel like we get value for our money. It's too bad this is what this series (and the whole industry) has turned into.

That's essentially what Mafia II was and they got a ton of complaints about how there was nothing to do in the "open world".
 

Rellik

Member
That's essentially what Mafia II was and they got a ton of complaints about how there was nothing to do in the "open world".

They can't win. When they made a linear game, people complained. When they go open world, people complained.
 
So it seems the game is a repetitive grind after the tutorial and I'm wondering if it's worse than Mad Max? I loved the combat, voice acting, world etc but it was basically the same list of objectives in every zone with pallette swap bosses, from what I'm reading Mafia III is exactly the same. I gave Mad Max a 7/10 as the core gameplay was great and it ran perfectly whereas Mafia III doesn't, at least yet.

i want to say at least new orleans is a way more interesting setting than bombed out australia/wherever it is (see that pile of rocks? theres more over that other pile of rocks!)
 
That's essentially what Mafia II was and they got a ton of complaints about how there was nothing to do in the "open world".

They could add all those grind missions, but make them optional, if you want to own the entire area. The story could just continue without having every different area to your name.
 
God damn I love this game, but I always knew I would anyway.

I still think the Lincoln 'hop' is one satisfying animation.


The hop he does after aiming and before sprinting.


200w.gif
 

dealer-

Member
Yeah mission structure is boring as fuck, into the second half of the game now and not sure whether to carry on.
 

dreamfall

Member
I loved Mafia 2, and I think the structure and the approach to Mafia 3 works wonders for me. I like the racket clearing, it reminds me of AC: Syndicate in all the best ways. There are many different places to take over, there's a rigidity of structure that I think most dislike but I enjoy it. Mainly because the gun fights are great, and everything feels seamlessly connected.

It reminds me of what The Godfather 1+2 video games were trying to do - and this is done in a much grander, and much more atmospheric way. New Bordeaux is pretty stunning, and the use of different interiors in the open world makes the most mundane objectives bearable. The set piece missions also offer some great change of pace.

I think we've got to ask ourselves how to improve open world mission design. This game doesn't bother with that question, and instead throws you to explore and take over the city. In a Mafia game, where the shootouts and character development are the most integral factors, I like it. A lot.
 
They can't win. When they made a linear game, people complained. When they go open world, people complained.

"Open world" is not defined by this kind of mission design/structure though. They chose to go with a very specific kind of open world design, one we've seen getting criticized for a while now.

They could add all those grind missions, but make them optional, if you want to own the entire area. The story could just continue without having every different area to your name.

Nah that wouldn't make sense. If nothing else, Mafia 3 really works hard at contextualizing the "grind" and giving you ample explanations for everything you're doing. Every racket takeover is justified.

The way to dodge this grind is through sheer mission design, plain and simple. This game could have the exact same setup, but if every racket had its own little arc of unique scenarios and set-pieces like the big narrative missions, no would complain. This is one of the more impressive things about GTAV, even for someone like me who doesn't particularly like that game.
 

Certinty

Member
The daytime lighting is truly messed up. Biggest complaint with the game for me, no idea how this wasn't fixed or whatever before launch.

Saying that the driving and combat is pretty good. Even if a little repetitive the game is fun to play.
 

Tovarisc

Member
Does cranking up the difficulty level improve the A.I somewhat?

No. Or if it does then Medium and Easy difficulty AI must be insanely stupid because on Hard it's stupid.

What in God's name are you meant to do when tailing an informant by car.

Don't get too close. Don't cause traffic issues like crashes, driving at wrong side, honking etc. Basically just drive nice and stay at distance.
 
No. Or if it does then Medium and Easy difficulty AI must be insanely stupid because on Hard it's stupid.



Don't get too close. Don't cause traffic issues like crashes, driving at wrong side, honking etc. Basically just drive nice and stay at distance.
That should have said chasing not tailing. My bad
 

rdytoroll

Member
Nice, I have the bug, too. There is no boat and there are no enemies.

Great.

Yeah, the Emmanuel missions are bugged af. I completed them and now the same ones show up on my list, but when I go there, there obviously is no boat because I already did that. This kills my OCD, just get it off my map lol
 
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