"I already know what some of you who have played this are going to say. "But this game became so repetitive WAAAA WAAAA WAAAA". ::stands up and pushes chair to the table:: You know what else is repetitive? Dynasty Warriors, Final Fantasy, RPGs in general, brushing your teeth, Street Fighter, all fighting games for that matter, waking up, breathing, shooters, and yes, even the process of getting a game, playing a game, finishing a game...then getting a new game. But these things are also all amazing (especially Dynasty Warriors), so let's agree to set this nonproblem aside as we talk about how incredible this game is.
I felt an immediate attachment to this game from the time that I saw a video explaining the story and mechanics at E3. You play as Lincoln Clay, a soldier who has just come back from serving in the Vietnam War. He happens to be black, and this story is set in a time where black people were treated quite poorly by a lot of the American population. Not to get to real and make things too serious, but this really hit home for me and drew me into wanting to play it in the first place. No punches are pulled with the language and how Lincoln is treated by many people through the game. There is even a disclaimer at the beginning pretty much stating that you're gonna hear a lot of pretty horrible racial slurs, so prepare yourself. The fact that they were not afraid to make it feel as real as possible with the current social climate really made me respect the people that worked on this game even more than I normally would. If this aspect of the game would not have been included then it would have felt like a regular open world mob game, which might have been fine, but wouldn't have had nearly the same impact. So kudos to 2K and Hangar 13 for having the balls to really dig into some serious stuff. At one point you legit have to fight the KKK...like...what? This is a thing that I'm doing right now?!?! Inflammatory images, inflammatory speech, inflammatory story, and you get the chance to overcome all of it. I love it.
Now as far as the actual game goes, it's gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing, you really feel like you've gone back in time to this era, and the story is so strong that if you let it then it will suck you in completely. The controls are intuitive, the side quests are interesting, and taking over parts of the city really enhances the story. When you take a section of the city, you give it to one of your three underbosses, and if one feels left out then a side mission opens where they'll turn on you, forcing you to take them out. It's great that your choices over time essentially mold how the story unfolds. Then once you make it to the end of the story, then there are three separate endings that have awesome cinematics explaining how events unfold after you take over the city.
I've never played the other Mafia games, so I'm not sure how many similarities this one has to the earlier games, but I do know that this one is beyond incredible on so many levels. In my opinion, Mafia III is the best game released in 2016."