Man this game is one that could have been something so special if it got a bit more time in the oven to bake. Presentation wise they have rebuilt this game up from the ground up with great cut scene performances and a beautiful art direction that really makes it feel like the 1930's that it should be. If you enjoy and type of Mafia based fiction you're going to enjoy the story, i'd say that in general the main three characters voice actors carry the performance(Namely Tommy and Paulie). I actually very much enjoyed the linear nature of the game where you have a mode to go freestyle in if you want but can otherwise knock through plot at your own pace.
The biggest issue I have with the game is usually around the control schemes when on foot. Shooting and movement feel clunky and imprecise. I avoided using half the available weapons in the game because they simply were not fun to utilize.
Which makes it all the more odd that driving for the most part felt great. Given these are older cars I gave them some leeway with the tightness of the handling on most of them but I had the most fun in this case when I was behind the wheel of a car.
Soundtrack was pleasant but didn't offer anything that will likely stick with me past this weekend of play.
Playthough via golden path was around 10-12 hours.
Only other piece of note is the game runs at 30FPS.
The biggest issue I have with the game is usually around the control schemes when on foot. Shooting and movement feel clunky and imprecise. I avoided using half the available weapons in the game because they simply were not fun to utilize.
Which makes it all the more odd that driving for the most part felt great. Given these are older cars I gave them some leeway with the tightness of the handling on most of them but I had the most fun in this case when I was behind the wheel of a car.
Soundtrack was pleasant but didn't offer anything that will likely stick with me past this weekend of play.
Playthough via golden path was around 10-12 hours.
Only other piece of note is the game runs at 30FPS.
2 Comments
I'd wager the driving feels good because the driving in Mafia III felt good, although being all muscle cars you'd often find yourself completely out of control too! Between the throttling mechanic and the cars just being underpowered in general this happens less often (driving the race car through town early in the game is a good reminder of how hilariously poor this engine accounts for curved roads, however), but it still has the subtle drifting with the camera swinging out to the side of the car ever so subtly that still feels hefty in a way these games can struggle to articulate.
Which is why it's so weird that the gunplay feels as generic as it does! Mafia III had some extremely frustrating design decisions (like how certain shotgun guys, who do it in this game as well, are basically heat seeking death missiles who you absolutely cannot lose sight of or deprioritize at any point) but a lot of that could be hand waved away for when the combat went well. It had the same visceral, "in it" feeling that GTA V does in its best moments, coupled with simply way more graphic and frankly comically realistic portrayal of a weapon's true power. Here everything feels like a pea shooter, even the shotgun, which is the saddest thing of all because the Mafia III Barker is maybe one of my all-time favorite boomsticks.
Which is why it's so weird that the gunplay feels as generic as it does! Mafia III had some extremely frustrating design decisions (like how certain shotgun guys, who do it in this game as well, are basically heat seeking death missiles who you absolutely cannot lose sight of or deprioritize at any point) but a lot of that could be hand waved away for when the combat went well. It had the same visceral, "in it" feeling that GTA V does in its best moments, coupled with simply way more graphic and frankly comically realistic portrayal of a weapon's true power. Here everything feels like a pea shooter, even the shotgun, which is the saddest thing of all because the Mafia III Barker is maybe one of my all-time favorite boomsticks.
Vaudevillain
1 year ago