What do Critics say about Mafia 3 and its Failure

Mafia 3

We’re so much into hype, but unfortunately things didn’t go well

I’ve seen this quite a few times by now. When I hype for some video-game, it either ends up being bad or disastrous. One such example is Watch Dogs. Watch Dogs looked magnificent in its trailers and gameplays, so I pre-ordered it. When I played the game it felt uneasy, especially with the driving mechanics and graphics optimizations. God, it was a terrible experience. But let’s not talk about that. Instead, I’ll try to explain why 2K and Hangar 13’s newest installment in the Mafia franchise – Mafia 3, ended up being a disaster and served poorly.

Interesting prologue, but that’s the entire game

Mafia 3 is set in the midst of New Bordeaux during the 1960s, a fictional city developed entirely for the game. The city is going through a terrific racial segregation and Hangar 13 succeeded in expressing it brilliantly. However, here’s where things get boring. The missions in the game are interesting at first. But as you progress, you’ll meet the same missions again and again with just slight variations. Andy Kelly of PC Gamer explains it better –

To claim a district, Clay has to bring down, then take over, rackets run by rival gangs. These include prostitution, drug dealing, contraband smuggling, and other illegal activities. The more you own, the more money you’ll earn, and with every racket that falls Clay gets closer to Marcano.

When this was first introduced I enjoyed it. Creeping into gang-controlled territory, quietly stabbing people, slipping money into my pockets, sneaking up on lieutenants and interrogating them, and causing mischief. But then I realised, after completing countless slight variations of the same mission for several hours, that this was the entire game.

Fails to perform as a story-driven masterpiece

When I watched the Mafia 3 trailer I instantly assured myself that it’s going to have a great story, interesting concept, a sharp gameplay and a vast open-world. If you’ve played the game, you could definitely prove me wrong. The last two Mafia games were linear and story-driven but that’s what we all liked. Mafia 3 simply tries to be more of an open-world game that made things worse.

Mafia 3
Oh boy! That’s not how you hold a Thompson.

Most open-world games are glorified checklists, but the best ones hide it with variety, engaging missions, and a story you care about. Mafia III just feels like busywork, and the narrative slows to a crawl after a promising opening act. Playing as a black war veteran in a segregated city is a compelling concept, but Clay is a deeply uninteresting character, whose place in the world is more interesting than anything he does or says in it. – Andy Kelly

The open-world in Mafia 3 is so repetitive and drench, it will actually destroy your mood of exploring the so-called ‘vast’ world of New Bordeaux. Locations including warehouses, strip clubs, factories and bars are the major contributors of the repetitive crime-story.

The technical side of the game falls back as well

In case you don’t know, Mafia 3 has been a minor controversy because of its 30fps lock. The fps lock was uplifted in Patch 1.01 but the game still lacks to perform well. Just by playing for a few hours, you can judge the poorly executed optimization of the game. The textures are grubby, camera movements are buggy and the AI in the game is the worst so far. Here’s what an IGN user says –

Mafia 3

As I said, the AI is pretty horrible. Although the melee combat is balanced, the firefights or cover-based combat goes on the negative side. The enemies are in the game are more like confused robots than human beings. More information on the technical side is available here.

Mafia 3
The nights in Mafia 3 are quite remarkable

Conclusion

Well, its a shame that Mafia 3 failed to meet peoples’ expectations but the game is fair-enough. You can try out the game at some of your friend’s house if they’ve got it but trust me, don’t buy a copy yourself until its on some Steam Sale, and you’re a die-hard Mafia fan. Again, the game is repetitive, unbalanced, gets boring very fast and has certain drawbacks that will shatter your expectations in seconds.

Sources: PC Gamer and IGN

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