Mafia III (PS4)

Well firstly the delivery was on time and goods were packaged just right.As for the game itself, well I've heard reviews that say it's a bit repetitive in itself, and I suppose it is somewhat, but with increasing difficulty as it progresses.What if you like what's being repeated though? I like being able to race around a great looking city like I'm in the classic film 'Bullitt', although it's set in New Orleans and not San Francisco, dodging cars at intersections and getting 4 wheels off the ground over bridges. You get that same airtime on the bridges in the surrounding countryside, but also over some great jumps as you boot it round tarmac and dirt roads like a nutcase out of 'the Dukes of Hazzard.' To this end there are also races you can enter to earn extra cash, which are set about all the different areas of the game, including the aforementioned countryside and swamps, downtown, the docks and more.Then there's the real nitty gritty of the game, as you (character Lincoln Clay) take over parts of the city and the rackets within them, in order to reach your main goal. Yes the missions are similar in that you make your way through the game and although different in regards to how many of them and how hard to kill your opponent's are, but dependent on your tactics, of which I prefer stealth, you kill everyone and then assign one of your bosses to that area.As you take over the city the bosses pay their kickback to you, and you can either pick it up yourself by driving from each boss to the next like a madman, or later on (once you earn the ability), you can regularly ask your Consigliere to collect it for you and watch as your bank balance rises. Of course you can till decide to drive between each of them if you still enjoy the rush if those extra miles in your car.In many ways this reminds me of Grand Theft Auto, but strangely although I don't like GTA, I'm loving this. It also reminds me a little of Assassins Creed in the way you accumulate wealth by controlling parts of the city, and by the stealth killing aspect of the game. Of course there are times when all guns blazing is the approach needed, especially when my stealth approach hasn't been stealthy enough, and in this I'm reminded of Call of Duty or Payroll.The driving dynamics are as good as I've seen on the Ps4 so far, and although I'm still looking for a decent racer on this platform, this definitely sates my thirst for exactly that style of gameplay. All round the graphics are great and the city rather spectacular as it whizzes by in the car, or more slowly of course if I'm on foot.One more great part of this game is the soundtrack, which is all 60's style of track's, much like those found as the background to many a great Vietnam war film, like 'Platoon' or 'Good Morning Vietnam', which is unsurprising being as it's set just after our character has returned from there to find that his whole world is about to be turned upside down.Yeah, I am absolutely loving this game, from the cars and the music, to the killing and acquiring areas and their wealth, all based around a Mafia lifestyle, which having a name like this, makes a whole heap of sense really. Great game in my opinion.

I was incredibly excited to play Mafia 3, ever since its initial reveal. Inevitably, the waiting period whilst the games release was etching closer and closer was pretty annoying - however it allowed me to envisage how I'd like the game to be, and whether it would then meet my expectations.It has certainly met my expectations. I'll try and get the negatives out of the way beforehand, actually, negative - the glitching. The glitching is obviously expected and it is within reasonable expectations that a patch will be realised in the near future rectifying this.Onto the posted:1) Vivid open world set in the fictitious replica of New Orleons, and I feel it represents that era beautifully, to the point where even the music at parts played originated from New Orleons.2) The storyline is immense, and from a very early point in the game, you feel an instant connection with the protagonist (Lincoln Clay) - I won't go into spoilers but there are a few scenes which are just amazing. The game also presents you with ways to shape the world YOU want to shape it, with decisions needing to be made over who to assign different territories, with differing consequences.3) Choice between styles of play. The gameplay allows for both types of gamers to enjoy themselves, people who want to use stealth and manoeuvre their way through areas will find it satisfying, whilst those gunslingers amongst us will be equally satisfied. Although, during my gameplay I interchanged, as I found the game requires specific styles at specific times.These are the 3 main points I found during my gameplay. I would definitely recommend this for anybody who is a fan of open world games, mafia fanatics and even casual gamers.

Very Decent!I really wanted to give the game a 5 star but, it's not perfect. That isn't by any means a dig, it just needs a few extra bits to make it a good 95%+ kinda game.A lot of other reviews have covered most of the elements of gameplay but in a nutshell;Pros:Driving (typical/simulation) (Cars are from the 60's so are quite heavy, don't expect to be turning a sharp corner at full speed without your car spinning out!)Weather conditions affect driving performance (when it rains heavily, your tyres will spin more...especially annoying yet awesome when doing weed/drug runs through the Bayou!)Graphics are very good - some other people have compared them to PS4, but I'd firmly place the graphics as PS4 - Keep in mind this is a MASSIVE open world game, games like this always have their graphics slightly held back to improve performance.Myriad of weapons, although you generally stick to using only a handful at the start of the game due to funds/unlocks.The Shank. Stabbing someone in the throat, in the face, in the back, in the stomach - NEVER gets dull.Violence - As with any Mafia (R18) game, expect brutal violence - Few instances so far of people being chopped up Mafia style (chopped up with a ban saw, head caved in with a hammer, etc)Music - The game hosts a fantastic selection of 50's/60's classics - more music seems to be unlockable as the game progresses and if you collect more album covers.Storyline - By far the strongest point of the game, you simply can't fault it. If you are a fan of Mafia type stories such as Scarface, Godfather, or even like that classic "LA Noir" story style it's very detailed and thorough. The backstory for a lot of the characters are huge, the general storytelling is performed via active events (the here and now) and also frequent flash backs & flash forwards to the FBI interrogating some of your accomplices years after the game has been set, it's quite enthralling.Racism - You might be wondering, how is racism a pro!? - Because Hanger13 start the game with a factual statement, giving the reasons why they added some harsh racism to the game. Which I totally agree with, it was impossible to craft the game in this era without portraying the (as they call it) "harsh truth of Americas problems" (aka the race war). Expect a lot of the 'N' word usage going on.Alligators.....yes....dump someone's body in the water and watch what happens.Cons:Being an open world game, there is no social aspect - I'm not comparing it to Rock stars social club per say but when playing, you feel very isolated. There are no competitive records for killing sprees/jumps/etc/etc - whilst this is a very small point, I often found myself feeling a bit lonely in a metropolis of so many.Solid bushes. I forget the amount of times I've almost missed my turning, slid off the road and expected to fly through the tiny bush in front of me only to swerve back onto the road....but instead whack into the bush like a brick wall. The same applies to some water plants, I've failed a few boat missions by flipping and subsequently writing off my boat (mid-mission) because there is a weed sticking out of the water!Missions - Some of them can get a little repetitive, but if you are a completions like me...expect to be doing a lot of side missions which involve driving weed shipments from one side of the map to the other and a lot of "bring me this, thanks, now bring me more, thanks....now more, repeat, etc."Install time - First time loading the game, by the time you get through the setup menu the install will be at about 15% - it then takes a good 45 minutes to install the rest of the game. It just sits on a greyish screen with a spiny icon, no artwork or info - just a grey screen...Side note:For reference, after 20 hours of gameplay my game has unexpectedly crashed twice during different events - not sure why, but it's minimal and I'd expect whatever that issue is would be patched over the coming week/s.ALL IN ALL, I was a bit hesitant to buy the game especially because of the lack of pre-release reviews, but I'm really happy with it. One of the games I'd happily spend £40 on!