Here’s Proof That Mafia 3 is a Step Backwards for the Series

Mafia 3 was released last week and the reception to the game has been ambivalent. I’ve personally sank around 7-8 hours into it thus far, and while its opening 4 hours are very promising, the game’s quality takes a nose-dive from that point on. With its opening focusing upon conveying the game’s interesting main plot thread, fleshing out its colorful cast of characters along with establishing its setting – not to mention its unflinchingly honest portrayal of racism in the late ’60s – it’s a shame that it eventually devolves into just another open-world game, tasking the player with completing mundane tasks while stuck on an infinite loop of driving and shooting.

It remains to be seen whether or not the final stretch of the game can manage to rectify the mistakes of its sub-par middle act, but unfortunately these problems are too glaring to ignore. It wouldn’t be so bad if the game world itself was enjoyable to explore, but despite its ’60s New Orleans setting having a great deal of potential, it’s mostly wasted. Along with the lack of interactivity afforded to the player when it comes to experiencing this time setting, there are also frequent graphical glitches that force you right out of the action.

The most curious problem lies with Mafia 3‘s odd weather system, which sees its entire color scheme become overly saturated for a few seconds as the game struggles to accurately switch between different lighting. As such, Lincoln Clay often spends a few moments basking in a heavenly glow whenever the time of day changes, as illustrated in the below clip I posted to Twitter:

There are a variety of other similar glitches I’ve encountered, such as a huge, ominous shadow engulfing the game’s world every now and again, bits of scenery appearing where they shouldn’t and this peculiar incident where the shadow of my injured friend’s head took the shape of a balloon floating away from his body:

It’s certainly not the worst game I’ve played, but it definitely feels unpolished and rushed to release, which is unfortunate considering that Mafia 2 released way back in 2010. Speaking of Mafia 2, YouTuber Eduard Makarchev put together a video comparing the last-gen game and its successor, highlighting how the latest game in the series is actually a step backwards in many respects. Although Mafia 2 was criticized at the time of its release for featuring an open world that simply wasn’t much fun to explore, Eduard’s video points out it had plenty more to do than Mafia 3‘s, from interactions with civilian NPCs through to world-building activities such as filling up your car’s tank with gas, going through a car wash and having your shoes shined.

The video also points out Mafia 3‘s underwhelming visuals, with vehicle damage having been toned down considerably, bullet shells no longer flying out of your gun whenever you shoot it and glass shattering less realistically this time around, too. Then there are the gameplay changes, from hand-to-hand combat no longer featuring the nuances of Mafia 2‘s comparatively complex melee system, through to encounters with police either resulting in you easily outrunning them, or them mercilessly gunning you down for a minor infraction.

Although I’m still enjoying my time with Mafia 3 despite its obvious flaws, it’s definitely disappointing to see that 2K Czech have toned down the level of detail when it comes to representing the authenticity of its time period, and that it sinks into the deep end after its great opening. Hopefully it picks up in the final act, but the issues highlighted in the below video are still worth taking into account if you were a fan of Mafia 2, but aren’t sure whether or not you should pick up its sequel in an already jam-packed month of game releases: