E3 2016: Mafia III Preview

June 27, 2016

One of the most unique booths at E3 had to be Mafia III’s, as it turned the entry to South Hall into a slice of history, as a street corner from the 60’s with live music, a movie theater, palm reading and beaded necklaces periodically thrown from the rooftop (which was a little weird). However, the game itself was the real star of the show, with a presentation revealing a lot of new information about the long-awaited third installment in the Mafia franchise.

The game is set in 1968 and stars Lincoln Clay, originally an orphan who as he grew older became a Vietnam vet, eventually joining the ‘Black Mob’, and becoming embroiled in mission of revenge against the Italian Mob in New Bordeaux, and its leader. New Bordeaux is based on New Orleans, and has ten districts, each of which is controlled by various underbosses and partners of the Italians.

Lincoln himself has three underbosses – Cassandra, the leader of the Haitian mob, Thomas Burke, a man with his own personal vendetta against the crime boss of New Bordeaux and Vito Scaletta, who feels he is being undercut by the Italians. The goal of the game is to seize control of the various districts around New Orleans by breaking down ‘racquets’ to weaken each district boss’ power, until you finally confront them. This can involve blowing up drug boats, taking out pimps, capturing brothels, taking out ‘middle-men’ or preventing robberies. It’s somewhat similar to the format from Assassin’s Creed games where you’re assigned small missions in an area, before building to an assassination mission.

The hands-off E3 demo’s first mission showed Lincoln attempting to take down a pimp, starting off by sneaking through the car park of a motel, in a stealth section where he had to avoid being seen by guards by ducking behind cars and walls. Eventually Lincoln made it up to the second floor where he saw the pimp through a window getting a nice shiny blowjob, and immediately shot him in the head. This alerted all the guards, starting a shootout where Lincoln had to take cover and begin fighting the guards. The combat seems polished, and similar to a standard 3rd person open world shooter, like GTAV.

mafia32

However, Lincoln wasn’t quite quick enough to kill all the guards, as one got to a payphone and called in backup. Fortunately, he was able to call in some backup who were able to assist with his escape and taking the rest of the forces out.

The demo fast forwarded to a mission where Lincoln takes on the district’s boss, taking place during a party on a paddle steamer. Lincoln and his gang arrange for a series of explosions causing the bridge to collapse, as the boat crashes into a dock. Lincoln swims through the river to the boat, surrounded by debris and passengers trying to escape the wreckage, some of which were being swallowed by alligators. He boarded the boat, heading into the foyer where the Mafia boss is trying to calm a group of survivors. Lincoln sneaks around the room, hiding behind tables and pillars, stealth killing a number of guards. After the boss exits the room to talk to one of the guests, a politician, Lincoln switches tactics and opens fire on the remaining guards.

Lincoln confronted the boss outside, who tries to use the politician as a hostage – although Lincoln abruptly says he doesn’t care about the politician’s life. The boat then hits some canisters on the pier causing a massive explosion and sending all three flying. Lincoln is knocked out, and when he awakens he has lost all his weapons except for his knife, spying the Mafia boss in the distance slowly walking up a creek. He follows the boss, carefully avoiding his line of sight by hiding behind logs and avoiding the boss’ haphazard gunfire.  As they progress through the swamp, the trees and foliage become more dense and lush, making for a very cool environment that would be great to explore. Eventually, the boss comes to a clearing where he stands still and just starts firing his gun, calling for Lincoln to come out. Lincoln sneaks around him and is able to grab the boss and put a knife to his throat. After begging for his life, Lincoln tells the boss all he wants is for him to send a message, then slits his throat.

mafia33

The scene then cuts to the New Bordeaux crime boss discovering the body, strapped to a statue in what appears to be his front yard, with a sign around his neck telling him to get a certain politician elected. Lincoln is then shown meeting with his three underbosses, where it was explained that Lincoln must decide who takes control of the region just captured. In this playthrough, the player had given Cassandra a lot of districts recently, and barely any to Thomas, who was becoming annoyed. Each underboss gives you different benefits, which you need to factor in when deciding who controls what. The mechanic is meant to highlight the ‘organised crime’ element of the title. Lincoln chose to give the district to Vito, angering Thomas who left the meeting.

The demo ended with Lincoln taking on Thomas’ crew in a car yard, killing all of his men and confronting Thomas.

Mafia III will be available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on 7 October, 2016.