Yet the themes and tone of this game really opened my eyes. Now at this juncture of the article, I feel I should point something out, I’m white. The use of racism in the game really hits home and its much more then just hearing derogatory slang. If fact, many of those undertones become overtones as the game progresses and Lincoln’s story unfolds. Mafia III does not shy away from its racism undertones at all. The only game that I can think of that even slightly touched upon this was 2013’s BioShock Infinite, and even then it was only briefly mentioned or referenced. I mean actually using racism as part of the setting, story and characters. Racism is a subject that games tend not to address and I don’t mean the use of racial slang and slurs as many games do this. They also justify including it by saying choosing to ignore the whole thing would have been disrespectful to those that lived (and died) during these times and I agree. Racism was rampant (understatement) during this time and the game even opens with a warning from the game’s developers – Hangar 13 about some of the racism the game contains. If you are not sure why the time frame, locale and black main character is a problem then go read a little on black history. Oh, and you play as a black male protagonist – Lincoln Clay. Racism.įor those not in the know – Mafia III is set during 1968 in the city of New Bordeaux which is (as previously mentioned) a fictional version of New Orleans. Still its not the soundtrack that got me wanting to write this article, its the other thing this game does brilliantly. I’m tearing around a a fictional recreation of New Orleans with Creedence Clearwater Revival blasting out… and its good. This soundtrack is sublime with over 100 songs and easily one of the best I have ever listened to in any game. Some of the world’s greatest musical artists all found in one place. With the likes of The Animals, Jefferson Airplane, The Beach Boys, James Brown, Roy Orbison, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, Sam & Dave, Status Quo, Dusty Springfield, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, The Temptations… the list goes on and on. Well, there are actually two things the game does amazingly well. There is one thing this game does really, really well and something I’ve not really experienced in any other game. Yet the core gameplay can still get a little stale and repetitive on the whole.īut despite its problems – I enjoyed playing through Mafia III recently. Since then though, there have been a few free updates that have added changeable clothing, car customisation and a few other tweaks and fixes to make the game much more playable. For the record, I really enjoyed Mafia III – But I really can’t argue against many of the problems reviewers have pointed out about the game when it was first released.
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