Why did I like the third part even more than the sequel?

Bookmarks

To begin with, it’s worth defining my position from the point of view of my experience with the “Mafia” series. I'm 27 years old and have been playing games for as long as I can remember. I first saw the first part in 2002 on the cover of a then popular magazine, a little later I bought a pirated disc - incredible delight and love forever. I played the second part many years later in a less romantic time - I bought it on Steam, and again I was delighted. But with repeated playthroughs, there was a feeling that something was wrong here.

And now the third coming took place. To be honest, I didn’t fully believe that I would ever see the Mafia screensaver on my monitor again. But it happened and I'm damn glad.

My artifacts - Mafia & Mafia II

New Bordeaux, 1968

The main character, Lincoln Clay, has just returned from Vietnam. Lincoln is a black man, and in 1968, being a black man in the southern United States was not a good decision. Trying to survive and somehow make money, Lincoln goes to rob a bank, but his “friends” screw him right after dividing the loot... all his relatives are dead, and Lincoln lies on a bed in a church, miraculously surviving after being shot in the head (apparently, the brain is not the best for bandits important part of the body). But soon the hunters will become the victims.

Sometimes at night, I swear I can hear footsteps in soldiers' boots upstairs. I understand that this is just old house holds it together and groans with the floorboards... But every time I think - what if Lincoln Clay came for my soul?

Jonathan Maguire

FBI agent

Glue. Lincoln Clay.

The story of Mafia 3 is simple and banal - main character takes revenge for the family, killing mafiosi one by one, reaching the very top. But the developers managed to tell it epically - powerful cutscenes with killer music and bloody murders come first here. The writers did something different from the first and second parts, showing “Mafia” not from the side of expensive suits, beautiful women and shiny cars, and from the side ordinary people who drown in blood. Plus, it’s interesting to feel and feel the theme of racism - to find out what it was like when you weren’t allowed to go to a cafe or laundromat. And then slaughter a couple of local Confederates who still dream of bringing back slavery.

Clear, understandable.

Lincoln will be accompanied by several very well-developed characters, such as the holy father with a cigarette in his hands or the cheerful CIA officer Donovan. And the main mafia boss Sal Marcano literally infuriates him with every appearance in the frame and makes you want to shoot a couple of bullets at the bastard. It will be all the more pleasant to watch how we take away from him everything that is dear to him. Piece by piece, area by area, person by person - Clay will take everything from the old man. And then he will come for his life.

I am sure that if the game had only a storyline, without an open world and attempts to drag out the game with monotonous tasks, it would have been received much better. For journalists, the shorter the game, the better, less work, but school experts would download it from a torrent and, having run it for 10 hours, would be quite satisfied.

In principle, if you don’t buy it, the game is worth the money.

5-A class

Gopnik vs. Punisher

Would you really say that the Mafia III campaign worse story Vito? In Mafia II, everything brought pleasure: beautiful cars, music, the atmosphere of the city, physics, interesting missions and locations, the change of seasons, even jolly Joe. Everything was great except the plot and the main character. I replayed the game last year and just didn’t understand - why should I play a gopnik who will do anything for an extra dollar? Just remember the hero’s reaction to his sister’s call when she says that she doesn’t want to see him anymore - a stone face! Absolute indifference. His lines constantly made me gnash my teeth, Vito's only motivation is money, cars and chicks.

Vito himself. How old he has become. Apparently, money did not bring happiness.

In the same GTA series, bandits have always been interesting, individual (not counting the nameless guy from GTA 3), crazy like Trevor in the end, but Vito is like an “even kid” from neighboring yard. Probably, only such guys can be interested in this exciting story of “how a boy went to success.” Therefore, Lincoln, even if he is a banal avenger-punisher, is still much more suitable for the role of the main character in the game.

If you wish, in Mafia III you can make your old dream come true and kill Vito. The game also finally answers the question that has worried millions of gamers for years - what happened to Joe? It turned out that he was still part of the deal. Although the developers do not give us any explanation of the events, it is clear that Joe’s cameo makes no sense and is inserted into the game solely for the sake of hype.

City of Lost Skies

New city, new car, new "Mafia".

What else is good about Mafia III, besides the company? For example, the beautifully made city and the atmosphere of 1968 are the main plus of the game for me. Magnificent New Bordeaux consists of completely different areas in spirit: the black ghetto, swamps with alligators, rich white areas, the French Quarter. And again, the same feeling as in distant childhood, when you seem to be transported back in time and enjoy the adventure. And after all, such GTA-like games in different historical eras not so much: GTA, Godfather, Mafia, The Saboteur and... that's all? It feels like creating a city, a car, and an atmosphere is no longer considered something important by gamers, but is taken for granted.

And the cars, oh my God, what cars there are here. This is simply incredible. Of course, I liked the cars in the first and second mafia, but here... I fell in love with the 1968. Every car is a masterpiece, every contour is magnificent. A huge number of muscle cars, long bodies and powerful engines. All this beauty is incredibly pleasant to drive, groom and cherish. For my taste, these were the best cars in the history of mankind.

Is it possible to resist such a crumb?

​Here we’ll add some great music that will become best friend gamer. Box Tops, Jefferson Airplane, Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, Creedence, Animals with their immortal "House of the Rising Sun". Every song is a hit, every ride in a muscle car through the old city to a new song is priceless. Here it is! This is what we experienced in the first part and in the second - adventures, trips, music, cars, atmosphere. All this is in Mafia III.

Try it, approach the game with the unadulterated joy of a child who has received his favorite toy - pleasure here and now, waiting for you around the next corner in New Bordeaux in 1968.

Eh, once! Yes again, and many many more times.

They won't catch us!

The main problem of the third Mafia, which many stick to the fore, is the monotony of the missions. Indeed, in addition to interesting story missions, we will have to conquer territory from the mafia. District by district, business by business. The main gameplay is quite monotonous - we drive into an area, find out who is driving what, take out a couple of thugs, destroy goods, and so on. Heels, makeup and this area is ours.

On the one hand, it's weak and in no way compares to, say, GTA V's 69 story missions (although few games can compare to GTA V). But on the other hand, the developers managed to make the action interesting. The gameplay turned out to be very successful - sneaking around the corners, cutting out enemies one by one is very easy and pleasant, fat and bloody. And then you jump out and start a hell of a shootout. Execution animations are generally something divine and bloody. Killing in close combat is a real pleasure, reminiscent of the times of the games "The Punisher" and "Dead to Rights".

The gameplay is fire.

A typical day in Mafia 3 looks something like this:

I got into a cool car, turned on the radio, and my favorite “give me a ticket for an airplane” started playing;

I drove to the point, drifting and squeezing through traffic;

He burst in, stabbed and shot everyone;

Repeat.

Yes, the enemies are stupid. Yes, you can look through walls. Yes, the most protected base can be easily taken down in stealth, but I like it. In the mafia you can enjoy the process. Permissiveness is intoxicating, harshness and violence consume the player. In the game, you are the real god Lincoln Clay and only you can decide who will live and who will go to rot in the swamp to be eaten by alligators.

The guys in white thought they were better than others. We'll figure it out.

Remember the first and second Mafia. The first had Free Ride Extreme after the story, the second had store robberies and terrible DLC with the bald guy and Joe, filled with standard GTA-like tasks. Even then, the developers tried to “stretch” the game, to keep the player, so that he would have at least something to do after a short story campaign. The Second Mafia always ends suddenly for me. You play, have fun, buy costumes, fill the garage with cars and then boom - the end credits. Hey, where do we put all this now?

Mafia III decided to stretch the game itself, based on resources and budget, and the Hangar 13 studio achieved a pretty decent price-quality ratio. For example, I bought a game on a PC and for 2k rubles I got 50-60 hours of excellent adventure. Would I buy a game for 2k that lasts 10 hours? No, I wouldn't.

The main character is a black guy, Lincoln Clay. He grew up in an orphanage, so he values ​​and understands the word “Family” very much. His main motto is “Family is not those with whom you grew up. They are those for whom you are ready to give your life.” The hero is sent to war, where he survives by finding friends.

Soon, Lincoln returns from the war and is happily accepted into his gang, where there are people like him - dark-skinned people. Why did they flock together? After all, skin color means nothing. In fact, the action takes place in 1968, where the bad attitude of white people towards blacks reigns.

Crime boss Sal Marcano teams up with a black leader for a very profitable bank robbery. And so, the son of the main mafioso and Lincoln go to the bank. After robbing him and killing a bunch of people, they somehow escape. Soon everyone comes to their boss and hands over their loot, but is it that simple? No. Sal Marcano is a man who always crushes everything under himself and loves to be the boss in everything, so he decides to kill this gang, so that later he does not share the territory with them and simply so as not to interfere.

Marcano's people and the boss himself come to the bar, led by their "allies". Naturally, through for a long time drinking, all the dark-skinned people turn out to be dead, except... Except for the main character, of course! Lincoln is pulled out by a local priest and decides to patch him up. When Clay came to his senses, he immediately began a dialogue with the priest and decided to destroy Sal’s entire criminal syndicate, in order to destroy the efforts of his entire life, and then Sal himself.

Next, the black man finds his allies. There are only three of them: Vito Scaletta, who is the main character of the second part of the Mafia game series, Burke and Cassandra. Lincoln needs them to ruin Sal Marcano's life. They all have reasons for this.

Vito had been working for a crime boss for a long time, but they had a conflict and Sal simply couldn’t stand it, so he sent a killer to Scaletta, but Lincoln managed to warn Vito and the killer himself was in trouble. As a result, Vito himself realizes that his area, which he ruled, is no longer his and joins Lincoln.

Burke wants revenge. He is Irish by nationality. Sal did not tolerate Thomas Burke's reckless lifestyle, and he let him down. Marcano kills the Irishman's son and sends Burke to a man nicknamed "The Butcher", who beats ex-person Marcano and makes him disabled for life. And the main condition is Burke’s cooperation: When they find the Butcher, Thomas himself will deal with him.

The dark-skinned girl Cassandra wants revenge and wants her place in this world, so she sees her chance in the main character and will join.

The storyline will focus mostly on the main character, whom you play as, and his friends from the mafia group. In addition to the main line of the game, side quests will be given from the main character's friends, where you will need to complete tasks assigned by the lieutenants. Lieutenants are representatives of groups who are on good terms with Lincoln. For completing tasks given by lieutenants, they can provide support in the upcoming battle or ransom the hero from the police. Each lieutenant has his own story that you need to know in order to develop a close relationship with him.

Interestingly, the plot of the game will develop depending on the tasks that you took on and have already completed. It turns out that the game can be played several times and each time the result will be different. Each of your actions in the game affects the behavior of enemies towards you and the positive (or negative, depending on your actions) attitude of allies towards your hero. There are also several endings in the game, namely 4. And which of the endings of the game the plot will lead you to depends only on you and your actions in the game. When you complete the game for the first time, you will be able to return to any stage of the game and complete the tasks differently to find out what other endings there are in the game. Also, this way you can get additional rewards if you didn’t collect everything during the first playthrough.
The game begins with a trial where John Donovan is Lincoln's former partner during Vietnam War, tells about the events of 1968 in New Board, the city where the events of the game take place. It is John who will be the narrator in the game and will introduce the player to the whole matter. Since John is no longer Lincoln's friend at the time of the story, he reveals the secrets of his former comrade. It tells that Lincoln had problems with the Italian mafia and fought with them for several years. During the meeting, new facts of the proceedings appear from which we can learn that Lincoln is on at the moment He is not fighting the mafia alone, but has teamed up with several criminal groups that also have a grudge against the mafia.
The main character was in the army and in the war, after which he became very cruel and bloodthirsty, because in the war he lost many of his friends and relatives, saw many deaths and killed many people himself. After the war, he came to his hometown and joined the Black Mafia, which is at odds with the Italian mafia. The main character began to consider the Black Mafia his family. Lincoln's group was constantly dealing with the Italian mafia, so the mafiosi killed several of his comrades. During one of the showdowns, a stray bullet hit the main character himself, and after that he no longer controlled his anger. Since Lincoln gathered a fairly large group, crushing almost the entire city, the enemy began to fear him. The main character has a goal to avenge himself and his family, which is what he calls his group “Black Mafia”.

The trailer for the game Mafia 3 shows Lincoln's team with which he will fight against the Italian mafiosi. The leader of the Black Mafia has assembled a large and strong team that can repel any mafiosi. But no one knows who these imaginary friends might turn out to be; what if one of them turns out to be a spy and an enemy? For example, the hero from Mafia 2 Vitto Antonio Scaleta, who was previously the main Italian mafia. This hero can be very useful to you, since he has been moving in mafia circles for a long time and knows a lot about everything. Try to support good relationship With this hero, give him the captured territories and complete tasks for him. Then he will share with you useful information and give help to your subordinates.
Remember that all your actions will be monitored not only by your friends in the game’s plot, but also by your enemies, act carefully, otherwise the end of the game may lead to your death. But you can always return to the initial stage and go through it all over again.

Let's face it, the Mafia series of games is not as popular and famous as the highly respected GTA series of games. In terms of gameplay, both of these games are “molded from the same clay.” However, the same applies to crime. However, “Mafia” stood out from its competitor in that it was much more serious. Therefore, this is precisely why the series was loved, even though it was able to pamper fans only three times in 14 years.

Revenge as it is

What is especially curious is that it does not even try to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors. The first thing that distinguishes the third part from previous games is the setting. Instead of the old, good and pure-blooded Italian-Americans who organize typical showdowns for influence and business, we have at our disposal a real black bully, filled with hatred and malice. However, the era also turned out to be quite specific: the streets are already in the 1960s - a time of racism and intolerance.

→ The game provides quite convenient navigation in the form of virtual road signs.

So, the events of Mafia 3 take place in another fictional town called “New Bordeaux”. The main character is Lincoln Clay, a young and huge black man. Returning from the Vietnam War (fortunately, alive and even unharmed), he is greeted at home not only by his beloved “relatives” and smiling friends, but also by a bunch of local problems that have literally overwhelmed the entire city and even the entire “black community.”

In short: Lincoln tries with all his might to deal with problems the way he knows how - he was engaged in fighting, so, roughly speaking, in any incomprehensible situation it is easier for him to take up the machine gun. However, the Mafia is not to be trifled with, so the situation gets out of control and soon the town is already engulfed in the terrible flames of war.

In fact, the change in setting and setting had a huge impact on the series. In the third "Mafia" it is quite difficult to perceive the meaning of what is happening in isolation from what happened before. Roughly speaking, we are not talking about the mafia, as everyone was presented with. The main character will not be drawn into those same “family affairs”; he will not delve too deeply into the “legal-illegal” business with his stupid friends, as Vito did in Mafia II. In fact, the last part rests solely on Lincoln Clay's revenge. You can learn the motives and details of this whole story from the plot. And by the way, Vito actually appears in the storyline of the third “Mafia”.

→ Lincoln Clay's brutal finishing moves are especially brutal when he runs out of ammo and uses a huge army knife.

The plot component, in turn, and no matter how strange it may sound now, is really one of the main features of the “troika”. In this regard, the authors did their best: they carefully worked out the splash screens and treated with soul the disclosure of all the characters, and not even minor ones, but episodic and any other unimportant characters.

And in general, it is framed in an extremely unusual way: a documentary film in which they talk about the events in the dock, looking into the camera lens. To some extent, this gives the impression that the events that took place are really based on real facts - this part is so detailed and believably framed. Undoubtedly, this makes the third part stand out from the rest - some kind of diversity - although the mafia here plays rather the role of an antagonist.

→ At night there are much fewer unpleasant graphic filters. However, even global illumination, without “cloudy” clouds, looks much softer.

Welcome to New Bordeaux!

Alas, absolutely all the plot “goodies” will almost immediately and unceremoniously be overshadowed by truly dubious achievements in terms of gameplay. Mafia III, as before, is only a story-oriented prototype of a GTA-like action movie in open world. This means that the player appears in a large town (which includes a suburb), where he can already ride around, fully enjoying the cultural diversity presented. And in between walks, players are free to take part in the development of the storyline.

And it seems that everything is not so bad: big city, beautiful, and in some places even “juicy”. However, the game is literally devoid of detail. The life simulation is a separate matter altogether - it’s just lousy. Although, I won’t lie, I was delighted when the police stopped me and arrested me for nothing (here, apparently, they didn’t like the color of my skin). I liked how the black part, in the usual manner, “throws” a lot of insults for being arrested, how the residents wander the streets and lose their umbrellas from a gust of wind, or simply discuss the news, push each other and, in the end, loudly try to sort things out. This is definitely pleasing even though Mafia III has blurry graphics. New Bordeaux is a pretty nice town. But it is especially attractive at night with its atmospheric bars, damp alleys and gloomy landscape of unfamiliar America of the 60s.

→ Locks in the third “Mafia” are now picked differently - using a crowbar.

And yet, so to speak, this is only the “top” layer of the game. When you have to delve deeper into acquaintance with the outside world, the third “Mafia” begins to proudly demonstrate its ugly and even sometimes empty insides. What am I talking about? In the third part, you will no longer have the opportunity to refuel, as before, or to stop by and buy yourself a weapon with ammunition (however, even to rob a store). In a conditional “home” or “shelter” (whatever you want to call this “hole”) you cannot open the doors, there is no longer a refrigerator that is filled with beer and sandwiches, and I am silent about the mirror in which an incomprehensible and complete devilry is happening.

The first impression is deceptive: in appearance the town is quite lively, but when you plunge into all this atmosphere, it no longer feels that way. The “fast food” saleswomen standing on the streets, for example, will no longer sell you a delicious hod-dog, and clothing stores are now tightly boarded up - this time around there is an unusual impenetrable emptiness, which is filled with single-celled NPCs, solely for the image and extras. Because of this, in the end it turns out that in the breaks between tasks you can only admire the beautiful landscapes of the city and collect PlayBoy magazines. End.

→ Automatic weapons are difficult to feel. But another thing is some kind of revolver or even a shotgun, shooting from which you feel the power.

The AI ​​in the city is not only stupid regularly, but also completely and hopelessly. Yes, from time to time he knows how to call the police when he hears the sound of gunfire. Most reactions to shootings, accidents, or even corpses are simply inadequate. And this is a minute of silence in honor of the inadequate quick help of Mafia III, which even in GTA III back in 2001 came immediately to the scene of the incident. In general, after GTA 5, it’s just painful to look at this.

City lights

Another thing is the shooter mechanics, which will not surprise you in any way, but will not upset you either - it has not undergone major changes. The bottom line is that to a large extent the game is focused not on PC, but on consoles, so the game has a typical auto-aim (which can be disabled if desired) and a cover system, which in turn works poorly.

In general, there was no increase or decrease in any specific realism - the headshot remained the same as it was before. So the shooting remains relatively good. Sometimes it’s quite interesting to shoot even with enemies - especially interesting when the enemy does not know where the main character is. However, I really didn’t like the fact that “aim assist” couldn’t be disabled for shooting from a vehicle. Most likely, the developers didn’t decide to bother at all and transferred the mechanics from the console version of the game, where auto-aim is absolutely indispensable.

→ Burke curses because another “tidbit” piece of territory passed him by.

It’s worth talking separately about physics in the third “Mafia”, because the problems there are really more serious. You can start with the behavior of the car on the road, continue with accidents and end with “Ragdoll”. It’s also worth talking about bugs, because, given the previous disadvantages, in general everything disgustingly disfigures certain game episodes. For example, due to the fact that a car lives its own life, it can put you on the hood, and then take you for a nice ride and throw you like an ordinary NPC on the asphalt, as a result of which you die. In addition, the vehicle is not deformed by an impact, but simply explodes from any “sneeze” or shot.

Absent in the third "Mafia" and dynamic destructible environment. And there are still a huge number of such disadvantages, listing which would take dozens of hours. Each minus or simply a flaw has its own special degree of severity. Therefore, if you evaluate the game as a whole in this regard, then the result is the same: you get the feeling that you have returned to the distant year 2001, right on the streets of Liberty City, only with soapy graphics.

Far Cry, is that you?

What also causes a separate dislike for the game is that storyline completely devoid of variety and gameplay uniqueness. In Mafia III, the same repeated missions follow each time, they follow each other literally on the heels. Each time the goals are the same, which include: either murder, or escort, or even capture. But that's all.

→ One of the few interesting scenes in Mafia III.

Compared to what happened in the second “Mafia”, the third part, frankly speaking, simply degraded in every sense, to the point of becoming the same “cardboard” game as happens with the series Far Cry. I mean those sickening towers and post captures. Thank God that in the new “Mafia” they at least didn’t force you to collect skins. The most interesting thing is that even more or less sane videos and other plot inserts cannot smooth out the unbearable monotony gameplay, which feels melancholy throughout the entire passage of Mafia 3.

My stupid virtual friend

The last fly in the ointment, or rather even a ladle for borscht, is the hideously neutered stealth and AI of enemies. During the passage, I had a question: why is stealth needed here if it doesn’t work at all? The answer, of course, is no. Situations reached the point where the huge black gorilla could not be seen even at point-blank range. And this is not to mention the fact that enemies are displayed through walls and simply lag terribly forever, thereby giving about a two-second head start on absolutely any action. What else can I say? In such a long-suffering situation, even the police are not destined to catch you in principle, because it is enough to go around the corner and sit down behind the tank. Although there’s no need to waste time on trifles, you don’t have to rush, you can hide even in plain sight.

→ Racial hatred occurs even in shops, but for that any seller can be given a good bream.

In general, AI is also not far behind in terms of its level of development. The insignificant level of development has led to the fact that even ordinary pedestrians do not have enough sense not to go to a red light, to call the police when a real war with massacre begins nearby. And with an ordinary “fart” you can kill a whole hundred bandits and cops, and then a couple of passers-by, because they are not able to defend themselves. In short, the main thing is to have enough ammunition.

Soap box

Well, it's time to talk about the deplorable situation with visual and technical part. For starters, graphics. To be honest, the graphics in Mafia III are not just “not very good”, but rather simply terrible, especially considering today's standards. And in general, the graphics look good only in static conditions. If we delve into the details, then the drawing distance is negligible, the play of shadows and dynamic lighting are poor.

Sixties. Time for rock 'n' roll and muscle cars. The Animals, The Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival are heard from the receivers. Rumbling monsters with a force of four hundred “horses” drive along the roads. A second wave of feminist protests is taking place across America, and racism in the country now and then becomes the cause of crimes and riots. At the same time, the fictional American city of New Bordeaux, where the events take place, loses in turn all its caporegimes and their henchmen.

This is Lincoln Clay dispensing justice.

Mafia Africano

When Lincoln returned from Vietnam, he hardly suspected that everything would turn out this way. His first day in civilian life was marked by a party organized in his honor by friends and family. It would seem that life began again for him in a world free from the horrors of war. However, this world also has its horrors...

It soon becomes clear that foster father Lincoln does business with the local mafia. The hero himself and his friends are also not averse to pulling off a profitable adventure and simply cannot refuse a tempting offer to rob a federal storage facility. They didn’t refuse, but Sal Marcano tricked them and took the money for himself, and his people killed all of Lincoln’s loved ones.

Clay also got it, but he was “lucky.” He was pulled out of the fire, and then the priest Father James, who raised Lincoln in an orphanage, came out. Having regained consciousness, the hero vows to get even with not only Sal Marcano, but also with the entire city mafia.

The deceit of mafia families is the central theme of “Mafia” from the very first part. Remember how easily Don Salieri went against Tom and Polly when he found out about their “hack job”. And how Vito Scaletta was used by every capo he worked for. The heroes and their partners sooner or later became disliked by someone “above” because of some little thing that contradicted omerta, and all the dogs were unleashed on them.

The developers of Mafia 3 decided to cover this topic at the very beginning of the game. They immediately showed the mafia as a cruel organization, and its don as the last brute, going over their heads for the sake of wealth and power.

But is Lincoln himself a better person? It would seem that he is guided by a good goal: to avenge his family and rid the city of a “cancerous tumor.” However, his method is that of a typical mafioso fighting competitors: to destroy and take over someone else’s business. Over time, Lincoln himself becomes the head of a large criminal group and stands on a par with his enemies. The hero does not deny this, but claims that he is better than anyone else.

The game has very convenient navigation - in the form of such virtual road signs.

Locks here are picked differently than in the second part - with a crowbar.

Such a hero is not suitable for the same "Mafia", and not every player will accept it. In the previous parts, we were also “thrown away” and had to take revenge on the clan for which we once worked. But before that, the story had time to introduce the family’s traditions and give them a taste of a little specific romance.

IN new game There is no mafia spirit at all. And it’s not even the lack of felt hats or a suit - Vito also wore a leather jacket for half the game. The fact is that Lincoln is a common criminal. It doesn't cost him anything to break into someone's house to snatch the next issue of Playboy magazine. As well as killing witnesses to your crimes, be it a grandmother hobbling to the machine to report a theft, or a guy rushing to call the police to disperse the clashing thugs. Clay's character and habits will not change, even when he gathers accomplices and builds an impressive criminal empire.

Mafia 3 PC problems

The release of the PC version of Mafia 3 caused a scandal. The game was released unfinished both technically and in gameplay. What could be seen on the screen looked like 2007 at best. And to hell with the frame rate limit - the problem is different. At maximum settings, the game simply stretches the image to 1080p. The technique, of course, is not new, but it is terribly dirty and ugly: the image turns out washed out, loses color and contrast. Neither pure deep black nor white You won't find it in this situation. All other colors, of course, also fade.

The lighting was feverish: as soon as the sun disappeared behind the clouds, the pre-storm darkness thickened, and the sky was filled with smog. Soon the light again appeared from behind the clouds and began to hit the eyes so that it was painful to look at the monitor without sunglasses. The shadows sometimes revealed a ladder of pixels of such a size that Minecraft will be jealous. Splashes of dirt flying from under the wheels of cars were the size and shape of children's blocks.

Not all was well with the reflections - the car bodies shone like cheap plastic, the side mirrors looked at the player like unpolished pieces of iron. The mirrors in the bathrooms are a complete mess - sometimes they don’t reflect the character at all, sometimes they reflect only individual parts of him, sometimes they show a slide show.

There was also a problem with the controls. On the one hand, it contained a bunch of not entirely clear elements, such as shifting the rifle from shoulder to shoulder, on the other hand, it actively used the right side of the keyboard, while ignoring the F row. When connecting the controller, I discovered that it was impossible to play with it. In the control layout for the gamepad, only a couple of buttons are labeled, and this is not a translation glitch - the active prompts in the game were also empty, searching through the buttons did not produce results. At the same time, I read in reviews on Steam that the controllers worked for other players.

Many game elements raised questions. Enemies to this day suffer from developmental delays: they cannot hear Clay’s steps, and they may not notice the figure of the hefty fellow, even if they come close to him. The physics of transport destruction is primitive. Light dents, broken headlights and glass, a torn hood cover, wobbly bumpers, burst tires - that's all I managed to torment the car with.

As a result, it seems that the developers are trying to convey the complexity of life as a black man in 1960s America not through history, but through violence against the player. At the start of the PC version, almost everything was bad or inconvenient; every little thing interfered with the enjoyment of the game. The next day, the authors released a 1.2 GB patch, and it corrected the situation. The 30 FPS lock was removed, the light stopped changing like in a disco, and the controls were changed. The game has become more colorful and seems to crash less often. Of course, not everything has been fixed, but a start has been made. Maybe in a couple more “patches” we will get modern game, which can be enjoyed freely.

Street Justice

But before that, you have to endure hours of dusty, tedious and rather monotonous work.

Sal Marcano divided power in New Bordeaux among his henchmen. You can't reach him until you take out his lieutenants and capos. To reach any of them, Lincoln needs to run through informants who know how to pin down this or that bastard. Some newspaperman will complain to him that gangsters are preventing the publication from developing, and a boxer will tell him that he can’t win a fight because of one bastard and a bunch of bandits.

In another place there are problems with drugs, in another with prostitution. And before you can shut down even the smallest henchman, you will have to stir up the entire anthill: cause significant damage to the business and thin out the gang of henchmen thugs.

Districts switch, arms dealers are replaced by drug lords, but the tasks remain the same and most often come down to killing the next scoundrel, stealing money, attacking an establishment and destroying valuable goods.

Yes, studio Hangar 13 created a city where there seems to be something to do, where there is no peace and no time to rest. The only problem is that those activities that otherwise Assassin's Creed If they were side effects, they are mandatory here, otherwise you won’t be able to lure out the next boss.

Although the action usually takes place within one area, more than once or twice you will be sent across the entire map on the next “important task”.

As a result, after a few hours you no longer care about the name of this or that villain. Italian names flash through our heads - either Botticelli, or Morricone, or Pellegrini - and we, as if automatically, rush to get our hands dirty with new blood. And so on until Sal Marcano himself gets in the way.

For the most part, Lincoln administers justice personally, but he is not alone in his cause. Accomplices: Cassandra, Vito Scaletta (the same one from the second “Mafia”) and Thomas Burke help manage the business taken from local gangsters. They help in exchange for Lincoln's help. The hero rescued Cassandra and Vito from the clutches of various groups, and helped Berk deal with matters at a car scrapyard.

Their assistance relieves the game of some of the routine. Using the radio we receive at a certain moment, we can ask Cassandra’s assistants to bring a van with weapons and ammunition. Vito's guys are happy to help clear out another rat nest for a fee. Burke's acquaintances are ready to drive a fast or armored car or bribe the cops upon request.

Our accomplices: Cassandra...

And Thomas Burke.

The distribution of territory between partners is also curiously arranged. Receiving more land, they are expanding their range of services: offering new weapons, improvements for them, modifications for cars, etc. But, if the territory is distributed unevenly, one of the disadvantaged will begin to be indignant, and at some point his patience will run out: his accomplice will stop helping, begin to put a spoke in our wheels and send his people to “solve the problem.”

Burke is indignant that another piece of territory has passed him by.

The game is reminiscent of the system of capturing other people's businesses and territories. However, unlike her, from Mafia 3 It was a good action movie. Skirmishes with enemies are not devoid of intensity and take place in a very fast pace. Covers are used only to catch your breath, because the enemies will very soon smoke you out of an ambush with incendiary mixtures and grenades, or unceremoniously show up to shoot you at point-blank range.

It often happens that Lincoln breaks into an enemy base, shoots down the enemy who meets him, savorily and effectively finishes off the victim with a knife, then takes out a shotgun and puts in a couple more big guys, grabs a bullet in the shoulder, sits down to heal behind cover, while simultaneously distributing several headshots in a row - and in At this rate it clears the entire location.

The feel of the weapon, let’s say, is correct: a pistol feels like a pistol, a revolver feels like a revolver, a rifle feels like a rifle, and a shotgun feels like a shotgun. No more and no less.

Going through many situations quietly is often more effective and faster.

Gangster Saga

It is nevertheless interesting to follow the development of the plot. Of course, the outcome is immediately obvious, but it’s the presentation of the story that touches the soul. This is partly a cut from documentary film, Where different people talk about Lincoln Clay.

And everyone draws the character from a new side. Detective Maguire, who has been following his trail all his life, speaks of Lincoln as a monster, a killer who, while clearing the city of scum and bandits, himself turned into their likeness. Father James' stories reveal Lincoln as a person and shed light on his experiences in Vietnam. Finally, CIA agent John Donovan, who leads the hero to most of the gangsters, explains how exactly he and Lincoln pulled it all off.

Narrators: Detective Maguire...

CIA Agent John Donovan...

And Father James...

From these stories you can conclude that Lincoln Clay is a controversial hero. Sometimes it’s simply unpleasant to associate yourself with him, and at this moment Martin Walker from. Many people may find Lincoln just as disgusting. Although a hero who is confident in his actions is in any case better than the indifferent Vito, who only knew how to carry out other people’s orders.

It may seem simple good photo amusement park at night...

If not for one small detail.

As for the secondary characters, they turned out to be bright and memorable, unlike the heroes Mafia 2, from where it’s hard to remember anyone other than Vito and Joe right off the bat. The same Agent Donovan shows himself to be a cheerful and eccentric guy who can easily be caught cutting his nails. Vito appears as a mature, cold-blooded gangster. The head of the Haitian gang, Cassandra, is very distrustful and disagrees with everyone. Burke is a typical rude Irishman, always tipsy and rarely parted with a bottle.

Unfortunately, the narrative in Mafia 3 is in stark contrast to the world of the game. IN general outline New Bordeaux is reminiscent of its prototype (New Orleans), but the city itself is faceless. Only advertising posters on buildings, neon bar signs, girls in colorful dresses and bouffant hairstyles, and even cars tell the time of action.

The contemptuous attitude towards dark-skinned people is noticeable only in story cutscenes and remarks from enemies. In some GTA game designers would have come up with a bunch of scenes where the police beat up a black man for no reason, and black bandits have shootouts with Italians, or otherwise showed the riots that became more frequent after the death of Martin Luther King.

The only place in the game where racial hatred appears is in the shops. The seller will immediately hint that you are not welcome here and will try to kick you out. True, he can’t do anything against a pistol.

If you hit someone else's car in front of the police, the cops open fire without warning.

But in Mafia 3, absolutely nothing happens. People and cars are moving somewhere, but these are all decorations designed only to imitate a living city while chasing another mafioso.

The missions for the most part do not sparkle with ingenuity, although there are also handmade tasks, such as chasing a caporegime on a sinking ferry. Everything on deck is collapsing, shaking, the ship is tilting, and in these conditions you need to somehow shoot the enemies. Such missions, unfortunately, can be counted on one hand. And if there were a little more of them, and all that routine that you have to do for a good two dozen hours was turned into optional side tasks, the game would only get better from it.