10 Reasons Mafia 3 Is The Best Open-World Game In Years
Wanted something to continue where Vice City and San Andreas left off?
Let's cut to the chase: Mafia III is very, very good. The 'repetition' you're hearing about online? That's the same 'repetition' you could apply to the likes of the outposts in Far Cry - small pockets of intense gameplay that let you vary up your tactics every time.
Outside of that, what developers Hangar 13 have constructed is one hell of an accomplishment; a game that tells its story in one of the most unique ways I've ever encountered, alongside bolstering it with lessons learned from some of the most popular titles in the industry.
Its identity comes through in addressing racial tensions of the late 60s head-on, and whilst there are some slightly weird moments (throwing a voodoo doll to scare "superstitious" gangsters, for example), I've found it hits a number of solid home runs.
With a fantastic main character, solid premise and the best soundtrack since San Andreas (yes, really), Mafia III deserves your attention, especially if you've been waiting for the next 'big' open-world game.
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10. Perfectly Adapting Shadow Of Mordor's Nemesis System
Finally, someone had to take the phenomenal 'Nemesis system' from Shadow of Mordor and adapt it to other games. The idea of moving a chess board's worth of characters around, changing their alignments on the fly and amassing an army of high-ranking enemies was genius - a feature Mafia III literally implements beat for beat.
Where in Shadow of Mordor, you'd be able to 'brand' enemy orcs and get them on your side, now you do so with the key figures of districts, which in tandem with causing a certain amount of damage in a given borough, will 'lure out' a final boss.
It's very similar to SoM's system in that once you finally get your hands on any of these characters you can either slaughter them and take their cash (useful for better weapons or character upgrades) or turn them to your side, amping up the amount of money you'll eventually inherit when you take out the head honcho.
It adds a small yet effective amount of forethought to your infiltrations, as well as netting you better rewards in the long run - providing you can hold off on killing everything in sight.