10 Hotly Anticipated Open-World Games Coming In 2016

8. Mafia 3 (PC, PS4, XBO)

The Mafia series so far has had a clearly defined up-down trajectory. The first game was in many ways revolutionary, offering an open-world urban experience set in a brilliantly realised 1930s American city - complete with surrounding countryside - that was a worthy rival to the all-powerful GTA III at the time. The sequel, on the other hand, felt like a linear game thrown into an open-world husk, and was little more than okay. So there's good reason not to get too over-excited for Mafia 3, but it's hard not to be seduced by the great-looking setting of late 60s New Orleans. It's great to see the open-world formula applied to a relatively uncharted real-world era, and 2K Games haven't held back on packing it with atmosphere, embellishing it with smokey psychedelic rock discos, fashion sense that swings between funky and 70s schlock, and all the social shifts and issues of the era - particularly surrounding race relations. You play Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam veteran who struggles to reacclimatise to society and goes about setting up his own criminal organisation with a trio of lieutenants, who you can assign to taking over enemy territories. Hopefully this'll help the game feel as much a crime sim as it does a standard cover-based shooter, which would make the ascent to Crime King of New Orleans all the more satisfying.