10 Reasons Mafia 3 Is The Best Open-World Game In Years

6. Lincoln Clay Is F*cking Awesome

Take The Punisher, Luke Cage and Rambo, give them more of a darker initial edge in terms of how they get by (Lincoln is a member of the Black Mob who also happens to have served in 'Nam) and you've got one hell of a protagonist.

Spoiler-free, if you're unaware of the events that set the story in motion, they basically set up one hell of a nicely clean-cut revenge tale - one you're more than invested in thanks to some fantastic voice work and acting across the board. Clay being the returning soldier lets you get introduced to every character, along with showing his familial side; one that's relatively warm and embracing of the people he's not seen in quite some time.

Then the aforementioned event happens, and everything changes. There's a real anger in his voice and demeanour that you can tell is bubbling away below the surface. You want to embody Clay as this instrument of pure retribution, you want to tear apart everything your newly-appointed enemy has built, and you want to do it in the most brutal way possible.

It's rare that by boiling a character down to such a simple arc, it can succeed where more complex narratives fail, but everything about the opening act and narrative drive of Mafia III is a welcome breath of fresh air in 2016.