8 Ways Mafia 3 Proves The Past Is Best For Video Games

Okay, I have to say it. I really don't get the hate for Mafia III.

Since Friday, I've plugged dozens of hours into the title, and though there may have been the occasional glitch, my time spent in New Bordeaux was mainly a marvellous one; nuanced, absorbing, and thrilling to its core. But, apart from being just about the best damned open world title in years, Mafia has also managed to do something most other releases in the genre fail to do time and time again: something different.

Of course, Hangar 13 are far from the only developers to thrust a third-person title into a vibrant historical setting, but their faithful recreation of sixties-era New Orleans is a testament to just how well history can serve the medium.

It isn't just a pulpy tale about revenge set in the deep south, but a well researched thriller that nails the zeitgeist of the time - one that does so in a manner that feels organic to the story writers Haden Blackman, William Harms and Charles Webb were trying to create. Indeed, as it illustrates rather beautifully, history and video games are as good a combination as PB&J.

You don't have to look far to see that fans of the industry are clamouring for more period titles, either. Can you imagine how inundated Rockstar must be with requests for another Red Dead? Or Ubisoft for the next Assassin's Creed?

It's not hard to guess that there are plenty anticipating these two companies' return to the past, but if that alone isn't enough to convince you, it's more than worth examining just why it would be a fantastic thing for Mafia to set a new precedent in the industry.

You'd think that history would probably constrain narrative freedoms instead of setting them free, but in Mafia's case, this comes in the form of a non-linear narrative - one strongly influenced by the historical fluctuations of the sixties. And while it doesn't have the player preventing assassination attempts or playing around with history so overtly like Assassin's Creed, it does serve a key purpose in the story.

Point being, context is key. And context, of course, is what lands Lincoln Clay in the position we find him in at the start of Mafia's story. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Lincoln's experiences come to form a key aspect of Mafia III's story, right down to the character's quest for family and, more obviously, his prowess with firearms and his trusty knife. Allusions towards PTSD are reiterated throughout, and it's no coincidence that he wears his fatigues for the majority of the title. With his family taken from him, there's only one thing he can resort to: the experiences of Vietnam.

It offers a more organic explanation for why Lincoln resorts to revenge and, more obviously, the efficiency in which he can deal it out. But the historical dimensions of the game extend far beyond that; the Southern Union - an analogue to the horrific White Citizens' Councils and the Ku Klux Klan - is one of the game's key enemy organisations, and other missions stem from other key historical events, such as the Cuban Revolution and The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

None of this ever feels misplaced by any means. Instead, it broadens the story-telling opportunities to be had. As Mafia's modern counterparts struggle to find organic and relevant means of extending their main narratives, it's obvious that history holds the key.