Mafia 3: 8 New Gameplay Features You Need To Know About

Mafia III makes sure of the fact that Lincoln Clay is a one man warpath. A man that has had his entire family, livelihood, and home ripped right underneath him, with only a compulsion for revenge remaining. It'd be a pretty short revenge flick if he couldn't command the tools of the trade however, but that's where his background as a Vietnam vet begins to factor in.

We know from interviews that Clay is a master of psychological warfare. We're even led to believe that during his time fighting the Viet-Cong and the NVA, outgunning the enemy was never really enough - he had to outthink them as well. In the context of '60s New Orleans, this narrative addition concludes in a predictably uncomfortable fashion.

In combat, Lincoln can equip Voodoo dolls that effectively weaponise the Italian mob's racism against them. Upon spotting the so called 'Screaming Zemi', they disperse, returning racial epithets towards the player as their only protest against the (initially) harmless stitching. (it can later be upgraded to disperse smoke and even explode)

By all means, Hangar 13 has made a bold decision to implement racism as a theme not only present in Mafia's narrative, but as a feature of gameplay as well. It's a bold move to make, and certainly the right one when you consider just how many historically-grounded video games have eschewed the subject altogether - offering an implicit romanticisation of periods that were neither pleasant nor immaculate - but, as VICE's Austin Walker has mentioned in two articles tackling the topic (which you can read here and here), there is a danger that Mafia's pulpy tone bears a striking dissonance when it comes to confronting the racial injustices of the 1960s.

--

Mafia III releases October 7th on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, what have you made of the game's trailers and gameplay so far?