Follow me on Tik Tok and Twitch: 💥ALL MY LINKS: linktr.ee/LukeStephens💥

Mafia 3 has a great story, great cutscenes and a great protagonist. What lets it down is the repetitive missions and empty open world.

Something to note: a lot of the gameplay in the video was specifically from a DLC only area, Sinclair Parish. Basically the parts driving through billboards and going over jumps, so those parts don't fully represent the base game's world, as that section of the map is less detailed and realistically designed.

I have such a soft spot for this game even though the repetitiveness drove me crazy. The characters, the story, and the soundtrack are honestly fantastic. I really enjoyed the DLC as well for the same reasons. I got very lucky and had very few issues on my ps4 at launch as well so I luckily didn't get the extra frustration of crashes.

I love how quick and brutal the combat is in this game is

Great story and acting. The athmosphere is also great and it captures the time really well. The gameplay is repetetive sure but I enjoyed more with the second run through when I got all the DLC's.

I honestly love this game, yes it’s repetitive but I love the story and the characters, even enjoyed the DLCs And I also don’t remember it crashing ever so I was just lucky I guess 😂

I like that racism is such an integral part of this game. They went through so many steps of execution to offer a new perspective for people to experience. Kind of wish some blaxploitation open-worlds existed.

The history and world of Mafia 3 is extremely interesting. Not only does the sandbox truly feel alive, but the way Hangar 13 incorporates the very real world history (groups, people, politics) is simply brilliant. The cutscene direction is amazing lo The gameplay is actually super fun, and stealth is quite fun. However, the repetition is quite overwhelming, and this is coming from someone who generally enjoys this stuff. The DLC story packs provide the best content in the game.

I love this game. 100% is twice. Repetitive? Yes but I just enjoyed the story and mechanics.

I played this when it came out for free on ps plus.. i had zero expectations. I ended up loving it and played through it very quickly. The missions are repetitive, but everything else kept me going so I didnt even mind. Game is underrated

Yea when you were talking about how when they do get racist in the game it doesn’t feel like it’s for shock value as a young black man I completely agree it didn’t really feel forced almost like Django unchained 😭

Played this game so much in high school after I was bed ridden from heart surgery definitely can be repetitive but such a good story and narrative will always be one of my favorites just because of nostalgia

I think it's a good game, nice experience. Also after GTA San Andreas it has the best playlist of songs i ever heard in a game. They are definitely two games that you can just roam the map and listen to the radio. The gameplay is ok, the story specially how it's presented is top shelf and sure the missions tend to be repetitive and boring. But definitely a game that deserves a place in your collection.

As a huge Mafia fan who's constantly watching mobster flicks to relive the feeling of Mafia 1, Mafia 3 on a gameplay level was just alright. It's a disservice to original Mafia formula but it's enjoyable enough and the features work decently. The story really carried it, I think Lincoln's story is better at conveying how hate and revenge can destroy a man compared to something like TLOU 2

i started playing games again in 2018 and have played this game since then ....about 4 playthroughs...not one issue. Not once did I have any problems. And you need to be honest with people. the reason people didn't like M3 was the BLACK protagonist. People wanted a traditional Italian Mafia game. Likie the first too. I played it on Ps4, PS5, Xbox 1 and series X. Absolutely NO major issues. I would suggest getting a different console if you still had issues with this only 9 months ago. M3 was a badass game and Im glad Lincoln was the main dude. This game was before its time. If it was made now, it would be more popular.

I’m so glad to see that people are in the comments defending this great game. Videogames are literally just a series of repetitive tasks, sometimes they’re just not as exciting as others, but I loved the cycle in this game much like a lot of others it seems. It’s great to see Mafia III get some love, even if it’s not from Luke lol

i absolutely love mafia 3. the atmosphere is just so engaging and i love driving around and the gunplay is so awesome.

I love this game. I’ve done 3 playthroughs with the last having the dlc. The open world in the ‘60’s was great to me because that’s the world my dad grew up in, who was also in Vietnam like Lincoln. I never experienced any glitches but it was older by then and maybe patched? Edit: I’m gonna also add that as a classic car guy, I appreciate the cars in the game and they’re legit as far as physics. They’re all knockoffs and it’s fun to guess what was the inspiration for each one

I loved the story in this game. I remember being at the last mission trying to get the 100% completion, then my game crashed. I logged back on and my save was corrupted; I still haven’t beaten the game and that was 6yrs ago.

Mafia 3 shows that a great story isn’t enough to carry a game by itself. You need good mechanics, gameplay/gunplay, and more in addition to a good story for a game to be considered perfect. This game nails the atmosphere of the 60’s South perfectly, but having to do the same 3 objective types over and over despite being in totally different parts of the map is what made it a chore to play through.

I remember fully playing the game and managed to get the “good ending” with your head associates. I totally did it by accident but ended up being presently surprised. For the repetition I talked myself into how taking over territory may not be grandiose all the time and in fact very depressing.

How do you not mention the combat?! The combat was so much better in 3 than the previous entries. Mafia 3 will always be my comfort food of a game.

I actually didn't know that it had bug issues. I got it for free on PS Plus, and it was fine. But eventually, I realized that the part that I really enjoyed about the game was, as you mentioned, driving around with music on. The whole mission structure had just grown so tired, all I was doing was driving about and jamming to tunes, so I stopped playing. I can get the music online and play a racing game if I want that experience.

Update: I just finished the game in a little under 40h including the DLC, but not all the side missions or races. The grind really does get heavy and there are some balancing issues. Sometimes you get overrun immediately and sometimes no one seems to notice you. Original Post: I'm currently in that 2nd act grind and it's starting to get quite painful, but what drew me to that game is that it ticks a number of boxes in that genre of open world action adventures that not many other games do, i.e. decent story and a somewhat grounded setting.

Well I agree with most of your points, but I haven't had any real problems with Mafia III. The core mechanics were visceral in terms of violence impact and I just fell in love with the story. Seriously, it's much better than previous Mafia games.

Why would racist characters in a computer game be unsettling? Weird.

I’ve beat it 3 times now going on 4, to me it’s like an imperfect love, I love certain aspects of it to such a great extent that even the bits that I cannot stand, and that stick out like sore thumbs just get sat to the side, the driving characteristics, sounds, music, environment, etc I love it all too much to get dragged down by the messed up graphics, repetitive missions, sound glitches, despite it all I down right love this game and can just drive around for hours sliding around. Great video Luke!

So you should it’s a great game, a bit repetitive at times but so much good in the mix, an awesome sound track amazing characters (especially John Donovan.)

Even after i modded the graphics & they look almost next gen & added few more mods, i still cant get myself to finish it, to me its really painful, the story is a nice revenge story in concept but the execution is okay at best, i think the best way to play this game is a very slowly as in an hour per gameplay

This game is a massive guilty pleasure for me. I hated it at first, but then I got all of the dlc for free and absolutely loved it... It's the closest to a Frank Castle, Punisher video game that we ever got in that gen. Loved the 70's Blacksploitation vibe that the dlc, especially, settles into

Loved this one! Especially when you pointed out to the pistol silencer attached backward. I would have never noticed that.

I actually loved this game. I didnt Mind the repetition because the shooting and stealth was so fun. And when you finally get some good vehicles it is fun to ride around

being that I’m African American, I appreciate how it accurately displayed the racism my people faced & still do. It would be disrespectful to dismiss that sad reality of the Jim Crow era. I just hated how repetitive it is & I wish there was more to do. The DLC for Faster, Baby! should’ve been longer 😒 at least 5 missions. Fast travel should’ve been added in the game because that’s a lot of driving to do all over New Bordeaux ! 🤧 way too buggy on console.

Fun fact: Vito has previously appeared as the protagonist of Mafia II, a side character in Mafia III, and as the unnamed hitman in the Epilogue of Mafia, making him the only character to appear in all three games.

The story makes sense from the game's creators, the protagonists, and cutscenes, plus the awesome music in the radio and in cutscenes, and I enjoyed it to the fullest. It is good that they give you a glimpse of the 1960s, which is historically accurate. Furthermore, what I really liked about the game were the Mafia 3 DLCs' story missions. Why didn't they create the story mode like this in the first place? What I especially I don't like either, are the physics of Mafia 3 and the little details that Mafia 2 has offered us in the year of 2010 (1945 to 1951 in Empire Bay, which is based on New York, San Francisco, and Chicago), like being able to wash your car in a car wash or fuel up your vehicle at a gas station. Or just add mirror reflections to a 2016 game, especially on the PC, like please, fix it already.

I've played my share of repetitious games and, of all of them, Mafia 3 felt the least repetitive. Yes, you're doing the same missions but they all felt different, they had enough variety, IMO, to _feel_ like a different mission. I think if they kept the game as is but _laser-focused_ on the story it would have been a great addition to the franchise.

Here on my 3rd playthrough already, on PS4 its almost a smoother experience than PC for what I can see. Though I agree that is not the most polished game ever, its undoubtedly one of the best open world mafia related games. The activities, the story, the backround, the explicit violence, the betrayal... Idk man, it just hits the spot for me.

I went back to Mafia II Definitive Edition and installed it again this week, played it the last time a couple of years ago and i am blown away. This game is so good and what makes it good, is the amount of "happenings" around the city. After finishing a mission yesterday, i was driving around, visited a few locations, filled up my ammunition and had a few burgers with coffee and soda. A random guy cut me of in traffic and when i honked at him, he reversed and hit my vehicle screaming something and went off. I chased him, we eventually got out of our cars and started beating each other, then the police came and seperated us. After the cops told us to stop it, they drove off and i managed to follow the guy two blocks, then he got out of his car and went in a dark alley, i followed him and we picked up a fight again, i hit him a few times and he crouched down and signalled me that he had enough. I chose to not hurt him any further and went back to my car. This is a perfect example of an entertaining gameplay besides the missions. The whole situation got me busy for a couple of minutes and i enjoyed it, because it just happened in front of my eyes and could also happen to someone else in this game, in a different situation.

Something funny that happened to me while playing the game was when I was casually picking up some electronic parts and I came across a junction where every street corner had a stop sign, which meant that no car had a preference to cross the junction, so there was this humoungous line of cars in every direction and nobody could move because they are programmed to not disobey the law lmao

Mafia 3 is the most underrated game in the last 10 years I enjoyed every it of it

I do come back to this game quite a lot. Never completed it but I always get immersed and enjoy the loop for a time until my attention is diverted elsewhere. I really should give it some more attention and finish it.

I had some of the same issues he’s talking about, I gave up on it for about a year came back and all the bugs were gone and I played it straight through. I loved it just wish they spent more time making the missions more exciting.

I became a mafia fan over night. after beating both Mafia 1 and 2 I played 3 with high expectations. What I expected Lincoln Clay joining a local Mafia, making drug deals, preforming hiests, getting betrayed, starting in the 60s but ending at the 70s like in the original games and having a change of heart near the end. What I got. Punisher if it was made by Ubisoft and CNN.

Mafia 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 suffer from the same thing. Where the bad things, seriously out weights the good things, from bugs to the story. I think it also have the AC Syndicate design idea. Aka you have to play a ton of side content just to play a bit of the main content

I am currently playing this, I played it after Mafia 2 and all I can say is wow! Love this

I love the game to death. I wish the screenplace reflections werent so jarring to name one issue. If they simply updated this game Id play it again for the 5th time

If you are comfortable with some grindings in between you'll have a blast with story because it's amazing. I recommend you playing it on PC it's really nice with a lots of patch done by the modders.

Just started playing mafia 2 definite edition and I can’t stop playing so fun. Bought mafia 3 years ago haven’t bothered finishing it.

I feel like this game is the perfect John Wick simulator. Especially when you wear Lincoln’s suit. Kept the gameplay fun to me feeling like I was op lmao

The funny thing is, the world was WAY more vibrant pre-release. I mean just look up Mafia 3 pre alpha reveal gameplay, they had lights EVERYWHERE, on balconies, everywhere, just like New Orleans. But that bland filter, along with the dingy grey look that the game has during morning times makes it so unenjoyable to look at. And this is coming from someone who pre ordered the game, and should have the platinum trophy if the damn game wasn't bugged to hell. I still want my "Flamb'e" achievement Hangar 13.

I cant look at mafia 3 without thinking of that dimitrius kid who opted in to crapping himself instead of just putting it on pause and going to the bathroom.

Mafia had such potential, such a great story with amazing characters, but, it falls to the same trappings most open world games still do, boring gameplay loop.

I haven’t beat it and I’ve had it for a couple years now. I love the characters, the story, (everything up to The Rolling Stones scene was 🤌) but the gameplay and mechanics got old and while I was invested in the story beats, the small missions to get to these beats were lackluster. I ended up just watching a playthrough.

I played through the game two times with very few crashed on ps4, I managed to get through cyberpunk (barely) on the thing so I just think I’m lucky, the game is great and the DLC shows the better parts of the game but the way they did the main story doomed the game with its repetitive gameplay Edit: I loved the world and how accurate it is for that time period, it isn’t in your face about it but it also isn’t avoiding it, the music is amazing and I wish they kept the Elvis music in

I am loving these types of videos....would love to see more like them

Mafia 3 has the best story in the franchise in my opinion. It’s documentary elements, it’s characters, it’s setting and music it’s all top notch. I wish however that Lincoln would have been more fleshed out after his complete rise to power, just as Vito and Tommy were. I guess it’s because for Lincoln, he suffered a betrayal that’s far worse than Tommy’s or Vito’s betrayals. In fact unlike them, Lincoln was actually the one who was betrayed. Tommy betrayed Salieri and Vito betrayed Falcone. Also i suppose Lincoln’s empire was far stronger than it is perceived so it’s operations wouldn’t have competition so no story to lengthen I guess. I also wish that it’s open would have been far more interactive.

After playing around 90 hours I convinced myself that this game is actually no way near as bad as everyone depicts it and doesn't deserve many of the negative reviews. I actually loved it and found it way better then expected (because of the negative reviews) What I enjoyed the most: - story - cutscenes - dialogues - characters - music - cover system - stealth ability - brutal executions - combat - character movement and physics - shooting - cars - driving - 60s atmosphere - lighting system - graphics (overall are great with some important minuses) - inventory system (call for backups, ammo, kickbacks, cut the phone lines, police dispatcher) - the city - police and witness detection - and so many other details What I really disliked: - the cutscenes are pre rendered and don't match the weather and clothes you are wearing - Maybe what I disliked the most: sometimes the storyline becomes hard to follow and is complicated with tons of side characters (English is not my first language, that might be a reason) and sometimes I end up confused about who's who and what am I doing and why? - some minor bugs and system crashes (that actually were not so often) - repetitiveness of the missions (sometimes can become dull and boring) - blurry and washed out colors (even though the graphics were not bad overall) I think this game would have been so damn good if it was given a little more attention, care and polish. Overall I'd rate this game 8/10

I wanted 100% this game because I loved the story and has some fun with the game but it was so repetitive and buggy that after finishing the story and even getting the dlc for free I never picked it up again or even started the dlc

Yo be clear, you absolutely do NOT need to wire tap junction boxes unless you want to do every single activity. Besides, most of the missions/activities revealed by wire tapping junction boxes are smaller activities that don’t cause as much damage to rackets. The larger the icon on the map - the more damage it causes to a racket, thus the quicker you can move on. Plus, all the larger missions/activities are already on the map after speaking with a district contact even if you haven’t wire tapped a single box in the area. There are even certain activities you can do that cause so much damage so fast that it’s almost trivial. In Tickfaw Harbor for example, there’s a warehouse full of cars and blowing them all up causes enough damage to immediately move on to taking the racket down. So if you focus on the large icon, you can cause enough damage pretty quickly so its less of a grind. But if you wire tap every box and focus on the small icons, it takes forever as you’re only doing a couple thousand dollars worth of damage at a time. I think that’s one of the reasons the game felt so repetitive is people didn’t realize you can avoid a majority of those smaller icons and just focus on the big stuff. And even if you’re just short of causing enough damage after clearing the large icons, many districts have vehicles driving around you can destroy for a quick $5000 worth of damage to a racket. Between console and PC, I’ve got 1200 hours into this game so sorry for the Ted Talk. I just always thought this game got more shit than it deserved.

Makes very little sense to me why a game set in the 60s would have muted colours when the 60s was probably the most vibrant and colourful time in history. Now if it was set in the 70s then I would understand the muted colours aha

I love Mafia 3 it's my favorite of the trilogy because the story is just flat out amazing I mean damn the voice acting and motion capture is top tier and don't even get me started on the soul music in the game.....I think I might do a 5th playthrough now. 😁

Mafia 3... Oh god I remember being so excited for this game after being a fan of the second one. I followed it up until release and bought it day one. I was enjoying it so much until that moment sunk in that I had been doing the same thing over and over again without a story mission for a very long time and then I asked myself... "is this the actual game?". I continued playing and the more I played the more it became clear. It really wouldn't have been so bad if it had an interesting narrative heavy mission after every few activities or so that you complete, but that is simply not the case. I still have every intention of going back and beating it one day, but every time I try to, I just can't bring myself to continue playing... It's such a shame because the world and setting that they created was so inspired, filled with love and care and FULL off potential for a great game, but alas, a great game it didn't become.

Dude it’s like you read my mind with these videos lately, i was just thinking about redownloading it than you made this video

Yes it’s repetitive but a great story, when I found out Cassandra commanded the Haitian mob I was shocked same with when giorgi betrayed Lincoln, and the fact it takes place after Vietnam as a black man is the same situation that happened with my grandfather minus the entanglement with the black mob and being shot in the head.

You're exactly right about cutting out that 2nd act. I was absolutely immersed in the story for the first half because I fucking love revenge stories and I was so excited to see this absolute badass get his but then the story content came to a screeching halt and I had to drive gun or weed shipments over and over again for hours. I may force myself through it because I still really do like the story and characters and love how the scenes of people retelling almost feel like a documentary but the gameplay feels like a chore most of the time.

I loved Mafia 3 👍🏻

This game appeals on so many levels - I finally picked it up last year and I have re-installed it twice.... I think it needed sewing together with more dynamic, enjoyable thread - because it had the setting, story, characters and it had style, but the diversions and activities didn't shout at me from the map. I think, with so many releases these days, it was loathed for the condition it was sold in and rightfully so...... I'm constantly digging deeper to see if it's the shoddy condition, and/or a shoddy experience.

i knew that screw at the end of the suppressor was weird but i never noticed the gap. it being backwards makes so much more sense

I loved Mafia 3. Finished it multiple times and some things could be better yes. But that being said it's a gorgeous game with a very interesting story and great voice acting! Also I never encountered any bugs or glitches.

I appreciate a mafia 3 vid, but the way u explained the racism part was so bad i couldnt stop cringing. The game is made for adults, not children.

I played the heck out of this game last year , I loved every moment of it. I played the remaster of Mafia 1 and 2. Mafia 3 isn’t my favorite but it definitely was fun for me. I like Clay and the gameplay was fun enough.

The best thing about this game is the soundtrack! CCR, Rolling Stones, Cream... Perfect! More games need to embrace some classic rock, not all gamers are 12 years old!

I liked the game, put 36 hours into it didn't regret it 😅😅

Just watched ur Ghost of Tsushima video it's really a masterpiece I am playing the director's cut right now

Great Review. I def will be watching more reviews by you....this was my first one. Great Job!

mafia 3 being my very first "open world" experience was probably for the best. the graphics, story, and immersion were mind-blowing for my 8th grade self

You were able to ACTUALLY FINISH IT?!! My save file got corrupted 70% through the game.... I blamed it on the white man of course, in keeping with the theme of the game ✊🏾

I genuinely love this game, one of the few games I’ve 100% completed

I really enjoyed this game. The bugs just added comedy and enjoyment for the most part for me. I will forever be haunted by missing out on getting 100% by a bug at the safe house though.

I would love to see more added to the open world aspect of the game. I played this a lot during early 2020 and have been thinking about getting back into it.

I absolutely love this game personally.

I enjoyed it, just wish there were more meaningful ways to interact with the environment

Getting to play this game and becoming a tragic hero like Lincoln clay many of the repetitive parts fell by the wayside mostly because of the fact I’m black. My grandfather came to America from Florida and experienced things I’d never in my time so for me it became more like Wolfinstein and I loved every second sending a A racist to god

that is the one thing i liked about mafia 3. It didn't shy away from the history and try to pretend it didn't happen and i respect that. So many games do that now and ive never got why like yes bad things happen'd in history and its impotent we know that history and understand it so we dont repeat it. Because history will always repeat its self if we dont learn from it.

I REALLY LOVED the game. I thought the music, the atmosphere, the story were all great. Did I think the missions were repetitive, sure. I applaud them for trying something different and even doing a topic (Racism in the South) as something nobody really would touch. Plus who didn't love rolling up on some klan members and taking them out!!!! The DLCs were fun and different as well

Luke, I'd love to see you talk about the story and narrative experience of Mafia 3. I truly believe that if it was a Netflix show it would be phenomenal. Great video!

i played it months ago and it was great, only drawback was the repititive missions to get to the actual story missions

I'm loving the "revisited" series. Just a suggestion. You could add a mods section that improve the experience or add things etc. I believe there is great value in older games.

He kept banging on about the racism but we don't do the same about the world war inspired games, or about gruesome murder games. All that shit is real too. Seems weird and fake when he repeatedly brings it up. I understand that it was a shitty time, however, most of history and still currently people are having extremely shitty treatment. I appreciate the warning at the beginning but then just crack on and play the game stop tip toeing around the subject. The game isn't doing it neither should you.

I loved Mafia 1 back in the day and I still do, but playing the definitive edition made me realize that it is also a repetitive game that relies on story. You watch a cutscene, drive somewhere, do some shooting, repeat. I think once you're OK with that, Mafia III can be quite enjoyable.

I wanted to love this game so badly man, but by the 5th time it wanted me to paint a district in the exact same repetitive way I just couldn't. I physically couldn't. The story was intriguing but it wasn't worth the grind.

This game has one of if not the best opening scenes and introductions to a video game i have ever seen, so powerfull. The story is amazingly written!

Best entry in the Mafia series. Also the devs nailed the feeling of playing as Lincoln Clay, a brooding, 6ft 3 brutal war vet. Honestly feels like playing as The Punisher.

As a black man, never once was I like "goodness this game is hard to play due to how racist the npcs are". If you know history, you know how bad it can get

I had the weirdest bug, at some point I wasn’t able to get into cars, I had to start over

I came here to dislike this video and say shame on you. "Shame on you"

Great breakdown. It was a fun game. The insanely repetitive missions and lazy gameplay let it down. Especially considering the story was so amazing. And it's something the previous entries had managed to do well where the story maybe wasn't as good but the gameplay kept you engaged. I really hope for the next entry they are able to combine the best of both worlds. The storytelling of Mafia II, combined with the gameplay and design of Mafia I & II.

played pc definitive edition almost no tech problems or bugs driving - perfect fun(on sim mode) shooting - every trigger pull is an explosion AI - cool animations, not too hard not too easy movement and cover- feels great 90% of the time and cool animations story - simple story delivered very well(switching from being in the mafia to brutally murdering the mafia is awesome) is it repeating for 20 hours? yeah! In an awesome way. Wish it had more, so gonna play again mafia 3 is awesome!

I had that glitch happen to me too with the long loading time and such, if you bought the game on steam you have to verify your game files to fix it I think