Mafia III's off to a bit of a rough start in the reviews department, it would seem. The sandbox mob-'em-up launched last week on PlayStation 4, but critic reviews are only just beginning to roll in due to the fact that publisher 2K Games didn't want to send pre-release review code to anyone that isn't a YouTuber. Some of the scores certainly aren't bad, but it's safe to say that a lot of onlookers - including many of us here at Push Square - expected better than this from such an anticipated title.
IGN - 7.5/10
Mafia 3's strong characters and confident storytelling kept me engaged, even if the gameplay rarely delivered anything but bog-standard and repetitive open-world action. That's a bummer, because Lincoln is an incredible protagonist and New Bordeaux is a fantastic setting thematically, and it would've been great to see them put to better use.
Trusted Reviews - 2.5/5
Mafia 3 is the biggest disappointment of the year. It's a game with masses of potential, but unfortunately that potential is wasted on by-the-numbers open-world game design.
Digital Spy - 2.5/5
In a year of brilliant games, Mafia 3 is one of 2016's biggest disappointments.
The Guardian - 2/5
To say Mafia III is a disappointment is an understatement. It has all of the surface components to form a great game: the writing and acting are superb, its direction and style are great, but its mechanical underpinnings are archaic and desperately unimaginative. It's ironic that Mafia III's predecessor had a similarly stylish open world, but wasted it by giving players nothing to do besides its main story missions. Mafia III has the opposite problem – tons that you have to do, you just don't want to do any of it.
We'll have our own review of Mafia III ready to rock in the near future, but until then, do tell us what you think of Lincoln Clay's quest for revenge in the comments section below.
Comments 37
There is too much repetitive mandatory side missions that adds hours of boredom i remeber scarface did the same thing back in the day thats why i never finished it....
After seeing some first impressions and such this was expected! It's a shame!
Been watching a friend play it. It looks fun enough for maybe a GameFly rental, but not a $60 purchase.
The storytelling is top notch. The gameplay isn't anything we haven't seen before. I keep coming back to see how the story plays out because it has me hooked.
It's certainly flawed, but I'm hoping that the story keeps its pace.
This is no suprise. Mafia 2 held sounded great but turned out to be a driving sim with a bit of shooting. Looks like Mafia 3 gives the illusion of being open world just with nothing to do in it.
I like it so far. The story definitely has my attention, and if nothing else, at least I'm getting top notch story out of it. I'll play it until completion and trade it in for something else when I'm finished.
I will wait till you Gentlemen give out your review....
But it is looking more and more like a next year purchase at a much reduced price .......gotta say I am disappointed was looking forward to this .....
"Mama Didn't Raise No Fool"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXvBjCO19QY
From what I saw at Gamescom, I'm not totally surprised. It looks all mouth and no trousers.
Such a shame, wasted potential yet again.However, its good to see TR and DQB getting such good reviews.
Open world games really need to bring something new to the table I think to stand out and be worth the investment. These aren't necessarily bad games but there are more interesting open world games out there.
Sounds like one to wait for until it drops to under $20.
It is actually a really good game in my opinion. It does have it's flaws, even i admit, but if you loved Mafia 2 like me, then you will definately like this. It's more or less got the same pro's and con's really. I think the second one had slightly stronger characters, story, atmosphere. But the game does have more ambitious presentation and more interesting themes of racism and discrimination than the second game, even though is still think Mafia 2 is the better game. However, that will always be a cult classic. It's gameplay is mainly stuff that you have seen before - but done really really well. Yes it's a little repetitive but games are. Even Uncharted is repetitive if you think about it because all four of them have pretty much have the exact same gameplay. I would recommend the game personally as it's really good stuff in my opinion. Especially worth a purchase if you liked the second one, but i would say wait for a sale if you was not very keen on the first or second game.
In a nutshell: "We're finally sick of re-skinned GTA".
For me the alarm bells sounded when they didn't pre-release review code. They must of known it was going to get some flak for the repetitiveness?! Ah well, at least Rise of the Tomb Raider is bloody good. Will swap with a mate it for Mafia 3 when he finishes it!
Looks like the fate of this game was sealed when they announced review codes wouldn't be sent out.
As I thought after watching Stinton's video, more of the same open worldy stuff. May as well just stick to GTA or wait and see if Watchdogs 2 is any good. From what I've heard so far WD2 should be much improved on the appalling franchise debut.
Eww the guardian.
Have waited for the reviews as I had a feeling it was going to struggle with variations of missions. Probably pick it up when it drops to half price.
I was really hoping this game would prove me wrong. Just the sort of scores I expected to be honest..
Half baked product. Glad I didn't pre-order...
Shame. Glad I went with Tomb Raider instead.
Everyone was wary when they released the review copies late.
Atrocious IA and boring, repetitive missions in a single-player game can't be saved by good story and cutscenes. I hope this trend end soon.
Sounds like it's sold quite well so far, so not giving out review copies on time actually paid off for them I suppose.
@LieutenantFatman
Maybe they suspected it might not be up to scratch. Seems a cheap tactic.
The game could've been great, but glitches, crashes and repetitive missions leading up to drawing out a mob boss in an Assassin's Creed 1 esque style really ruin the game. I give Assassin's Creed 1 a pass on the scheme because it's an older game.
@GraveLordXD Wow, i thought DQB would only be $40. $60 for a minecraft ripoff with one button combat is way too steep.
Disappointed after watching the game trailers of idiot A.I., and now the reviews of poor game play and technical issues.
Probably a rental or " i'll buy it at a low price". That is if the patches work.
I have been enjoying it so far.
I'm loving Mafia III. what did people expect? An RPG like Witcher? Anyone who played I and II should have known. I give it a 7.5 and the reasons it isn't getting an 8 are because of the occasional flaws even with it patched and the small things from II taken away as well like respraying your car, clothing options. Solid story in my opinion I'm enjoying it. I didn't expect ground breaking gameplay changes or anything like that. Solid story and great characters
@VenomSnake08 People expect a game to run properly and, since we are in 2016 and consoles are a bit smarter than they were 20 years ago, people expect to face a decent AI in a single-player game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZokdmzvDGA
As I did before with other open world games, I'll wait for the Patched and Working Edition they will release in summer 2017. Just stop buying broken games at day one and they'll learn the lesson.
I had really high hopes for this. Shame.
Probably will still pick it up if I see it cheap though...
I never thought I'd say this but I start to prefer linearity over "open-world". It was awesome back in GTA3 days but now it's just getting dull. Xenoblade Chronicles X was awesome and I kinda enjoyed Watch_Dogs and Assassin's Creed 4 but open-world is becoming the new FPS. It was cool but now you need something more :/
@andreoni79 I understand those issues in that video happened to alot of people but not to me on that bad of a level. I personally am a simple gamer and a series like Mafia is already labeled as "boring" simply because of what it is. Sure games these days need to be tested properly but all that gets sorted within a couple patches I won't nor do I want to argue about that. Some people who've never played Mafia I or II waltzed right into this expecting a vast Witcher style feel because they saw "open world" that's what I was originally getting at.
@ToniK A good mix is what I like. Take your classic Final Fantasy games - they were linear, but had a nice sense of exploration with the world maps that you could explore. But really you had to go point to point to progress the story. Lovely.
Also, a small handful of meaningful side quests (i.e Chocobo Breeding) that gave genuinley cool rewards. Not running round the city collecting 75 gems to fill up a sub-menu.
@ToniK Completely agree with you, mate. I remember playing GTA3 back in the days and being blown away by it. But just being an open world does absolutely nothing for me anymore. I like it when the game is more focused, but they do give you multiple approaches. Witcher 3 being an exception here..
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