The game had an incredible soundtrack, looked fantastic and had a plot that pulled me in. The sequel – Mafia III (developed by the current team, Hangar 13 – initially impressed with its technological advances, atmosphere and characters – and again, a blinding soundtrack – but for reasons I can’t recall, I sort of…fell off it somewhere along the way.
This newest entry in the long running series began to appeal to me months back when I initially saw the trailer; taking the Mafia back to its Sicilian roots, set mainly in and around a vineyard (good!), and with a classic tale of love and honour. So it was with a positive mindset I approached Mafia 4, but unfortunately, whilst there are some real highs, the stumbling blocks really chipped away at my enjoyment and I ended up doing to myself what I refer to as ‘Starfielding’ – playing a game and assuming that I’m enjoying it until it dawns on me that I’m actually playing the game and waiting to enjoy myself. [I too suffered from a severe case of Starfielding - Rich]
The main protagonist here is Enzo, a young man who ‘works’, or more accurately ‘is a slave’ in an incredibly unforgiving sulphur mine, we spent a little time getting used to basic controls and meeting his evil bosses (there’s not a HR department in sight) and his sole friend who…ends up having a rough time.
The main protagonist here is Enzo, a young man who ‘works’, or more accurately ‘is a slave’ in an incredibly unforgiving sulphur mine, we spent a little time getting used to basic controls and meeting his evil bosses (there’s not a HR department in sight) and his sole friend who…ends up having a rough time.
In short order, Enzo manages to escape the mine and finds solace on the land of Don Torrisi, a vineyard and land owner with – initially – hidden ties to ‘La Familia’ who takes Enzo under his wing, and offers him work and a place to stay, all the while grooming him to be a made man, as Enzo (ill-advisedly) falls in love with the Don’s daughter who is under the watchful eye of the mistrustful mafia adviser, Tino.
Mafia 4 is a beautiful game, the rugged countryside, historical buildings, rich history and atmosphere blend perfectly with sights and sounds of the era and evocative voice acting. The two main forms of combat are also good fun; the gunplay is satisfying, with solid enemy AI meaning that foes don’t just run towards you in a straight line, requiring you to have your wits about you, and the melee combat takes the form of pretty regular knife fights, which instead rely on quick reflexes and tactics to best your opponent.
The narrative is one of the strongest aspects of Mafia 4, and whilst it’s not an especially unique or twisty tale, the inherent tension in the life of a mafioso – especially one rising through the ranks in an already precarious situation – means that the story is always moving forward with a rich cast of characters (including the glorious Anthony Skordi, good), keeping you involved in the various machinations on and off-screen.
Unfortunately, there are other factors at hand here that really detract from the enjoyment, the instant-fail stealth sections just feel tired, and when the game didn’t feel like a seemingly endless tutorial for the first few hours, I found myself taking control of the character following a lengthy cutscene, to walk across a road and into a building for another lengthy cutscene to start, I just felt like I had no agency and existed as a player purely to move from one scene to the next.
Mafia 4 is a beautiful game, the rugged countryside, historical buildings, rich history and atmosphere blend perfectly with sights and sounds of the era and evocative voice acting. The two main forms of combat are also good fun; the gunplay is satisfying, with solid enemy AI meaning that foes don’t just run towards you in a straight line, requiring you to have your wits about you, and the melee combat takes the form of pretty regular knife fights, which instead rely on quick reflexes and tactics to best your opponent.
Unfortunately, there are other factors at hand here that really detract from the enjoyment, the instant-fail stealth sections just feel tired, and when the game didn’t feel like a seemingly endless tutorial for the first few hours, I found myself taking control of the character following a lengthy cutscene, to walk across a road and into a building for another lengthy cutscene to start, I just felt like I had no agency and existed as a player purely to move from one scene to the next.
Combine all this with bland vehicular sections wherein cars built in the early 1900’s have bizarrely arcade-like driving handling complete with leaps and jumps, and you can’t help but feel like the developers made a major misstep in these areas.
SUMMARY
Mafia 4 is a game that excels in its presentation, atmosphere, and narrative, whilst having some solid combat, but you spend far too much of the game working your way through stealth and vehicular sections that feel archaic in their execution, tied to out-of-action segments that are crushingly pedestrian.
Mafia 4 is a game that excels in its presentation, atmosphere, and narrative, whilst having some solid combat, but you spend far too much of the game working your way through stealth and vehicular sections that feel archaic in their execution, tied to out-of-action segments that are crushingly pedestrian.
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