Why did they ruined Mafia 3?

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

Hello

so all my fellow gamers and friends here, i was watching mafia 3 gameplay footage. i saw fasting cars, explosions when hit, one button meele and gears of war like cover system with regen health. i feel saddened. is it because many gamers (who probably never played first mafia) complain about linearity of mafia 2? so that they finally turn it into GTA clone? with fully open world and side quest.

this game looks more like GTA, saints row and just cause as oppose to mafia 1 or even 2 which was not better than first but still quite good. and main character doesnot scream mafia. where are suit and hats? why is he wearing jeans and jacket?

discuss

 

[Zhukov]

Oh man, that's terrible.

Someone on a forum told me Mafia 3 was going to be one of the best games of the year.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

If there's one thing Mafia 2 taught us is that the Mafia 1 formula is extremely dangerous. The original Mafia came out soon after GTA3 made its mark and poor content (as in, little content, few things to do in the sandbox) was a bit of a given at the time. The comparison didn't hurt Mafia back then. Nowadays sandbox games offer a lot of content and it's hard for a full-price title to compare. Mafia 2 suffered because of this.

That aside, what were the selling points of Mafia 1? They weren't the mechanics, they weren't the controls; they were the atmosphere, the aesthetic and the story. Another thing that crippled Mafia 2 was that it used the huge city for the same purposes of atmosphere-building, but the story was just kind of crap and without the necessary gameplay/content to back it up, the thing fell apart. A somewhat similar example was LA Noire, which may have tried to sell itself on the detective work, but ultimately fell flat, it was unengaging and its huge sandbox felt kind of dead and empty.

It's smart of them to enrich gameplay for Mafia 3 and it's good for us too; in theory, at least. If it ends up being high-octane action sandbox, then okay they screwed up, but if not, it'll be a better game for it.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

The original Mafia came out soon after GTA3 made its mark and poor content (as in, little content, few things to do in the sandbox) was a bit of a given at the time. The comparison didn't hurt Mafia back then. Nowadays sandbox games offer a lot of content and it's hard for a full-price title to compare. Mafia 2 suffered because of this

Mafia 1 is still better than any GTA game or all GTA game combine.

That aside, what were the selling points of Mafia 1?

the Story (which is still one of the Greatest of all time), the atmosphere, the realistic gameplay mechanics. it was never a sandbox freeroaming game but was linear shooter divided into chapters set in a big city. no useless free roaming or pizza delivery mission.

now 2k are cartering mafia 3 towards GTA fans. with dumbed down cover to cover combat and fast exploding cars (in mafia 1 speed limit play a big role)

 

[kiri3tsubasa]

I think it's the "Casino" -era of Mafia, as opposed to the prohibition era mafia. Hence the lack of hats. Also the guy seems to be a nam vet.

Arguably that was the best point in time for the mafia, especially with the development of Vegas. Definitely want to wait and see with this one.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

Mafia 1 is still better than any GTA game or all GTA game combine.

Based on what metric? Definitely not in terms of mechanics, wealth of content or controls.

the Story (which is still one of the Greatest of all time), the atmosphere, the realistic gameplay mechanics. it was never a sandbox freeroaming game but was linear shooter divided into chapters set in a big city. no useless free roaming or pizza delivery mission.

You are allowed to not deliver pizza in every GTA game. The point of a sandbox, after all, is player agency. The player chooses to do whatever they wish.

It's clear you love the first Mafia and it was a great game for its time, but games need to evolve to survive. It's not like they changed anything that was particularly characteristic about the Mafia series. Even the first Mafia game had its free-roam mode after completing the campaign.

 

[Callate]

Mafia was a significantly different game than GTA, in part because it was far more linear and story-driven.

I understand that Mafia 3 may seem unlike it, but I wouldn't leap to call it a bad game for its apparent dissimilarities to the original. It still sounds as though it has a strong plot and character focus and plays heavily towards its unique setting and time period; I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with their new toys.

 

[DemomanHusband]

I'm cautiously optimistic. I remember seeing a couple minutes of gameplay from Mafia 3 a while back, and while it definitely seemed to play similarly to GTA, it seems as though it'll kind of edge toward the Godfather 2 game's style of play. My memory's fuzzy though, so I don't remember if you'll actually be shaking down people so much as you use a business as a starting area for a mission. Now that I think about it, a lot of the mechanics are escaping me at the moment.

The story's going to be... something, I suppose. While I want to say wholeheartedly that the idea behind a racially mixed Vietnam Vet taking down the Italian Mob at least sounds interesting (if a bit similar to a mad-lib,) I can't help but wonder how much of the game will play off of race. The time period's ripe for the topic of race relations, don't get me wrong. With how race is commonly discussed today, though... It's mainly done with a 'white peeple r ebul' perspective, and I can't help but worry it'll be nothing more than a script that devolves into anti-white potshots.

I guess if Vito and Mr. Hoganstache are helping the new PC, Lincoln himself must be a pretty open guy, so maybe my concerns are unfounded.

On a side note, what's with the idea I've seen thrown out that Hoganstache from the trailer looks like Joe from Mafia 2? Last I checked, Joe was never thin or ginger!

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

Mafia 1 is still better than any GTA game or all GTA game combine.

Based on what metric? Definitely not in terms of mechanics, wealth of content or controls.

the Story (which is still one of the Greatest of all time), the atmosphere, the realistic gameplay mechanics. it was never a sandbox freeroaming game but was linear shooter divided into chapters set in a big city. no useless free roaming or pizza delivery mission.

You are allowed to not deliver pizza in every GTA game. The point of a sandbox, after all, is player agency. The player chooses to do whatever they wish.

It's clear you love the first Mafia and it was a great game for its time, but games need to evolve to survive. It's not like they changed anything that was particularly characteristic about the Mafia series. Even the first Mafia game had its free-roam mode after completing the campaign.

in a terms of mechincs it has much better gameplay, gunplay, even driving. now look at this

compare to GTA san andreas which was released years later

First mafia was masterpiece. it was different and unique then GTA. why turn mafia 3 into GTA when GTA is already avaliable. but sadly the success of GTA 5 lead to same company (take 2) for cartering towards lowest common denominator and make it more like GTA with flashy moves and cover system. waste of time

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I almost envy the persistent rose-tinted spectacles on display here. Surely the rosiest and tintiest spectacles of them all! Nostalgia holds us back. Let go and accept change, for crying out loud. It's like listening to my Nan moaning about how there are more blacks in her neighborhood these days, therefore her country's going to the dogs. Cue facepalm, cue heavy sigh and cue another double shot of single malt to bring back the happy thoughts!

 

[Stewie Plisken]

~snip~

The gunplay was a disaster by modern standards. So was GTA's. The cars handled so realistically, they literally needed to patch the game to make the racing mission playable. The mechanics were entirely archaic.

As for your comparison pictures, you're missing some fairly important details. Mafia was a pretty game for its time, no doubt, but it was also tasked with loading a third of GTA:SA's content. The little things that happen in the game actually do factor in performance and SA was loading something like three cities?

Most importantly, though, have you ever played the PS2 version of Mafia? San Andreas was optimized for consoles, particularly the PS2. The Mafia PS2 port is nigh-unplayable; it stutters and has ridiculously long loading times. The comparison you made is not one that Mafia wins.

It's clear you're too invested in the original game to accept the changes and it's entirely your prerogative, no argument there, but facts are facts.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

he gunplay was a disaster by modern standards.

and standard get so much lower nowadays that anything that doesnot have cover system, regen health consider "disaster". mafia 1 was challenging game requires skills unlike GTA.

 

[lacktheknack]

Oh lawdy, I hope they really change it up.

Mafia 1 was an unplayable trainwreck. A very pretty, well-detailed and nicely told trainwreck, but a trainwreck nonetheless.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Looks like a tedious slog.
Kinda like the Mafia series in general.
*rimshot*

Eh, looks serviceable but not really my cup of tea.

 

[Something Amyss]

(who probably never played first mafia)

So what if they didn't? Mafia 2 was not marketed solely to the fans of the original Mafia and in fact, they were clearly courting new players. As such, of course they're going to follow the criticism of those players.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I haven't played Mafia I, but I'm pretty sure the series was ruined at least by Mafia II. I've seen very few games with so much potential so thoroughly wasted as Mafia II managed. Short of peddling out a broken, buggy mess, I'm sure Mafia III won't be any worse.

 

[Pseudonym]

Oh man, that's terrible.

Someone on a forum told me Mafia 3 was going to be one of the best games of the year.

Whenever I go into a B-Cell thread your posts crack me up.

Hello

so all my fellow gamers and friends here, i was watching mafia 3 gameplay footage. i saw fasting cars, explosions when hit, one button meele and gears of war like cover system with regen health. i feel saddened. is it because many gamers (who probably never played first mafia) complain about linearity of mafia 2? so that they finally turn it into GTA clone? with fully open world and side quest.

this game looks more like GTA, saints row and just cause as oppose to mafia 1 or even 2 which was not better than first but still quite good. and main character doesnot scream mafia. where are suit and hats? why is he wearing jeans and jacket?

discuss

Wait, let me help you with this:

Hello, fellow gamers,

So I was watching some Mafia 3 gameplay footage. I saw speeding cars, that exploded when shot at. I saw one button melee, a Gears of War like cover system and regenerating health. I feel sad about this. I know many gamers complained about the linearity of mafia 2, so maybe that is why some of these changes were made. The new mafia game now looks like a GTA clone with an open world and side quest.

In fact, this game looks a lot like GTA, Saints Row and Just Cause and not like Mafia 1 or even Mafia 2. I liked Mafia 1 and I liked Mafia two as well and I think it is unfortunate that the new itiration is looking to be so generic. For example: the main character does not fit the theme of Mafia. Where are the suit and hats? Why is he wearing jeans and a jacket?

What do you think. Is this a needed improvement of the Mafia series or will the new Mafia lose what made the other Mafia games good by being so much like other games.

I mean, if you are making a thread, at least correct your typo's and have some basic punctuation and at least some appropriate capitol letters. English is not my first language. I make spelling and grammar mistakes as well, probably several of them in this post alone, but your posts make me wonder if maybe your shift and backspace keys are broken.

In any case, the OP confuses me a little, mostly because Saints Row, GTA and Just Cause seem like rather different games to me. I'm not sure what they have in common that Mafia should not have according to the OP. (I've only played SR4 and I've heard the earlier installments in that series were a lot more like GTA) An open world can be a rather thin veneer, like in GTA and then the difference with a linear game isn't as big. Just Cause on the other hand basically presents the player with a sandbox to toy around in and from what little I have seen of Mafia 3 that isn't what they are going for at all. I know you mentioned the regenerating health and combat systems but if you really want good combat, why would you play some story/atmosphere driven crime game where combat is clearly not the main focus?

 

[Musou Tensei]

Because that is the western(nized) way of game devolution I mean development.