Mafia 3 has a feature that toggles its violent aspect on and off, says director. As we all know, violence in video games - when discussed upon, is a neverending debate. As an industry, however, gaming has mostly exceeded the topic and has come up with clever ways to cater both those who prefer gore in their games and those who just want candy coming out instead of blood.
One of the anticipated games to bear such violence, and will definitely not work without it, is Mafia 3. From the title alone, it suggests that it would resort to violence sooner or later to deliver a premium story.
'Brutal takedowns' are one of Lincoln Clay's, the game's main protagonist, abilities. However, it will be upon the player's decision to use this or not. On top of brutal takedowns are lethal kills, which are also optional for the player to perform. In an exclusive dialogue with We Write Things, Hangar 13's head and creative director Haden Blackman, spoke about the game's violence aspect to not go over the brim and how some of it are in the capable hands of the players.
He elaborated that at the start of development, they want the game to feel different than the previous Mafia games in terms of tone. Mafia II, for one, provided a romantic version of the franchise - which is fitting for the story-line, since it was set on the Golden Age of Mafia in general. They are focused on the year 1968, which is remembered for its violence. For instance, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. got assassinated, it was when the Vietnam War went full-throttle, the Democratic National Convention even erupted in violence during the same year.
This is also the era when the Italian Mafia started to set up shop and been seen as a violent criminal group with actual victims. Drugs also became a major contributor in the criminal rackets as well as Mob rivalry.
Blackman closed with the statements, "As a result, we knew that our tone had to be much more hard-boiled. We are also telling a very personal revenge story, with a main character who has been betrayed and treated horribly by the current power players, so we knew that there had to be an element of visceral combat to pay off on that story.
With all those factors added into the mix, the developers might have gone over-the-top. Every aspect fits within the main character's military training allowing the player to use have violence as an option. Players can decide whether or not to us the games mechanics namely: 'brutal takedown' and 'lethal kills' and the latter has an on/off feature as an option.
Pertinent to open-world games, player choice is one of the main concepts of Mafia 3. Choosing how to eliminate the bad guys, managing your lieutenants, spending cash, these are all in the player's hands. No matter what choice the gamer has, they will also have complex consequences. Another concept on Mafia 3 that deviates from open-world stereotypes is not having the ability to pickup escorts in the streets.
Mafia 3 will hit the shelves on Oct. 7 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC. What do you think about this concept? Will you choose violence over righteousness? Hit us with your comments below.
