How the composers of Mafia III’s music made their memorable tunes

The first thing I noticed when I played Mafia III was the music. As Lincoln Clay, the anti-hero who takes down the mob of New Bordeaux, I was driving a car. Barry McGuire’s anti-war song “Eve of Destruction” was playing on the car radio. More than anything, that music took me back to 1968, one of the most troubled years in American history.

But oddly enough, it wasn’t until I had troubles playing the game that I noticed one of its hidden gems, the original soundtrack created by musicians Jesse Harlin and Jim Bonney. Mafia III, published in October by Take-Two Interactive’s 2K label and made by Hangar 13, is one of the major console and PC releases of 2016, with 4.5 million copies shipped to retailers. I loved the story about the merciless crusade of Clay, a biracial Vietnam vet, against the Italian mob during an era of overt racism. But the game was buggy, and critics, including me, panned it for its technical and gameplay flaws.