Mafia III has a gripping narrative that’s full of tough choices

Mafia III could be a very short revenge story. Lincoln Clay, the Vietnam veteran whose mobster friends are killed in the first act, could quickly make his way over to the mafia boss and take him out. But the game coming from publisher 2K Games (a Take-Two Interactive division) on October 7 is a very deep open world with some very different story threads that can lead to alternative story outcomes.

The reason that this game is so deep and varied is that Clay’s idea of revenge is so much bigger than just killing crime boss Sal Marcano. It says a lot about Clay, the “gifted anti-hero” of Mafia III, that he wants to take apart Marcano’s criminal organization, piece by piece, district by district. Clay wants to take over all the rackets, taking out the low level foot soldiers, climbing up the ladder, and then replacing them with his own people.