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[Lime]

Not that what you're saying isn't true, but I disagree that it's necessary for a piece of historically situated media to make explicit commentary on present day events. It's fine for an artist to allow it to be read that way it as an implicit reading of the work. 12 Years a Slave didn't need footage of the Rodney King riots to be relevant.

It's not necessary, but it provides a good perspective on the causality of history that situates the viewer/player/consumer in a broader historical context that affects people to this day. Historical events and periods are not simply 'bubbles' that happened and then racism went away - they were events and instances that had a material and evidential effect on people and their descendants.

When Assassin's Creed touches on slavery, it does not comment on the repercussions it had for the colonial countries or the Black diaspora or the Maafa. The player is thus completely divorced from what went on, even though in many instances, this player's society has been affected by colonialism for good or bad. 12 Years A Slave stands on its own, certainly, as the book it is based on, only provides a limited autobiographical perspective on history. But that is not to say that it would be interesting to see the long-term repercussions and how white supremacy still is alive and well.

Historical media do not require to give perspective on historical causality, but they certainly benefit from it.

I don't see how you have to make your historical themes clearly relating to present topics; at some point you have to let the work speak for itself and expect people to infer the parallels themselves. Did I get that "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" was an allegory about 1960s racism? Yep. Didn't stop it from being cringey and stupid as hell because they were so on-the-nose about it.

It's a difficult topic to tackle, especially when virtually every game is never trying to be a hardcore historical sim and the fun of a lot of these games and periods (especially something like Assassin's Creed) is the escapism to a more intriguing past, and I don't think lots of players want to be hammered with "the past wasn't so great!" all the time, as well as the pitfalls of turning social issues into a game mechanic ("watch as your crack meter fills to full!")

The Mafia guys from the OP at least seem to be aware of these pitfalls, and dealing with the realities of race relations in the time period seems rather central to the story they're trying to tell, so I hope they can pull it off.

I don't understand your argument(s). Commenting on the causality of history and contemporary racism does not preclude letting the work speak for itself. Nor does it mean that they have to be on-the-nose about it.

 

[Falchion]

Racial insults will be like Faith building flow in Mirror's Edge. The more than get thrown at you, the faster and more resistant to damage you become.

 

[Palette Swap]

That's a great idea. I hope this helps some people get out of their comfort zone.

 

[Messofanego]

It's not necessary, but it provides a good perspective on the causality of history that situates the viewer/player/consumer in a broader historical context that affects people to this day. Historical events and periods are not simply 'bubbles' that happened and then racism went away - they were events and instances that had a material and evidential effect on people and their descendants.

When Assassin's Creed touches on slavery, it does not comment on the repercussions it had for the colonial countries or the Black diaspora or the Maafa. The player is thus completely divorced from what went on, even though in many instances, this player's society has been affected by colonialism for good or bad. 12 Years A Slave stands on its on, certainly, as the book it is based on only provides a limited autobiographical perspective on history. But that is not to say that it would be interesting to see the long-term repercussions and how white supremacy still is alive and well.

Historical media do not require to give perspective on historical causality, but they certainly benefit from it.

I don't understand your argument(s). Commenting on the causality of history and contemporary racism does not preclude letting the work speak for itself. Nor does it mean that they have to be on-the-nose about it.

The Knick, while being set in the 1910s, felt plenty relevant with how it handled the struggles of a black doctor on the rise, ghettoisation, equal work, and a nod to black lives matter.

So, it would be awesome if this game has relevancy to current oppression about the race-based war on drugs, mass incarceration (a prison level like Mafia 2?), and police brutality rather than feeling like a historical document.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

This game, Day 1.

Still have Mafia 2 to finish on PC.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

Gutsy. I'm impressed that they are trying this. Hopefully it accomplishes what they want it to do.

 

[ironcreed]

This is my one of my most anticipated games for this year. As it has blues, NOLA and fucking BALLS.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

Good on them to address an issue like this in this way.

 

[gnomed]

Amazing that they are trying to tackle this subject as gameplay. Hopefully, they succeed in it.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

This is great. Hope it has the desired effect. I wonder how the character responds and if it will be up to you as a player to choose to respond to it, at least verbally. Not sure if you can shoot pedestrians in Mafia games. I cant remember.

 

[shintoki]

I just don't know I can relate. Can't we just make it like a GTA clone in the 20's? Play it safe guys.

 

[Kabuki Quantum Lover]

This sounds great. Hopefully the gameplay behind it is solid -- Mafia 2 felt like a step backward in many ways.

 

[MadYarpen]

I'm curious how will black people playing this game feel when their character is treated this way.

Good thing they are trying to do something meaningful with this, but man this is tricky in so many ways...

 

[flaxknuckles]

This is great. Hope it has the desired effect. I wonder how the character responds and if it will be up to you as a player to choose to respond to it, at least verbally. Not sure if you can shoot pedestrians in Mafia games. I cant remember.

I remember you can in Mafia 2. My wanted level is gonna be on all the time in Mafia 3 because of these racists man.

 

[Mr. X]

This is what I wanted in GTA when you were a black protag. Looking like a sure fire purchase and I never was interested in the franchise. I also enjoy this era of US history.

 

[Disgraced]

Sick. More games should do something like this, and it always irks me when games that should skirt around it. Take Skyrim for instance, out of all of the supposedly racist NPCs in that game there's only one guy who gives the PC guff for being non-Nord. And you can kick his ass and then everything is fine. Otherwise, "'Ey, Frognar, look a' those fockin' greasy pickpocket elves! *looks over at PC* Oh... but you... you're alright (I guess,) always need anotha' sword for the cause! Ha ha ha... Come 'ere, 'ave an ale!"

I really hope Watch Dogs 2 does something similar. It would be kind of awful if it didn't, since profiling is supposedly one of the topics the game tackles.

 

[shoreu]

lol the fact that the guy talking is Blackman is hilarious to me. This mechanic i wonder how this will be recieved.

 

[JTripper]

I'll be so disappointed if this game doesn't deliver because there's so much promise here and I love the Mafia franchise. I'm still getting it though. The setting alone is enough to convince me to play this.

 

[Endo Punk]

Please don't backpedal even if there's backlash, games should explore such themes if done well which it looks to be. I really want this game to be awesome. The setting, main character, themes and dat music. Can't wait.

 

[Pyrrhus]

This could be amazing if they do it right. But do they (and more importantly, their publisher) have the grit?

 

[potatohead]

Peds in that game generally hate your guts no matter which character you are. The relationships file show this.



First two games are much more serious than GTA, the second one a bit less so. This one looks to be leaning more towards GTA than Mafia.

I think it's just in the degree of violence. The games have been getting more overtly violent as the series has gone forward.

But the story seems to be the same level of seriousness as Mafia 1 and 2, maybe more so with racial overtones and undertones.

The action has just been getting progressively less realistic/more action movie. Not a bad thing, though I love the muted and less exaggerated tone of Mafia 1 a lot.

Love how this looks, and I think the brutality of the action fits in with the angle of the narrative extremely well, that the situation Clay is in is merciless from a sociological POV and a "italian mob are assholes" POV.

 

[dreamfall]

I'm excited to see how the team manages to create a compelling story and speak on race and the Civil Rights movement in the '60s. I think that it's really promising that they're willing to tackle it head on, without compromising the lead character. I mean they're really walking on subject matter that is very important to write well.

As much as I loved different aspects of Mafia 2, the way the dev team casually tacked on racism whether through mission structure or even radio commercials, it felt like an after thought. I'm so excited to see how this game delivers from a narrative perspective.

I also think a lot of the writing accolades they might be able to achieve could be drowned out by some of the more game-y bits of controversy that are bound to spring up. Hyper violence, Playboy collectibles returning, the repetition of taking over territories - I'm excited to see what they bring and optimistic about it.

 

[kamineko]

Sounds pretty great.

 

[Akronis]

Looking extremely forward to this game!

 

[Lurgan1337]

another video and no M-16s in sight. Damn it devs don't tease me with Tommys, give him a damn AR already.

 

[The Boat]

That's pretty fucking cool.

 

[CaptainofIndustry]

My second most anticipated game of the year.


Behind Dishonored 2

 

[Daft Punk]

Wow this is definitely on my radar now.

 

[MrS]

While it may be a little too close to home for some players, I think it's an interesting idea and it feels like something that hasn't been addressed in a AAA game before, not properly at least. It's intriguing. Mafia 3 is on my radar now in a big way. This will cause great debate when it's released for sure.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

If done well, this could be really amazing. It's kind of what I've been asking games to consider trying for a while now, so I'm curious to see how it works in practice.

 

[LifEndz]

There's going to be a lot of interesting conversations surrounding this game. Never played a Mafia game before, but it's on my radar now. Hope it's handled well.

 

[B1gg_Randall]

I gotta play this game now..

 

[3rdamention]

Wow, that's pretty fantastic.

I didn;'t know what to think when I saw the thread title. And I was reading the OP, I could kinda imagine what they are trying to pull off in my head, and I thought "This could be great!"


And I am not talking just about using racism as a gameplay mechanic, but using racism as a gameplay mechanic to try and communicate some of the emotions, hate and tensions of that time period. People are going to get offended, and I respect that. There is going to be a lot of negative articles about this, I understand that. But if they can pull it off, and maybe open some eyes and hearts to what the landscape was like during that period, this opens a lot of doors going forward. This could be very powerful from a story telling medium perspective, and hopefully challenge many other developers to tackle other dark moments in this Country's history, and the history of other Country's.

 

[Zornack]

This is where the "no, black people can't be in this game because historical accuracy" narrative meets the "stop putting politics in my video games" narrative. Both arguments can be heard from a specific type of person and they're not going to fly here.

 

[DeejayKnight]

I hope this works. Very seriously.

 

[SomTervo]

This is brilliant.

Well done devs. Day one buy from me just because of this tbh. Represent.

 

[braves01]

I don't get the part about "recapturing" the term mafia. It originally was about Italian crime organizations and has since expanded. (Etymologically it might be Arabic). If you were taking it back as they say I think you'd want it to apply exclusively to Italians again.

 

[Mr. X]

If you see black NPCs getting beat by white NPCs or white cop NPCs, will you defend them?

 

[Peterpan]

lol the fact that the guy talking is Blackman is hilarious to me. This mechanic i wonder how this will be recieved.

Haha I found that funny as well.

 

[Darryl M R]

Wow I'm glad this game is doing this. I never played a Mafia game but I'm willing to support it off of this alone. Can someone send me any good videos about Mafia 3? I am currently about to scan through Youtube.

This is the type of stuff that will make vote with my wallet.

 

[Rudimental]

Reminds me of the xenophobia in Morrowind.

 

[PreFire]

Can't wait to play this

 

[Deleted member 80556]

Excellent! I was afraid with some of their earlier comments where they didn't want to give a definite answer, but it seems like they really are going all the way with it.

 

[Tinfoilhatsron]

Gutsy. I'm impressed that they are trying this. Hopefully it accomplishes what they want it to do.

Yup.

 

[dezzy8]

This sounds so cool. I'm sold

 

[Bloodporne]

Hopefully there's a Racism Parry that can be followed up by all manner of roundhouse kicks and suplexes.

Only if it's accompanied by 3rd Strike level visual effects and some sort of Hadoken style shout. Essentially the basketball parry level in 3D, it'd be legit.

 

[illmatic22]

I may have to check this game out.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

If a racial slur is thrown at me, can I counter with Guybrush retorts?

 

[Shaanyboi]

damn dude...

I hope this is integrated well, but his is a really ballsy move. I dig it.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Hope they don't go full-on Tarantino levels of racism.

That's actually quite interesting as a game mechanic, especially if you have to enter some rich white neighborhoods.

Although, the irony is that the main character actually IS a dangerous criminal.

So far from what story they've shown in the trailers it sounds like your just getting revenge on the Italian mob.