The Mafia series has long been praised for its emotionally complex and gripping narratives, but its open world environments leave a lot to be desired and could be improved by taking inspiration from Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. The meticulous creation of Mafia's cities - based on Chicago, New York, and New Orleans respectively - show a tremendous amount of care for the places characters explore in each game. However, there's scarcely little to do in them, which is a shame given their level of detail. A future game in the Mafia series could benefit massively from putting more activities in its open world, as it would give players more opportunities to explore them.
Mafia is a series of story-based open world games with a mob focus. Spanning multiple decades, from the 1930s through to the late 1960s, the games centre around different characters and their involvement in varying crime families. While well received on the whole, the Mafia titles have run into criticism for their sparse open worlds which, while great to look at, have little content to take advantage of. If another Mafia title were to come out, developer Hangar 13 may want to consider taking cues from Grand Theft Auto in order to make it a truly immersive open world game. With a city that feels more lived in, it's possible that a yet-to-be-developed Mafia 4 could be even better than GTA's latest outing.
Part of makes the GTA series a regular trendsetter in the gaming industry is Rockstar Games' ability to make its worlds feel lived in. Whether it's the people players interact with or the activities outside of the main story, they usually get the sense that even without the main character, these people and places would continue to exist. When the player isn't completing a setup mission in preparation for the next heist between Franklin, Michael and Trevor in GTA V, they're joining a cult or playing the stock market. When they're not continuing Niko Bellic's story in Grand Theft Auto 4, they're going to the internet cafe and setting up dates in chat rooms. There are countless opportunities to step away from the main story that push the narrative forward, and kick back with something more lighthearted.
GTA-Style Open World Activities Would Enhance Mafia's Characters
The worlds of Mafia are set decades before even the earliest Grand Theft Auto game, but the trilogy is still ripe with opportunities to create similar moments. In Mafia: Definitive Edition, the player could have spent more time with Sarah to show how her relationship with Tommy progresses to the point of marriage and children. The inclusion of something like going around town as Tommy and collecting gambling debts with Sam and Paulie would likely have also been something viewed warmly by players, as opposed to just exploring the city to find Mafia: Definitive Edition's secret cars. Putting those three together in more offbeat hijinks was something the game could have used more of.
Yes, the Mafia series is more serious than GTA, but occasional moments of levity can elevate the overall experience. What makes The Sopranos so endearing to fans is that is showed a side of the mafia life that's rarely portrayed in the media. It illustrated that every day isn't secret meetings, hits on rival families, and shootouts. Sometimes, mob life can be very mundane, or even unintentionally comedic, like when Chris and Paulie get lost in the Pine Barrens. Humor keeps people grounded in even the most serious situations, and its inclusion in a video game depicting that lifestyle - like Mafia - would give it even more charm.
Recent reports have indicated that Mafia 4 is not in development. In November, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company behind both Mafia and GTA, announced the cancellation of a $53 million Hangar 13 superhero game that wasn't a new Mafia title. Mafia 3's repetitive gameplay loop was widely criticized after its 2016 release, so if a fourth installment came out, there's reason to believe the developers would acknowledge that criticism and build on it to create an open world truly worth remembering.