Why hasn’t there been a good open world, online mob game? Even GTA hasn’t really touched on the mob in a big way since Vice City. You’d think the Mafia series would be a contender, but they don’t seem interested in multiplayer. Mafia II or the remaster of Mafia would literally have been a perfect platform for a GTAO style game, the worlds they built for those two are some of the best I’ve ever explored.
I’m partial to the Goodfellas vibe Mafia II brought to the table but I was just replaying the remaster of Mafia and it was very impressive. I want a mob game with a similar progression to how GTAO was before all the superhero doomsday antics and flying witch-bikes, where you start as a lowly hood and work your way to made man or kingpin, maybe there’s different paths you can take, different ranks in the crew all with different outcomes and perks.
Seems like a big gap in the market for something like this, and I really thought they’d seize it with Mafia III, as that dropped at the height of GTAO’s popularity, but there was even less to do in that game than the previous titles, which is a shame because I think I enjoyed III’s setting and aesthetics the most, even though it was only marginally about the Italian mob. Felt like they left alot of meat on the bone with that one.
Now with Mafia: The Old Country on the horizon, there’s the potential for a whole new experience in this genre but what’s left to be seen is if they’ve learned from the gameplay and pacing issues of Mafia III, and the overt lack of a multi-player experience to fill the void left by Grand Theft Auto. It would be interesting to have a multi-player game set in “the old country” but unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to be on the menu. I’ll still be playing regardles.
Anyone have any thoughts on this genre? Underrated gems? Genre favorites? I hope that if The Old Country sells well, eventually we see a Mafia set in Vegas in the 70’s and 80’s like the film Casino, replete with that big multi-player experience.