Mafia 3 releases very, very soon, and this is going to be a big open world game made with a full budget and a dedicated development team. It’s arguably going to be one of the biggest single player game releases this season and it’s reasonable to want to know about the game and its quality before you dig into your wallet and preorder or buy the game at launch.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem like that is going to be an option, as numerous game review sites have stated 2K decided not to send out pre-release review copies. Sites such as Polygon and IGN have written statements about the lack of pre-release copies, saying that their reviews will be coming out after launch. And this is the case for all game journalism sites, though curiously 2K has allowed certain web personalities and groups to show footage of their personal gameplay and commentary, such as AngryJoe and Gameranx, with Gameranx stating that 2K “invited us to their studio to play 8 hours of the game and record this footage.”
This lack of review copies (though 2K has said they will offer copies for review that will unlock exactly at release) has made quite a few people skeptical of the games quality, and likely may have put them off of preordering altogether. But does this really reflect Mafia 3’s quality, or indeed the quality of any game that doesn’t have pre-release copies? Of course, it’s smart to remain cautious, as there have been many games that are lacking quality or simply don’t function at all on release, and there’s really no reason to go preorder any game unless you’re really enticed by some of those bonuses that come with it. But what about when the game does release? People that are going to be reviewing the game are going to need quite a bit of time to properly go through it, and considering this is an open world game, we can expect that most reviews will take at least a few days, if not a week. Is it safe to buy then?
Well, to answer that properly we’re going to have to look back at games before that haven’t had pre-releases, such as 2016’s Doom. Bethesda opted not to give out review copies before release, pushing back possible reviews on launch day and causing concern to potential buyers. Luckily, the game we got was fantastic, with great gameplay and polished visuals, and hardly a bug in sight. Doom was quite the success, and the reviews that eventually did trickle out reflected that. However, what about an example that didn’t end so happily?
While not quite the complete lack of a game copy entirely, Assassin’s Creed: Unity placed a review embargo for everyone until about 12 hours after the game initially released. This meant that no one could know the actual quality of the game on launch day until half a day was over, causing eager spenders to buy the game without any prior knowledge and hoping for the best.
Of course, it’s hard to forget that debacle, as the game was infested with bugs, poor optimization, and spotty gameplay. You can go to the internet yourself and find the countless horror videos of NPCs missing faces, falling through the world, and the player experiencing all matters of madness that could almost put Alice in Wonderland to shame. It’s true that eventually Ubisoft managed to piece the game together in a mostly playable state, but this was weeks if not months down the line, and honestly for nothing more than another average Assassin’s Creed game that did little to change what we were familiar with. You could easily say that the review embargo was to prevent websites from preemptively warning people about the game’s poor quality and hopefully snagging a few sales and pre-orders before embargo was over, and honestly I’d think you’re right.
So how should we approach Mafia 3? Well, again, there are videos available of live gameplay that seems to function just fine, and it seems, at the very least, the console versions have no issues. Is this solid evidence that the game will be a flawless experience? Not at all. It could just be isolated incidents, and there are few examples of full opinions of the game from those that have played it, mostly just stating facts such as the setting, characters, and story. 2K might just be trying to save us from story spoilers, or gameplay videos that would ward off people who would just watch the game be played rather than buying it themselves. It might seem like a trivial excuse, and I’m inclined to agree, but it might very well be a real threat to the game’s publisher.
So far at least, the Mafia series really hasn’t let anyone down. The first two games were great, and have their share of eager fans, myself included, and there’s little reason to believe the game will be bad based off that. However, as stated before, it’s better to remain cautious. Games are getting more expensive to produce, and a lot of people like to point fingers at greedy publishers for mucking up an otherwise great game, so if you are one of those paranoid gamers, perhaps hold off on purchasing the game. It’s better to be safe with cash in your pocket rather than regretting a purchase later and a hole in your wallet.
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