I hope that those who are not victims of racism can appreciate how overt racism can be at times. I can imagine that for some, Mafia 3's racism will feel more "real" than it did to me. For some, the reality of people using racial slurs is all too real. The several times I've been a victim of racism, it has been subtle and almost "accidental." I know this is not the experience of many people of color. Granted, racism back then wasn't as subtle as it is now it was front and center. I can't help but feel like these are broad strokes. I believe Hangar 13 tried to write racism into the plot and design of the game in a way that should've felt "natural." But the voice actors overly accent their racial slurs, white power rallies are literally peppered along the path toward major waypoints, and white characters aggressively shrug away from Lincoln. Instead, the racism in Mafia 3 felt like a stagehand was pointing a spotlight directly at the action. I was hopeful to see nuanced and well-thought-out examples of racism in action.
Jeff Ramos: I was initially excited to see Hangar 13's game-opening comments on how Mafia 3 will not ignore racism. To provide perspectives on how Mafia 3's handling of the issue of race feels from the point of view of people of color, I asked several other staffers at Polygon to play the first few hours and provide their thoughts. I felt fairly strongly affected by how the game handles that theme in its early hours, but I'm also a white guy who has never faced racism in his day-to-day life. This adds another layer of righteousness and fury to the anger that drives his crusade.Īs mentioned elsewhere in this review and in our first impressions, Mafia 3 is very much a game about race. Lincoln isn't just mistreated by mobsters he's despised by most of the people he's up against, and even society as a whole, reviled and demonized for the color of his skin.
city in the late '60s, that means everything. What sets the events of Mafia 3 apart is the element of race: Lincoln is black, and in a southern U.S.
Clay starts at the bottom - or, rather, restarts there after everything is taken from him - and must not only destroy his enemies but slowly build up a crime empire of his own, recruiting allies to run each district of the city that he takes over. The setup is standard rags-to-riches crime story cliché. After an exhilarating first few hours that include a bank heist mission played out between flashbacks, Clay sets out on a path of vengeance, vowing to kill everyone between himself and a rival mafioso leader. Framed as a historical documentary, Mafia 3 tells the story of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam War vet who returns from combat to find his home city of New Bordeaux (a spin on New Orleans) caught up in a struggle between various underworld crime organizations.
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