Mafia games series has an interesting history regarding its publisher and developer, one doesn't always do a good job of understanding what kind of game it is, the other is confused about which parts of the game people liked. I have a confession to make, I don't think anyone would like playing the original Mafia much today. It definitely didn't age that well, but scholars and game nerds are bewildered and amazed by how well of a game it was, back in 2002.
The subsequent sequels tried, at least Mafia 2 kind of did a really good job with the gameplay department. But it was lacking side activities in the free world area, and often times felt like a linear game with a city sandbox structure. Mafia 3 is where the series hit a hard U-turn quality wise, it was laughed at for its bugs, terrible sky box, and yeah, the gameplay was really lackluster.
Despite all these issues, even with the new remake of the original game, the production value and storytelling was top tier. Which is why people want to continue playing the game series, but wants an actual game that carries the spirit and charm the original game had. Now, there have been internal changes within the studio, and recent leaks about an upcoming 4th game. A new info that might give us something to clamor for.
Head Of Studio Leaves
Haden Blackman, a LucasArts veteran who've worked on the Force Unleashed games, left in 2014 to create a studio that was co-owned and financed by 2K Games called Hangar 13. The team that worked on the last 2 Mafia games, 2K Czech was downsized completely and was moved to being a support branch for the new studio.
Was this a bad idea? In some ways, maybe. Though I can see why they couldn't get 2K Czech to make another one since the creative director that was there, left to work on Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The reason being is, he wasn't ok with 2K creating unnecessary constraints and making abrupt changes to his work. Several others who've worked with him in Czech also left. The studio was a shell of its former self, so the one who would take over is someone who hasn't done open world action games really well.
Mafia 2 came out, but it had a turbulent development process within the last few years after Illusion Softworks was purchased by 2K. There were content cuts, and major story changes, especially with the ending, that has deviated completely from the former director's vision.
Hangar 13 only used the Prague division for familiarity with themes, and atmosphere. Out of that, when Mafia 3 came out, it was mixed received. Mostly due to the lackluster gameplay, and launches issues that plagued it. This was also the one Mafia game I gave up on playing because I wasn't finding much to enjoy, outside the story.
It didn't feel like the devs in charge fully respected the series well enough to make a worthwhile sequel. And then there was the god awful remake of Mafia 1. They still didn't get what made the prior Mafia games so enjoyable to play.
This week, Haden Blackman, as well as Matthew Urban, the chief operator, both left Hangar 13. With his replacement being Nick Baynes, who has a resume of being lead design, director, and manager for multiple games. This includes Split/Second, and was contributing to Mafia remake's development. Who's to say this is good news, but this is probably a move done to make big changes in the game franchise from this point.
New Mafia Might Be A Prequel
This could be non-substantiated rumor, but there's a leak from Twitter that states the new Mafia game is a prequel for Mafia 1, which will take place somewhere in the late 19th century to the 20th one. And the protagonist will be Don Salieri, taking place in Sicily right before Lost Heaven.
I kind of would have preferred if they've continued down the timeline, somewhere in the 1980s maybe with how prominent New York and Boston mobsters were becoming. Taking place in a much earlier era adds this nice novelty, but I wonder if there are going to be some limitations since automatic weapons didn't exist much before World War 1, and vehicles would be from very early concepts.
They would also be planning to make the game a lot more linear than open world. This is kind of terrible, as they're already admitting they can't do open world games good enough anymore.
The game is also being touted to be in development with Unreal Engine. I mean, their prior engines didn't seem it had much of issues, but Unreal Engine is now far easily accessible and has so many crazy features to boot in this day and age.
Even then, I have to be clear, there's nothing confirmed, even with the leaker's stellar reputation. I can't picture anything good will happen yet, especially with Hangar 13 still leaving me with some doubts. The transition to linear from open-world would really feel like a slap in the face too. That is not what Mafia games are about, and they never should be. A full on deviation from the series identity.
Mafia has a place in the pantheons of gaming history, a place where it has desecrated its own name because of mediocre cash-in sequel attempts. I hope with the change in management, and creative direction, the 4th game comes out really great. But please make it open-world.