Mafia III
Overview -
The 'Mafia' series is typically developed by 2K Czech. For 'Mafia III', 2K installed a new studio in California, Hangar 13 Games, and asked 2k Czech to assist with the game's creation. Hanger 13 was founded by former LucasArts stalwart and comic writer, Haden Blackman.
Video Review
'Mafia III' has some great visuals, like the models for people and cars, and then dips in quality for technical things like water, lighting, environmental textures, and so on. Framerate is steady, but there are also plenty of graphical bugs and artifacts, like people not rendering properly during animations or walking strangely. Not huge problems, but they add up to a noticeable level over time.
Audio Review
This is my new favorite licensed game soundtrack (not score, although the score is also pretty great), even beating out 'Fallout 4' and 'Rebel Galaxy'. Hits from rock acts like Jimi Hendrix and CCR join the early soul stuff like 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me' and 'Son of a Preacher Man', and even curiosities like 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'. The voice acting, helmed by Alex Hernandez as Clay, is very well done.
Final Thoughts
'Mafia III' put a high priority on its backstory, immersion, and presentation. That work shows in the quality of the narrative and the tragic characters, but unfortunately left little to flesh out the city of New Bordeaux. It's worth playing for the campaign, but perhaps there isn't a need to rush.