Mafia 3’s Vietnam War-era American South is a goldmine of ideas.
Games are a great way to explore important times and places in history, even if the stories they want to tell are made-up. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, an interactive adventure that is one of my favorites this year, told a compelling tale about the Iranian revolution while focusing on the smaller, fictional drama between two friends. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, with its deep roots in 90s hip-hop culture, didn’t shy away from the reality of street life in Southern California, while Grand Theft Auto IV explored the tragic way that pursuit of the American dream ended up for two poor immigrants on the East Coast. Even a series as bizarre and imaginative as Metal Gear Solid can still root itself in very real historical and political backdrops, which add a weight and truth to their stories, making them that much stronger.Mafia 3’s Vietnam War-era American South is a goldmine for gameplay and story ideas. A lot happened in 1968. It was the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and the year two black Olympic medalists came under fire for raising their fists during the National Anthem. Humans orbited the moon for the first time and Yale University decided to start admitting women. The Vietnam War reached a turning point with the Viet Cong’s Tet Offensive campaign, one of the bloodiest of the whole conflict and the event that saw American support back home begin to waver in earnest.A crime story couched in the racial tensions of America at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and against the backdrop of a war that many believed wasn’t ours to fight, is an awesome setting for a game. Mafia 3’s reimagined New Orleans, a city known as an oasis of multi-culturism nestled in a broader region famous for its history of discrimination, is just as interesting. I hope that it finds a way to take advantage of these compelling dynamics and tell the many awesome stories its setting is capable of telling.
Chloi Rad is an Associate Editor for IGN. Follow her on Twitter at @_chloi.“