Mafia 3’s opening used to be much more intense, the game’s director has revealed. A “cold open” sequence that ended with the main character killing a cop was eventually cut from the game — and apparently deleted from the developer’s servers, so it never gets out.

Mafia III's perspective on racial tensions in the United States is something rarely seen in games. Accordingly, some reviewers have argued that the actual gameplay of Mafia III wasn't nearly as innovative as the narrative. While I agree that Mafia III's narrative takes more risks than the gameplay, the two function as a whole. The open-world setting made Mafia III's story more compelling by working against each other. Where the gameplay provided endless freedom, the game's story denounced it.

For all its other problems, Mafia III was a very good-looking video game, so it's a treat today to get to check out some of the art that went into its creation.

Open-world games benefit massively from thriving mod scenes, and while Mafia 3 is no Grand Theft Auto 5, it's seen a trickle of mods since launch. Here are a handful of good ones.

Racism is everywhere in Mafia III, in a way never before seen in a major video game. It's gotten people talking

Today on Highlight Reel we have WWE Belts, FIFA celebrations, Gears glitches and swearing!

Mafia III takes hours to really get going. Sometimes it's a predictable, janky slog. Once it finds its groove, though, it's an open-world crime game unlike any other. It's a bold depiction of a difficult time and place -- a portrait of New Orleans in the late 1960s, racism and ugliness included.

Mafia III has some issues. Despite that, I've been enjoying my time with it. I really like losing myself in the sprawling, multifaceted city of New Bordeaux. The game's navigation system does a great job of enabling that.

In 2008, Dear Esther asked players to do more than just press buttons on a controller. The game ask them to use their imagination to build a personal narrative. Eight years later, contemporary titles like Hitman and Mafia III are also catching on to the value of imaginative play.

Today on Highlight Reel we have Mafia III glitches galore, good Tracer taunt timing, Totally Accurate Battle Simulations, deeply depressing gameplay, and much more.

I'm still working my way through Mafia III for our review, but I can tell you this much: It's glitchy. Damn glitchy.

We're playing the first hour of Mafia III, and you can watch it here!

Mafia III just launched, but it's already in the hands of reviewers for a while. Unfortunately, they have discovered that the PC version's framerate is capped at 30 FPS. Now 2K's dealing with one hell of an angry mob -- and not the organised, suit-wearing kind.

Mafia III, due out later this year on consoles and PC, has a few interesting things going for it. It's a crime story set in a fictionalized version of 1960s New Orleans. It has a black protagonist. Here's a less obvious distinctive trait: its open world can be changed.