Member Since: 9/12/2011
Posts: 18,018
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'Mafia 3' will confront players with racism
Quote:
A lot of people were surprised to see that Mafia III had left the famous mafia era behind and pushed us far into the swinging sixties. Another surprise came when we realized we wouldn't be playing as a mafioso at all: we'd be slaughtering them. And who would we be slaughtering them as? Lincoln Clay, a Veteran with combat experience in the Vietnam War and a black American.
The location of Mafia 3, the fictional city of New Bordeuax, is designed to replicate the bustling streets of New Orleans, Louisiana. Living in this city during the 1960s as a person of color was undoubtedly more difficult than we could possibly imagine. The developers of this game wish to replicate those hardships, to the best of their abilities, by depicting racism as it existed.
[We] didn’t want to shy away from the reality of the time and the place. There are quite a few moments in the story where race is referenced and race is part of the story, part of the plot. It’s part of who Lincoln is." - Game Director, Haden Blackman
But that's not all, NPCs will actually react to Clay in various ways depending on the part of the city he's in. Southern States notoriously refused service to people of color in certain restaurants, bars, or even entire towns. This despicable racism will be encountered first-hand as you take control of Clay.
“The behavior of pedestrians and NPCs – certainly not everywhere throughout the game, but in large sections of it – there are places where if Lincoln looks out of place and seems out of place, people will react to that,” says Blackman.
“There are places you can go that just being there is an offense and will elicit a police response."
We aren’t so naïve to think that a single game could cure racism, but if we can get the player to think, ‘Why am I being treated differently here than in other parts of town?’ then I think we’ve done something worthwhile.”
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I actually forgot all about this game. Can't wait!
