Mafia 4 should have a retro 90s setting inspired by The Sopranos

pcgamesn.com:

Mafia 4 should use a retro ’90s and early ’00s aesthetic as inspired by TV hit The Sopranos – just like GTA: Vice City and its 1986-style Miami worked for Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto back in 2002.

The Mafia series has already worked through the staples of the gangster genre, beginning with the Prohibition era 1930s in the original game, through the post-war opportunism of the 1950s in Mafia 2, and the stylish, freewheeling 1960s in Mafia 3. For the now-confirmed Mafia 4, the obvious choice would be the 1970s. Using films like The French Connection, Mean Streets, and Serpico, developer Hangar 13 have a solid visual basis for a rainy, grey New York City that could serve as the ideal backdrop for the next Mafia game. Cruising around in a chunky muscle car, wearing a wing-collar suit and aviators, it’s easy to imagine yourself playing through a story about the mob’s descent into drug dealing and in-fighting.

But that’s the obvious choice, and a visual style that’s already been touched on by games like Driver, and the – admittedly forgotten – 2006 crime sim Made Man. Especially looking at horror games right now, there’s a growing fascination with the 1990s. Game-makers like Puppet Combo have carved a significant niche with PS1-style blocky graphics and world design, and though I’m loath to admit it lest I crumble into dust at my keyboard, the ’90s were now long enough ago to be considered authentically retro. When GTA: Vice City launched in 2002, its 1986 version of a fictionalised Miami was retro by a mere 16 years. 1995, meanwhile, was 27 years ago. If Mafia wants to stay attached to the past, there’s no harm in setting Mafia 4 during the era of Spice Girls, Tamagotchis, and dial-up internet.

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