How To Play (and Fix) Mafia III For Free Before The Old Country
The curtain has finally been lifted on Mafia: The Old Country, releasing August 8. It’s got a much more sinister tone than its predecessors, plus The Old Country predates the events of everything we’ve played thus far. Perhaps we will get to see the origins of what would eventually become the Saleri crime family. However, we still have to wait to get our hands on Enzo’s story and damn it looks like a good one. So in the meantime, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to go through the previous games. While every title stands on their own telling their own stories, they all connect within the same timeline. Similar to the Grand Theft Auto games referencing past locations and events.
Going back through the series is always a good time, although most would tell you that Mafia III is the black sheep of the franchise. It’s the game that reviewed the lowest and suffers weak gameplay padding making it the most tedious entry to play through. Mind you, I say this as someone who’s played the game at least once a year since its release in 2016. Why do I do that? It’s simple, I just love Mafia III’s world and characters. The narrative in Mafia III is not just unique to its franchise but one of the most memorable across any game I’ve played. It’s a strong story, and one that easily holds up and one that I don’t think should be missed. In fact, you can get your hands on it for absolutely free right this second.
If you have a Twitch Prime subscription, you can get Mafia III: Definitive edition for free on PC right here until July. You’ll be given a GOG key and will have to redeem it there. Before you write it off because it isn’t on Steam, hear me out. When you claim a game through GOG it isn’t the same deal as purchasing a game on Steam. The difference being you are explicitly told upon your purchase of any Steam title that your transaction was strictly a license provision which can be revoked at any time. Any game you have through GOG is simply yours. Nobody can take it away from you, if you back the game up to a local flash drive and put it in a different computer it simply will just work. The game is yours, you own it, and in this day and age that’s more important than you realize.
Now, here’s the thing. You have the game now but I did just tell you that it’s a bit of a mess to play. Sure the story may be good, but if it sucks to play then what’s the point? Well see that’s the joy of playing on PC with a dedicated community, as they’ve single handedly fixed most of the issues I’ve personally had with Mafia III through mods. What I’ve decided to do is install the GOG version of Mafia III and modify it just as I did before on Steam and I am happy to report that everything I’ve tried has worked with no issues. We have to wait a year for GTA VI, so why not fill in the void of urban crime as Hanger 13’s Punisher? This is by no means a be all end all mod list, just a few things I managed to do to slightly tweak the experience to make it a much more fulfilling game to play. And of course, you don’t even have to mod it at all. Regardless, I do not think Mafia III is a game you should miss.
I highly encourage anybody out there to give Mafia III a chance because Lincoln Clay’s story really is something special. Narratively speaking, it never loses its luster nor does it shy away from the hardcore complexities of its subject matter, racism being the biggest standout. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for anybody to download and install these mods, so I’ve made very simple yet effective instructions for how to do it. Chances are you’re gonna go on Mafia III’s Nexus page and see the Community Patch immediately.
MAFIA III Community Patch:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia3/mods/89
This is a modpack that has basically everything you could want. However, there could be aspects of this patch that you may not be a fan of or would want in your experience. Personally, I would rather manually install the individual mods I want myself, I’m just peculiar in that regard. You could just get the Community Patch and call it a day, and that’s totally fine there’s nothing wrong with that. Remember, the game is yours to do with as you see fit. It may be more tedious going the individual route, but I will explain how to install each one of them, as well as explain exactly what it is you’re doing.
Don’t worry if you’ve never tinkered with a game before, I promise you it’s much easier than you think. Just be sure to make a backup of ANYTHING you replace in the chance that something doesn’t work. Everything here I have tested on my machine with no issues over hours of game time, so I can vouch for the experience firsthand, but sometimes you just never know.
The main directory for the game will vary by user depending on where they choose to store it, but the two default paths for both the GOG and Steam versions are as follows:
GOG - C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Mafia III Definitive Edition
Steam - C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Mafia III Definitive Edition
REDUCE GAME SIZE:
Mafia III contains multiple GBs worth of extra language files for the game's various cutscenes. However, you don’t necessarily need them if you only play in one language, which I think is safe to say most players do. Once you download the mod, drag the contents of it to your main game directory (shown above), then run the “Reduce Game Size” batch file and follow the instructions. It is straightforward as can be so don’t worry.
IMPROVED STORY MODELS:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia3/mods/164?tab=description
COLOR CORRECTION:
Mafia III won’t win any awards for its graphics, even for its time. The visuals to put it simply are muddy and most of the color has been washed out. However, artistically and animation wise Mafia III stands the test of time better than you’d think. The facial animations in particular are excellent during the cutscenes, of which there are plenty. So as you can see, the first link provided improves all those character models in the aforementioned cutscenes, which looks better when you’re playing as opposed to what a picture will show. The second brings some much needed color back into the world without having to use any third party tools such as Reshade. All you do is download the mods and drag the extracted contents into their respective folders. If your PC isn’t particularly strong, you don’t necessarily need the high resolution models but I would recommend the color correction no matter what.
4K Characters: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Mafia III Definitive Edition\sds_retail\consumables
Color Correctionr: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Mafia III Definitive Edition\sds_retail\city_univers
WEAPON SOUND OVERHAUL:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia3/mods/120?tab=description
I don’t think I need to explain in depth what a weapon sound overhaul does. I will say though that the new weapon sounds brought some serious punch to gunfights. Particularly on harder hitting weapons such as snipers and the Clipper .44 handgun. All you do is drag the extracted contents over to the folder and replace everything.
Weapon Sounds: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Mafia III Definitive Edition\sds_retail\weapons
BETTER CROSSHAIRS:
Now onto the game itself, Mafia III’s gunfights more or less devolved to spraying and praying. I don’t think the shooting mechanics were ever a problem necessarily, but this mod does more than you think. Not only does this mod give you the option for a smaller crosshair, it tightens the guns to fire with pinpoint accuracy which requires a different approach to gunfights. Running around with a pistol landing consecutive headshots simply won’t feel better than this. Replace the “ingame_gui.sds” file with the crosshair of your choice, after you make that backup first.
Better Crosshairs: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Mafia III Definitive Edition\sds_retail\gui
RACKET REMOVAL:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia3/mods/78?tab=description
The biggest problem of Mafia III is how padded the game is with mundane open world content that is essential to progress the narrative. In Mafia III you’re trying to take the city over piece by piece. To do so, you destroy a lieutenant's racket bit by bit to bring them out and then you kill them and take it over. You’ll be able to see how tedious the process of whittling down a racket’s earnings is very early on in the game.This is a process that does not change throughout the entire duration of the game’s campaign and taking down rackets is what makes up the majority of Mafia III. This is why the game is regarded as poorly as it is, because simply put the racket missions are not fun.
So, this mod will auto complete most of them for you. What will happen is when you talk to an NPC to begin taking down the next racket, it will cut forward to the lieutenant being exposed so you can just move on with the story. This alone will cut the game time in half, but if you ask me this is the most important improvement of the overall experience. 14 of the 18 rackets are auto completed, however those you still have to do are going to be less mundane now that the gameplay has improved, and there’s one way to improve it further should you feel inclined. To install, take the “tables.sds” file from the Racket Removal mod and replace the one in the game’s directory.
Racket Removal: C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Mafia III Definitive Edition\sds_retail\tables
CAMERA AIM AND DRIVING:
https://www.nexusmods.com/mafia3/mods/136?tab=description
MAFIA TOOLKIT:
https://github.com/Greavesy1899/MafiaToolkit/releases/tag/2.33
So I’m going to preface this with a warning, and say that this is the most complicated aspect of this whole process but I promise you it isn’t too bad. I will guide you every step of the way, but first I need to explain what we’re doing here. Now, the camera mod I linked there is OPTIONAL. If you want to be pedantic all of these mods are. Regardless, this is where the modding process gets a bit tricky. If you don’t care about the camera mod, you can just simply take the “tables.sds” folder from the Racket Removal mod and put it in its respective slot, call it a day. The Racket Removal is the most vital mod here, if you ask me. However, I still think that the camera mod improves the gameplay even further and I’ll show you why.
The camera mod will shift the camera back when Lincoln is aiming. Compare this image to the one used for the Better Crosshairs mod. This in conjunction with the Better Crosshairs mod makes Mafia 3 feel more like Max Payne 3 than anything else. The camera mod will also lock the camera behind the car, keeping it in place akin to GTA V. These are arguably preferences, but if you ask me they vastly improve the feeling of the game, especially combat. It doesn’t automatically make Mafia III feel like GTA V, I’m simply using it as a reference. As you progress you’ll learn how to handle the vehicles better via in-game upgrades which makes the driving feel tighter than ever combined with this new camera angle.
The problem is, the camera mod also modifies the same “tables.sds” file if you were to install it automatically. Luckily, there is an option for manual installation. I’d be lying if I said I knew the full ins and outs of file management, including the proper terminology. What I can tell you is that an SDS is basically a package of a bunch of different files and folders. So using the linked Mafia Toolkit program, this allows you to pick one of these packages apart and adjust those aspects individually. This is a much easier process than you think, and when you’re done you will have both Racket Removal and the improved camera. Promise, I’ll make this as easy as possible.
First, replace the “tables.sds” file in Mafia III’s directory with the one you downloaded from the Racket Removal mod. Next, open the Mafia Toolkit and point it to where you have the game installed.
Now click “Start Toolkit”. What you’re looking at is just another file explorer, so don’t be intimidated. Using the same pathing you already know to find the same “tables.sds” package, which in theory is the Racket Removal “tables.sds” that you already replaced. You’re now going to right click on that package and unpack it. In case you need the pathing again, it’s present in the next photo.
If you go back to your Windows File Explorer (by opening the window yourself or clicking ‘Open Folder in Explorer’ when right-clicked on ‘tables.sds’ in Mafia Toolkit) you’ll see a folder labeled “extracted” and “BackupSDS”. Follow this path to get to the “game_camera” folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Mafia III Definitive Edition\sds_retail\tables\extracted\tables.sds\config\game_camera
From there, replace the “game_camera” folder from the extracted folder with the one you downloaded from the camera mod. On that Indiana Jones type beat replacing one folder with another.
Almost there, stick with me just a second longer. Now go back in the Mafia Toolkit, specifically the screen where you initially unpacked “tables.sds”, now you simply do the inverse operation and pack it back together. Once you pack it up that’s it. Now you’ve modded Mafia III!
There are other more superfluous mods that aren’t exactly necessary, such as replacing the art of the main menu or even replacing Lincoln’s outfits with that of the Punisher, which I alluded to earlier. They all follow the same format in terms of installing, there aren’t exactly a whole bunch to mess around with but now you know how to do it should you go digging around yourself. The fact that it is as easy as it is blows my mind. Never did I think that I would ever be capable of doing this kind of thing to my games but here I am, and it’s transformed a personal favorite game of mine into such a unique experience. I truly feel like others simply need to try the game for themselves. Mafia III was hard to go through because of just how quickly tedious the game becomes. The story is an excellent motivator, but now with the power of mods the gameplay is transformed into one as well. At least I think so.
It goes without saying but this wouldn’t be possible without the community and the creators of all the mods listed. SGurjar for the reduced game size, Insanity for the improved story models, Slowpokevg for the color correction, noobmodder12 for the weapon sounds and better crosshairs, Termos3 for the racket removal, JamesBoB101 for the camera mod with manual and automatic installation, and Greavesy for the Mafia Toolkit itself. Without them this wouldn’t be possible, and the power of passion isn’t something that should ever be lost or taken for granted whether it’s about Mafia or beyond. Thank you all for your work.
That’s essentially the reason I’m even here encouraging you to go out and give Mafia III a chance. It won’t cost anything but your time and if you put in the little bit of effort to very easily tweak the game you’ll see just how fulfilling of an experience it is by the time the credits roll. I just love this franchise, and finally seeing a brand new game on the horizon after 9 years since Mafia III’s release is a joy I couldn’t even begin to describe. Not to mention Mafia: The Old Country is only selling for $50, a lower barrier of entry compared to most titles these days. That all being said, I hope you take the time to visit New Bordeaux and let everyone know the name: Lincoln Clay.
