In Mafia 3, the game revolves around a man whose mission is to avenge the death of his family.  The story unfolds in New Orleans during 1968 where organized crime and racism are norms to be dealt with every single day.  Such is the new and atypical premise of the new Mafia franchise developed by Hangar 13 and 2K Games.

Lincoln Clay, the main character, is a half-white, half-black Vietnam veteran who found a family in the "Black mob" when he settled in New Orleans after the war.   This was shortlived, when the Italian mob wiped out his clan and left him dead.

After he recovers, he sets out to take revenge and organizes a group of "lieutenants" to help him on his mission.  His triple-threat criminal empire is composed of "Cassandra and her Haitians, Burke and his Irish, and the protagonist from Mafia 2, Vito Scaletta, who lends his faction of Italians."

"These three lieutenants will grant the player (you) special abilities and unlocks if you show them favor, or bicker and betray if they feel you're giving away their piece of this new crime pie," explained in a Mafia 3 site.

According to Andy Wilson, the game's executive producer, "family means multiple things to Lincoln in this game."  As the story/game unfolds, these lieutenants will become, "in a weird sense, Lincoln's family."

As to the game's new location and era, it received both quite a stir and interest among those who watched the Mafia 3 trailer during Gamescom last August 5-9 in Cologne, Germany. 

During the 1960s, as we know, the US was in a disconcerting condition - with the Vietnam War and civil rights protests at its helm.  For the Mafia 3 game and with Lincoln's background, this base of the story proved to be quite relevant.

Incidentally, in IGN's compilation of 9 biggest articles and videos from the convention, Mafia 3 was at No. 1 based on IGN.com traffic.

This Mafia installment has the same third-person mechanic as the previous ones.  Softpedia reports that the Mafia 3 will use an open-world structure, and that the player can interrogate to extract information from them and kill them after doing so.

Mafia 3 is Hangar's first take on the franchise.  Perhaps, that is the reason why it took on a different formula - taking out the stereotypical Italian mob protagonists and creating an unlikely family theme as well.