The Mafia 3 launch trailer is a stroll through the brutal streets of New Bordeaux

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How Mafia 3 works out as a game remains to be seen, but it's sure given us some awfully good trailers. The launch trailer, out now ahead of the game's imminent release, is another winner. It's a fairly simple montage of anti-hero Lincoln Clay wandering the streets of New Bordeaux, collecting his supporting cast of ne'er-do-wells (and dropping the hammer of street justice) as he goes, but it's oozing with ambiance and overlaid with a smooth new track by Ice Cube, too.

It's entirely cinematic, but it sets the tone for a period-piece crime epic that, as we noted in last month's preview, has the potential to be "one of the more memorable open world games of the recent past." The possibility that it's locked at 30 fps is concerning, but that will hopefully be addressed through a launch-day patch or some other kind of techno-magery. We'll keep you posted on that.

Steam says Mafia 3 will unlock in approximately 10 hours, which puts it around 11 pm ET/8 pm PT today.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.