The Mafia open world game series has a lot of fans which will rejoice to hear a third installment has been officially confirmed. No details were released, though, aside from those regarding the reveal date for the first trailer.

That’s apparently going to take place at Gamescom next week, on August 5.

All we got with the announcement is a very dark reveal shot that seems to indicate the action has advanced in time to what appears to be the late 1960s – 1970s judging by the automotive silhouettes in the background.

If you aren’t familiar with older Mafia games, they are basically like Grand Theft Auto, only much more story driven. One of the biggest gripes even fans of the games had with it was the fact that the missions were far too restrictive and you were not allowed to roam any of the cities; hopefully developer 2K Games will not mess it up this time like it did with Mafia II.

One area where the series always stood out was the attention to detail when it came to the vehicles. Back in 2002 when the first game released it was a graphical revolution, a good five years ahead of the then contemporary Grand Theft Auto 3 title which had just migrated into the realm of 3D for the first time less than a year before.

The second title (Mafia II) was still distinctive in its look but it was too short and clearly the product of a board meeting instead of the idea to create an immersive game – check out its review below to get a feel for what to expect.

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