Whatever you expect of a title emblazoned with the name of an Italian crime syndicate, this certainly isn't it.

Mafia III quite wholly unexpectedly (or not, depending on whether you've seen the myriad promotional videos) throws us plumb in the middle of race-fuelled, Vietnam War-tainted American south and a hero deeply entrenched in both camps.

And for the first couple of hours you'll be asking quite what the hell the Mafia has to do with this initially rather excellent sandbox title. Patience and progress answers such questions, of course, and the first stack of missions are exceptional, beating seven shades out of your enemy before driving off to a stonking 60s soundtrack.

The stories surrounding Lincoln Clay are told in documentary-style flashback with a fine script to boot. But trouble emerges once you're fist-deep in Mafia III's guts, namely some painfully repetitive missions.

And while it's probably unfair to compare this to the latest GTA or even Assassin's Creed, the city of New Bordeaux (splendidly modelled on New Orleans) needs more than just the storyline missions going on. Actually scratch that, it is right to compare these titles. We're not dealing with a budget entry, and high standards set by previous like-minded games should be followed or bettered.

It's a shame more time wasn't spent on Mafia III because much of the difficult stuff is done wonderfully well. Mission variation shouldn't be an issue, and a vibrant city peppered with extras is a given.

But if you can suck up the repetitiveness, there are far worse places to point your gun than in Lincoln Clay's New Bordeaux.