Gamespot:
PCGAMER:
IGN: The IGN article is worth watching the video version of the article as it has a decent amount of new gameplay footage.
Loads more info at the links, if you find something interesting at another site post and I'll try to add to the OP
Missions are open-ended and can be tackled a number of different ways.
There are several ways to handle things, whether it be sneaking in, grabbing want you want and getting out, or going in guns blazing. Each mission has its own checklist of tasks in order to get to the boss at the end, but in some cases, one action or another will allow you to bypass a few of those points, letting you go right to top if you're ready. Or, you could still choose to take out all subordinates, if you’re a completionist that likes to leave no mess behind and maybe have fewer obstacles blocking your final target.
I was given a few options for bringing down one particular racket. Rather than sneak into a hideout, I chose to go in guns raised, call in a squad of Irish mobsters to help me, and pick everyone off one by one. It took me a few tries--and eventually I decided to enter the building from a different entrance, but by coming in on a middle floor instead of the basement, I was able to wipe everyone out successfully.
Later, I had two choices for infiltrating the hotel where my target lived. I could go the garage, steal a car, and engage in some subterfuge, or I could walk into the hotel lobby and start shooting. I went with the latter and had to battle my way up multiple floors of a penthouse, tossing molotovs to wipe out multiple mobsters at once.
PCGAMER:
The important thing to know is that none of these activities are side-quests. Hangar 13 is at pains to emphasise that everything you do in Mafia III pushes you forward. Everything is part of the core narrative, the new structure simply in place to deliver a greater sense of player authorship by way of a wider path to the end goal. That’s very welcome news to those of us who feared that the previous game’s nuanced, affecting, genuinely mature storytelling thrust might be drowned amid a push for minigames and nonsense diversions. Mafia’s new developer really seems to understand what makes the series special, and is building part three around the same key pillars of grown-up, character-driven story, sparkling historical detail, and smooth, snappy action.
IGN: The IGN article is worth watching the video version of the article as it has a decent amount of new gameplay footage.
Between shootouts with capos, you can do things like wiretap targeted areas, which will allow you to see enemies through walls -- as well as other items or points of interest -- in the Intel View. You can also upgrade your car so that car chases get even more fun -- I love how the turn-by-turn directions are organically placed in the game world as virtual road signs, by the way -- call in favors for things like cutting the phone lines so that the bad guys can’t call in reinforcements, and much more. It should give the open world some of the life that Mafia II lacked.
Loads more info at the links, if you find something interesting at another site post and I'll try to add to the OP