2K Games’ upcoming Mafia III will continue the tradition of being open world, but the third game in the venerable series has taken on more modern tones, especially when it comes to the driving and vehicle physics.

According to one of the latest developer insight videos, they reveal that the driving physics were strongly based on the Steve McQueen flick, Bullitt. In the movie, McQueen and the rest of the stunt team put on a tour de force in a chase sequence that was raw, real and a powerful showcase for the Dodge Charger and Ford Mustang.

Well, in the video below, 2K notes that gamers will be inspired to drive like McQueen as they race around the streets of New Orleans.

According to the developers, Mafia III will have easy pick-up-and-play controls when you hop into a vehicle and will enable you to easily pull off powerslides and drifts, as well as kick each vehicle into top gear while barreling down the streets like a man riding in a metal bullet.

They also mention that the vehicles will require some additional time to master, but I’m not really sure what they mean by that. I just hope that the car physics aren’t so arcadey that any sense of skill or danger is thrown clear out the window. It takes a fine balance to enforce players to learn how to drive each vehicle while also making them fun to drive.

I think both GTA: San Andreas and GTA IV managed to do a pretty good job of making the cars feel distinct, real but also fun to operate. I can’t really knock Saints Row 2 for that either… the game had some really solid vehicle mechanics, much more diverse than the more limited Saints Row 3 and 4.

Based on the little I’ve seen of Mafia III the driving looks to be fairly arcade-like, almost equivalent to Sleeping Dogs. The cars certainly don’t look as heavy and weighty as they did in Mafia II, nor do they look as challenging to handle like in the first Mafia.

I can’t really make any definitive judgment calls right now because we just haven’t seen enough yet. I’m sure we’ll see more leading up to its release on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC on October 7th. For more info feel free to visit the official website.