Mafia: The Old Country is a beautiful nostalgia wrapped in familiar crime.
People who like crime and gangster games have loved the Mafia series for a long time. The first two games in the series, which were made by 2K Czech and had cinematic storylines, realistic historical settings, and good gameplay, were big hits. Here we are in the present day, and Hangar 13, a studio owned by 2K, has had a rough time keeping the game going.
After Mafia III, which got mixed reviews in part because of its uneven gameplay and repetitive mechanics, the studio had to deal with cuts, reorganizations, and constant staff changes. Many of the original team members who worked on Mafia II and even parts of Mafia III slowly left, leaving only a small group of seasoned experts to carry the torch.
Even with these problems, Hangar 13 did an amazing thing with Mafia: Definitive Edition in 2020. It was a complete remake of the original game, and the story and graphics were praised for being better. The studio chose to make a prequel set in the 1900s called Mafia: The Old Country. It was a risky choice to go back to a time of crime, horses, and small Italian towns that had never been seen before in the series.
Amazingly, Hangar 13 was able to finish such a well-done job after years of layoffs and chaos. The game is a loving homage to the old Mafia games, capturing the spirit of those games with care and respect, even though it doesn’t really do anything new. It’s great that they tried to bring back Mafia’s story in a new setting, and it’s clear that some of the studio’s longest-serving writers had a big impact on this.
In Mafia: The Old Country, you play as Enzo Favara, a young orphan from Sicily who has to find his way in the dangerous and honor-bound world of the Torrisi crime family. From the start, Mafia: The Old Country is based on well-known gangster tropes, like family loyalty, betrayal, love that isn’t returned, and violent power battles that would fit right in with any old mob movie.
The main plot of Enzo’s story is the rise and fall of a thief, but the voice acting and motion capture are very good and give the characters a lot of emotional depth. The story has a lot of expected turns, like the tension that will always exist between the Don’s daughter Isabella and the typical “tough guy with a heart” lead, but it’s told well enough to keep you interested.
The motion capture and speech acting are what make the characters come to life, even though they might otherwise seem like caricatures. If you liked Mafia’s other games, this one has the movie-like feel you want, even though it doesn’t really surprise you.
The bad thing is that the story is easy to guess. The story doesn’t stray too far from typical gangster fare; it often feels like an old version of other Mafia stories that aren’t trying to be new. It’s more of a safe and polite retelling than a brave new story. But for people who like the usual gangster plot, this will feel like going home.
When it comes to gameplay, Mafia: The Old Country is more like an improvement over the systems that were added in Mafia: Definitive Edition than a complete change. The scenery of Sicily was carefully designed to make you want to spend most of your time behind the wheel.
Driving has always been one of the best parts of the Mafia series, and it still is here, thanks to a beautiful open world full of classic cars that car fans will love, especially now that the car library is back and has a lot of information about each one.
Driving is really fun, mostly because the world is so beautiful to see. All around the setting is a beautiful place to look at, with quiet towns, endless wineries, ruined castles, and busy villages. That being said, there isn’t much reason to go off the beaten path besides driving and a few collected items.
The story of Mafia: The Old Country is told in a linear way, which makes exploration feel restricted. The world is beautiful, but it often feels like a background rather than a place to play. The other main parts of Mafia: The Old Country are combat and stealth. Shooting is based on cover and works, but it’s not a big deal.
Sometimes the shooting feels “floaty,” and while shootouts are exciting when they happen—often ending with explosive set pieces like building escapes on fire—they don’t happen very often and don’t fully use the weapons of the time. Basic tactics are used in stealth tasks, such as distracting guards, sneaking around, and carrying out silent takedowns.
Does it work? Of course. Interesting? To a certain point. The stealth parts of the game don’t try anything new, so they often become boring. Knife fights break up the story and serve as high-stakes duels at the end of each chapter. Simple moves like dodging, blocking, hitting, and slashing are used in these close-quarters fights.
Fighting in Mafia: The Old Country is a bit like old-school Assassin’s Creed, with moves like breaking stance and timed dodges, but the fights don’t change much throughout the game and get boring very quickly. They’re good at building drama in the game, but they don’t add much to the mechanical depth.
The best thing about the combat system is how easy and comfortable it is. You’ll feel right at home if you played Mafia: Definitive Edition, which is good and bad. Mafia: The Old Country doesn’t try to reinvent stealth or cover shooting; it just uses tried-and-true methods in new ways without adding any real new features.
Knife fights are a unique idea for Mafia, but they don’t add anything new to the game and become less interesting after a while. Because it takes a conservative approach to gameplay, Mafia: The Old Country does a great job of keeping players interested over a short 12-hour journey, but it falls short when it comes to offering variety or mechanical challenge.
This is good enough for fans who want a strong story with some movie-like moments. It might feel old to players who are used to games being more complicated or new. XP and upgrades happen on their own as the game goes on. Mafia: The Old Country doesn’t have any complicated grinding loops or long side tasks, which helps it focus on a linear story experience.
This fits with the game’s goal of putting story and atmosphere ahead of RPG-style development. It’s mostly through completing missions that you can improve Enzo’s skills, get new charms, and get better weapons. This keeps the pace tight and focused.
It’s beautiful to look at Mafia: The Old Country feels real and alive, and it’s full of beautiful details, like the detailed buildings in Sicilian towns and the huge vineyards and old castle ruins that dot the landscape. The mood is lifted by the lighting and weather effects, which make the setting feel real and stunning.
The care to detail also shows in the vehicles and character models, which are designed to look like they would have in the 1900s. One of the best parts is driving through this world, which gives you a real sense of where you are that not many games can match. The artists should be praised for making such a beautiful and realistic picture of Sicily.
The sound design goes well with the images. The world is full of life through background noises like people talking, birds singing, and bells in the distance. The old-school soundtrack gets the mood of the time and makes the experience more immersive without taking away from the story.
Sounds like gunfire, car engines, footsteps, and nature are carefully designed to feel real. The voice acting and motion capture are both very good, and they give Enzo’s journey more soul. The movie-like feel the game is going for is strengthened by this level of sound polish.
Mafia: The Old Country is a great story and atmosphere game, but it’s a safe return to old-school gameplay principles. Hangar 13 has made a beautiful prequel that honors the franchise’s roots with love and respect, even though they had some internal problems and staff turnover.
Even though the plot is obvious, the story is still interesting because of the great acting and well-thought-out setting. Sicily’s beautiful open spaces are fun to drive around in, even if you don’t have much time to really explore.
The gameplay is still the weakest part of the series. Cover shooting, stealth, and knife fights all feel tired and unimaginative. Combat is boring, stealth is useful but boring to use over and over, and knife fights, while cool in movies, get old quickly. The story is very important to the progression, so there’s no reason to grind or do side tasks.
In the end, Mafia: The Old Country is made for Mafia fans who care most about the story and the setting. Even though it doesn’t push the limits of gameplay, it has a great story and a world with a lot of little details. It might feel like a missed chance for beginners or people looking for new mechanics.
If this game does well, it could bring the series back to life and make way for a full-on next-generation Mafia game with more features and a bigger budget. For now, The Old Country is a polite and beautiful part of the Mafia story. The story and setting are enough to make it worth seeing on their own.
