We are finally back.
By Ameer Ammar
It's unbelieveable to think that Mafia hasn't had a new entry in 10 years since 2015's disappointment Mafia 3, over the years after 2K Czech's closure who were the original developers behind Mafia 1 & Mafia 2, The franchise was handed off to new studio Hangar 13, their first game "Mafia 3" despite having a well-written narrative was a huge miss due to a repetitive mission structure that has you doing the exact same activities over and over again for hours on end to unlock an actual main mission, the broken state it was in at launch also didn't help, Mafia as a franchise deserved much better.
2020's Mafia Definitive Edition released five years later, Hangar 13's second shot at the IP was remaking the beloved first game of the franchise and they actually managed to succeed scoring generally favorable reviews, I personally loved Mafia DE, I found its narrative deeply moving while the gameplay itself wasn't anything too special, the story was the draw combining great writing with some incredible performances it captured the soul of the franchise in a way that Mafia 3 missed completely and restored many fans faith in Hangar 13's ability to make something worthy of the Mafia IP.
Another five years later and we finally have a new Mafia game, not a remake nor a remaster but a proper new entry into the franchise with Mafia The Old Country, Like many fans I was skepetical yet excited to see what Hangar 13 would do next after Mafia DE's success and had relatively mild expectations for this $50 ~12 hour long adventure however TOC managed to exceed my expectations and cemented Hangar 13 as a worthy successor to 2K Czech in carrying this franchise forward, I loved this game.
I was at first surprised by the decision to set The Old Country as a prequel to the Mafia trilogy, taking place in 1905 Sicily exploring the lives of some of the earliest Mafia members, the setting choice results in this game feeling more akin to Red Dead Redemption rather than any of the other Mafia games, you'll spend hours riding horses before you ever get to try out driving a car, the weaponry is basically identical to what you can get in Red Dead as well, rather than the bustling cities of Emprie Bay and Lost Heaven, Mafia The Old Country primarily takes place in the countryside, with the small town of San Celeste (Originally playable in Mafia 2's WW2 prologue) being the main point of civilization, this change in scenery for the franchise results in The Old Country feeling very distinct in its identity and I personally loved this change, the lands of Sicily are gorgeous, there's a specific vibe to walking around this game's locales that's hard to describe, it gave me that same feeling I had playing Assassin's Creed 2 for the first time, the architecture is painstakingly detailed that you can see actual cracks on the wall of buildings and great care was taken in even matching San Celeste's appearance to how it appeared in Mafia 2.
However it has to be stated that Mafia The Old Country is NOT an open-world game despite having a map that you can explore, the developers have stated multiple times that they do not see TOC as an open world game nor did they aim for that, instead the open world aspect feels like a backdrop to the main story and you only get a few chances to actually drive through this world freely, you won't find much aside from collectibles and gorgeous architecture as TOC's pacing means you pretty much are always in a mission, it very much is a linear story driven game with only a few moments of freedom just to change the pacing up, even then, all these sections where you are required to drive somewhere far and you are able to go in any direction the developers offer a "skip drive" button as they know this is a narrative game first and foremost.
The story of Mafia The Old Country is fantastic, I'd put this up there with the best in the series of Mafia 1 & Mafia 2, Enzo Favara is our new protagonist, Enzo is sold to a sulfur mine from the age of 5, the story follows his journey as he escapes the mine and falls in with the Torrisi Crime Family. Enzo is distinctly different from Tommy, Lincoln, Vito of previous games in that he is by far the youngest protagonist, starting off from the age of 17, Enzo doesn't have that "gangster" aura about him, he's a strong-willed character for sure but throughout the story has a sense that he doesn't really belong in the Mafia life but rather thrust into it purely due to circumstance, his priorities lie elsewhere in that Mafia The Old Country is a love story first and foremost which is something I didn't expect but I loved, Enzo's chemistry with Isabella, his love interest is beautiful and the general conflict that arises from their love is one that is always festering in the background as Enzo works his way up the family hierarchy, it is a beautiful and tragic love story that by the end, wraps up its plots neatly in ways I didn't see coming, This is a story that you need to experience without looking up anything else as the plot twists and direction it goes are unexpected and great.
The side cast of characters excels here as well, all the performances are fantastic especially Johnny Santiago plays Don Torrisi brings an impeccable presence to every scene he's in, Enzo's friends being Ceasare and Luca Trapani (Father of Samuele Trapani from Mafia 1) are fantastic, there's a real sense of brotherhood between these characters throughout the adventure as Enzo works his way up the ranks with their help. Enzo himself is a good hearted individual that generally has a sense that he isn't very comfortable with any of the Mafia's actions but stays due to his forbidden love towards the Don's daughter Isabella, the story's first half is a deliberately slow build-up that gets you acquinated with all of Enzo's allies and enemies with the second half feeling like an action-driven high stakes high budget mob TV show, I can't stop singing the praises of this narrative as I truly believe this is one of the best stories we've had out of the Mafia franchise and would fit right next to the best mob movies and shows.
Gameplay-wise Mafia The Old Country is generally "good enough", it doesn't bring any innovative or deep mechanics but rather settles for serviceable gameplay that's fun enough to get you from mission to mission, it feels very similar to Mafia Definitive Edition but with more focus on stealth mechanics which again aren't anything deep but are good enough to make those sections enjoyable, the gunplay feels practically identical to Mafia Definitive Edition minus the automatic weaponry, as you'll mainly be using bolt-action rifles and revolvers throughout the game similar to Red Dead.
Horse riding and driving both feel great as well, no complaints about them aside from I was surprised at how fast these cars can actually go considering that they deliberately decided to make the cars slower in Mafia DE to be more historically accurate, that seems to have gone out the window here though as you'll be speeding at max speeds in some of these early 1900s cars at speeds that could rival modern cars, I understand that decision though as it does result in much more fun gameplay.
Visually, Mafia The Old Country is gorgeous, the animations, the environments are all extremely well detailed with the help of Unreal Engine 5, there isn't a moment where Mafia TOC looks "bad", great care was taken into making every environment you get through deeply detailed with NPCs always active in the background as well giving a sense of a living breathing world, the lighting gives a really warm mediterranian feel to Sicily that I loved as well and while the faces won't compete with something like Death Stranding 2's lifelike apperances, they all look great enough as well and suit the rest of the visuals perfectly.
Performance Wise, Mafia encounters some pitfalls, I played this game on the PS5 Pro and while frame rates held 60+ FPS on Performance Mode, the visuals left a lot to be desired on that mode as the base resolution is low for the usual standard of the system and the lack of any upscaling tech such as PSSR means there's a soft look to the visuals that I wasn't a fan of, playing on Quality Mode with Vsync turned off, the game holds a 45-60FPS margin depending on the context and I stuck with that for the entire game as the visual difference was too wide to ignore, that aside, UE5 comes with the usual host of issues in a game that has an open world such as traversal stutter that exists especially during driving sections and races, pop-ins sometimes get in the way, but generally the game runs great on consoles especially if you stick to performance mode. On PC there are reports of much deeper performance issues that I recommend looking into before picking the game up on that platform.
FINAL VERDICT
Mafia The Old Country is a worthy entry to the Mafia franchise, standing right alongside Mafia 1 & Mafia 2 as a great Mafia game, with its choice to double down on the series' best aspects being its narrative while letting go of its open world aspect, Mafia TOC finds a new, more focused direction for the franchise and at a $50 price tag, it's a no brainer purchase.
Mafia The Old Country - 8/10 - BUY