Mafia: The Old Country Review – It’s Strictly Business

After nearly a decade, Hangar 13 is back with an all-new chapter in the Mafia saga. This time, however, they’re moving away from the familiar streets of an American city and taking us to where it all started, Sicily. 

While past Mafia games have featured large, explorable environments, that’s not the case for Mafia: The Old Country.

With the franchise going back to its roots, does Hangar 13 manage to deliver a new classic worthy of the series’ legacy? Let’s find out in our full review of Mafia: The Old Country.

Back to Where It All Began

As many have probably guessed from the naming and all the marketing, Mafia: The Old Country is a prequel to the original Mafia games. But it’s not just about being set in the years of what would become one of America’s biggest crime organizations, but rather a look at where it all first began, in 1900s Sicily.

The game follows Enzo Favara, a young man who escapes a life of forced labor and becomes involved with a local crime family. After rescuing him from a local rival, the crime family accepts Enzo as one of their own. One life, traded for another, and although it’s a good one for Enzo that sees him riches like he’s never dreamed, it’s a life from which he can never truly escape. The loyalty he owes and the blood he spills become the foundation for a new, brutal kind of family, one he’s forced to build with his own hands.

It’s a tale that perhaps many fans of Mafia and gangsters-themed movies and shows are too familiar with. But that familiarity is not something new, as the theme is one we’ve seen in the likes of The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Sopranos, and like those movies and shows, it’s all about the execution of such stories, which elevates them beyond their tired tale. 

And suppose you loved the aforementioned, including the Mafia games. In that case, you’re going to love the story that The Old Country has to offer, because it has everything you would want out of a Mafia/gangster themed story. 

But taking the story to Sicily is one that isn’t too common for western-made experiences, and I like to think that Hangar 13 really nailed the location, as its beautiful and rugged landscape serves as a perfect backdrop for the game’s brutal narrative. From the dusty roads and sun-drenched vineyards to the distant, looming mountains, the environment is not just scenery, but a character in its own right. A land where old traditions and new violence clash, and where every beautiful vista hides a dangerous secret. It’s a land that truly captures the spirit of “the old country” and provides a unique atmosphere that sets it apart from previous games in the series.

There’s a sense that what the characters are fighting for here is far nobler. The struggle isn’t about power or money in the American sense, but about survival, family honor, and protecting their land from outsiders. This makes the violence feel more personal and the betrayals more impactful. It’s not just a war over rackets; it’s a desperate battle to preserve a way of life, even if it’s a brutal one.

As far as the story goes, The Old Country is easily one of the best the series has to offer. The characters are all fantastically written, drawing you in with nearly every spoken dialogue. There’s a magic to it that makes you fall in love with its characters, and although it’s a bit of a slow burn at first, it’s well worth the time to experience. 

With that said, let’s move on to perhaps the biggest part of the game, where the bulk of the criticisms are going to come in: the gameplay.

Not So Gangster

With Mafia: The Old Country being a budget-priced game (priced at $50, rather than the standard $70 for current-gen games), it comes with the expectation that some areas will be cut back on. Despite having a rather large world, Hanger 13 opted for a linear approach in The Old Country, rather than pursuing an open world for its own sake. The campaign itself is approximately 9 to 11 hours long, which, to me, is the perfect length for a linear experience. So what exactly is wrong with the gameplay?

Well, for starters, there’s nothing wrong with the gameplay itself. Sure, it’s dated in some regards to its third-person shooter and cover mechanics, but I wasn’t looking for this game to kick-start some revolution in the gameplay department. 

It plays about as I was expecting, and I found the shooting, cover, and even stealth to be pretty enjoyable. Not revolutionary, but it didn’t need to be. To sort of try to take the series up a notch, there are cinematic knife fights that are very reminiscent of the sword fight from Uncharted 4, and I actually really like these.

So what is the issue here? Well, going back to the campaign’s length, a bulk of that is a mix of cutscenes or dialogue, where you do have control of the characters, but you’re forced into one of those”follow-this-character-while-you-talk-to-them” scenarios. I would hardly call pushing forward on analog stick as “gameplay,” and the game carries on like this for quite a long time.  It’ll throw in some of those cinematic knife fights here and there, but you’ll find that for the bulk of the game, it’s walking and talking, with cutscenes, and then only after a while, you’ll get to shoot at stuff before being thrown into lengthy segments where you don’t do much. 

It’s hard to call this a “game” at times, but it does pick up and does a ton of heavy lifting towards the third and final act of the game. But before all that, you’ll find that you’re mostly watching a “movie” rather than playing an interactive experience. Again, I love the story the game has to tell, but it really doesn’t start to feel like you’re playing a game until you’re over halfway in. 

That’s really up to you if you like that type of experience, but I wish the game had longer gameplay sections and balanced them out better. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having a hard time staying awake during the first few hours of the game, and it’s not because of the story, but because I kept wondering when I would actually get to play something. It’s no exaggeration when I say that about 75% of the game consists of dialogue and cutscenes, with the rest (possibly even less) being actual gameplay, such as combat and stealth.

I enjoyed the gameplay that was present, as well as some of the more cinematic moments that were clearly inspired by the Uncharted franchise. I just wish it had more of it. A little more time and focus there, and I would have said this was by far the best Mafia game. Certainly the best story in the franchise, in my opinion. 

Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In

If you’re a fan of the series and are looking for another well-written, character-driven story that’s grounded in the brutal realism of the Mafia, you’ll find a lot to love here. I think Hanger 13 nailed the story down, and captured that charm of what we loved about the stories in the original games. The move to Sicily is a brilliant choice, and the game’s narrative and cinematic presentation are some of the best the franchise has to offer. The characters are compelling, the setting is breathtaking, and the slow-burn storytelling pays off in a satisfying final act.

But on the other hand, if you’re looking for a new Mafia game that offers deep and rich gameplay, you’ll likely be disappointed by what’s here. While the shooting and stealth mechanics are serviceable and even fun at times, there simply isn’t enough of them to justify the long stretches of walking, talking, and cutscenes.

I’m hopeful this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the franchise, and I am glad that Mafia: The Old Country happened, though I do hope that if we do get another game, it finds a way to deliver a more balanced experience.

Score: 7.5/10

Pros

• Fantastic, character-driven story.
• Brilliant setting in 1900s Sicily.
• Cinematic and well-directed cutscenes.
• Compelling and impactful narrative.
• Cinematic knife fights are a great addition.

Cons

• Heavily unbalanced ratio of story to gameplay.
• Long, slow-paced segments with little interactivity.
• Gameplay is functional but lacks depth.

Mafia: The Old Country review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

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