The Mafia series has always been an outlier in the open-world action genre. While the 2002 original could have easily been written off as another Grand Theft Auto clone, Mafia and subsequent titles in the franchise carved a niche for themselves by being narrative-driven experiences built around a specific time and place. Empire Bay from Mafia 1 and 2 is an amalgamation of Chicago and New York created to capture the feeling of 1930s and 50s gangster culture, while New Bordeaux from Mafia 3 attempted to depict the Vietnam-era in the south. Mafia: The Old Country successfully continues this trend with its depiction of Sicily in the early 1900s, but is ultimately held back by its shallow mechanics and dated design.
Mafia: The Old Country follows Enzo Favara as he falls in with the Torrisi Crime Family. After fleeing the sulfur mines, Enzo is saved by Don Torrisi, a soft-spoken and enigmatic mob boss that sounds like another very famous soft-spoken crime lord. Torrisi sees potential in Enzo and puts him to work at his vineyard where he meets Luca, a mentor-like figure to Enzo; Cesare, Don Torrisi’s hot-headed nephew; and Isabella, the Don’s daughter with whom Enzo has an instant connection. Throughout the course of the 12-hour story, Enzo sinks deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld. It’s a fairly predictable mobster story that’s elevated by strong characters, great performances, and thoughtful writing.
That said, Mafia: The Old Country’s cast doesn’t make the best first impression. Enzo is very quiet and standoffish in the early hours; Don Torissi, at times, sounds a little too much like Michael Corleone; and Luca–despite being one of my favorite characters by the end–comes across as just another rank-and-file mobster. Fortunately, after the first couple of chapters, their personalities start to come through more strongly. This is especially true for Luca, who helps guide Enzo through his new life within the Torrisi family. Meanwhile, Cesare develops beyond a simple hothead as he struggles to live up to his uncle’s lofty expectations. The only exception to the slow burn of character personalities is Tino, Don Torrisi consigliere. Portrayed by Anthony Skordi, Tino makes a chilling impression out of the gate and frequently steals whatever scene he’s in.
While I enjoyed the characters, the story itself has been done many times before, even within this series. A young man falls in with the mafia. His new life is exciting, but the cracks begin to show. People start to die, and the protagonist must decide where his loyalties lie. Different names fill the blanks, but the blanks are the same. While I had many issues with Mafia 3, I appreciated the risks it took with its story. Mafia: The Old Country, by comparison, feels very safe. If you’ve seen a gangster film, don’t expect to be surprised by its twists and turns.
Where Mafia: The Old Country excels is in its setting. The Sicilian countryside and the fictional town of San Celeste are breathtaking. The architecture, outfits, vehicles, weapons, and everything in between are beautifully rendered and feel authentic to the era. Hangar 13 knows this, too, because most missions have a section or two that require you to slowly walk through intricately crafted sets and lavishly detailed interiors. This will undoubtedly get on some people’s nerves, but given the artistry behind Mafia: The Old Country, I didn’t mind these sections. Hangar 13 uses these moments as an opportunity for the environmental storytelling and world-building that the Mafia series is known for. San Celeste, and how it changes throughout the game, is a great example of this. The town is steeped in history and culture, and it can be seen on every street corner. During events and festivals, parts of the city are transformed into crowded marketplaces and bustling fairs. It gives Mafia: The Old Country a strong sense of place.
Hangar 13 brilliantly ties the narrative into its setting by referencing real-world events and capturing the sentiment of the era. The game doesn’t begin in a sulfur mine by mere coincidence. In the early 1900s, sulfur was a major export for Sicily, and the mines were notorious for their deadly working conditions and extreme exploitation of workers. Some mines were even linked to the Sicilian Mafia due to the decentralized government of the time. The sulfur mines are just one example of how Mafia uses real history to inform its story and characters. There’s even one moment near the end of the game that uses the country’s geographical features and real natural phenomena to dramatic effect.
But despite its apparent detail, Mafia: The Old Country feels more like an elaborate museum exhibit than a video game. There’s very little to interact with outside of your current main objective, and if you find a way to push the boundaries of the world, the game rarely responds appropriately. This is somewhat understandable given Mafia: The Old Country’s linear mission structure. Instead of the seamless open world you might expect from a Grand Theft Auto–or even from 2016’s Mafia 3–The Old Country’s mission design echoes Mafia 1 and 2, so when one chapter ends, a new one begins, leaving little room for exploration in between. Broadly speaking, this is the right move and allows Hangar 13 to put its story front and center. However, if you find time to venture from the critical path (or load up the game’s Exploration mode), you’ll find a disappointingly one-dimensional world. There is no law enforcement, NPCs generally don’t react to your actions no matter how chaotic, and weapon usage is restricted inside most major locations. The Mafia games aren’t known for their deep interactivity and reactivity, and I wasn’t expecting The Old Country to break new ground here, but this still feels like a step down from previous entries.
This rigidity extends to the gameplay. Mafia: The Old Country relies on a handful of dated instant-fail stealth segments with poor checkpointing to break up the pace of driving, shooting, and cutscenes in a typical mission. These range from inconvenient to frustrating. One in particular sees Enzo sneaking into a government facility to crack a safe. It’s a fun premise, but one slip-up puts you back outside to start over, regardless of how deep you make it into the building. At first, I gave these instant-fail stealth missions the benefit of the doubt, since there are obvious story reasons why Enzo wouldn’t want to be spotted. However, most of the time, a gunfight erupts anyway, making all that trial and error feel trivial.
Combat is an improvement over 2020’s Mafia: Definitive Edition, but this still feels like a generic cover-based shooter. You have two weapons, grenades, and–if you have one equipped–a throwing knife. Aiming and movement are a bit stiff on a controller and the targeting reticule can be pretty imprecise, which could feasibly be explained away by unwieldy early-20th century firearms. A lot of the satisfaction in gunplay comes from explosive sound design and weapon feedback. The firearms in The Old Country feel deadly, knocking enemies back and annihilating the clutter scattered around the battlefield. It helps that the enemy AI at the standard difficulty is aggressive and occasionally clever. Enemies would often flank and push an advantage when there was an opening, requiring me to react on the fly. Combat never became difficult, but it required just enough quick thinking and ammo management to keep things interesting.
Significant encounters end in a knife fight. Mechanically, these fights are simplistic but do a decent job at breaking up the pace of ducking into cover for gunfights. During these duels, Enzo can dodge, counter, slash, thrust, and break an enemy’s guard. There’s just enough depth to keep these brawls engaging, but they never develop beyond a mildly entertaining diversion. Thematically, though, these fights quickly become ridiculous. Every important antagonist is ready to toss their gun aside and square up with Enzo, even if they’re giving up a clear advantage. Early on, Enzo pulls a knife on his boss at the mines, and rather than intervening, everyone just stands around and watches the violence. Sure, to an extent, this is standard fare for a video game. However, given how grounded Mafia: The Old Country’s story is, it’s odd that Hangar 13 falls back on this gimmick so often. In many cases, I would have just preferred a cutscene or a simple shootout.
Mafia: The Old Country is at its best when things slow down, letting you take in all the sights and sounds of Sicily. Like previous Mafia games, it nails the look and feel of its real-world counterpart by investing heavily in the details. Unfortunately, generic gameplay and dated mission design hold Mafia: The Old Country back, making it feel like a relic of the early 2010s.
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