The story in Mafia: The Old Country is both the game’s biggest strength as much as it is its weakness. From the beginning, I was hooked. Playing as Enzo, the prologue has you escape a dire situation, leading you to meet with and eventually serve Don Torrisi’s family. From here, it’s as predictable as you can expect.
One supporting character, the Don’s right-hand man, is your mentor. Cool, calm, and collected, they guide you through your role, requirements, and the unspoken rules of the family and its business. Another supporting character, the Don’s nephew, is the opposite, acting as a hot-headed individual filled with arrogance and aggression.
Your love interest is, as you can guess, the Don’s daughter. It’s as engaging as it is predictable, filled with all the story tropes you can think of. Yet, despite all its predictability, the supporting cast and their beautiful writing and delivery kept me hooked.
Its characters and its visuals are where Mafia: The Old Country shines. Performances are delivered brilliantly, with emotional depth, weight, and personality. Characters are realistic and relatable, presenting like a classic mafia story. Unfortunately, while supporting characters are amazing, Enzo is far from it, rather, he’s somewhat boring, lacking emotion and personality.
Cinematics are impressive, delivering atmospheric and intense moments. At times, TOC feels less like a game and more like a movie, and I’m all for it. If I hated the gameplay, I know I’d have kept playing due to how the characters are presented, both through script delivery and visual presentation.
Sicily is captured perfectly – Buildings and clothing are authentic, the countrysides are realistic, and set pieces are crafted with care and love. From its sunrises and sunsets to cities and mountainsides, the lighting is natural and does a brilliant job at bringing the world to life through natural tones. Watching clouds above the countryside vineyards is truly a sight when you see it for the first time.
Exploring Sicily is as enjoyable to do as it is to see, with options such as horseback or car. Should that not be to your liking, however, TOC allows you to skip travel at certain points.
For fans of the original Mafia, gameplay feels familiar, delivering everything I’d have hoped for or wanted. For those new to the franchise, however, they may be left disappointed, as there’s nothing revolutionary or unique here. For me, the worst mechanics are the unavoidable knife fights and the unnecessarily long stealth segments, which completely overstay their welcome.
While stealth segments can be avoided in some missions, the knife fights cannot. For me, they slow down the game, taking me away from what I enjoy. These can be overlooked for the most part thanks to The Old Country’s brilliant gunplay.
Enemies will actively move toward you and your position. By flanking you or using grenades, enemies force you to move from cover to cover. It’s a simple yet highly engaging experience, especially on the hardest difficulty, as it makes engagements feel that much more chaotic and dangerous.
Overall, Mafia: The Old Country is an excellent addition to the Mafia franchise. It’s a noticeable improvement from Mafia 3, and highlights that the developers know what fans want, and can deliver that should they set their mind to it. The world is beautiful, the characters and story are well-crafted, and the gameplay takes me back to the first time I played Mafia. Fans and first-timers are sure to enjoy the game, although the minor gripes I face may detract some more than they did me.
MAFIA: THE OLD COUNTRY REVIEW
Mafia: The Old Country is a formidable entry into the series, one with an engaging yet overly cliché and predictable story filled with beautifully crafted set pieces and great cast performances. While these are all great, the occasional knife fight or stealth sections stall the momentum of the experience at times.
PROS
The soundtrack is amazing
Returns to the roots of the Mafia franchise
Authentic Sicilian atmosphere, with beautifully crafted settings
Cast of characters is brilliantly voiced with strong emotional performances
CONS
- While engaging, the story is cliché and predictable
- Repetitive knife play segments
