If you are looking for good examples of compelling storytelling in video games, the Mafia series is a good place to start, with each game seemingly improving upon the previous one. This cumulated in the release of Mafia III in 2016, which our GiN reviewer dubbed a masterpiece of a game, with the kind of storytelling more often associated with great movies. Whereas Mafia III was a near cinematic experience, the original two titles were no slouches either. But it’s clear that developer Hanger 13 learns from its successes and stumbles, and they able to keep improving their Mafia series over time.
Which brings us to Mafia: The Old Country, which again improves the experience by a great deal over the previous titles. It also takes the series and the history of the mafia itself back to the very beginning, adding yet another compelling element as we get to see how the mafia was formed. The first three games were all set in America, in fictional versions of Chicago, New York and New Orleans in the 1920s, 1950s and 1960s respectively. Those game worlds seemed historical but also relatable to modern players. But for The Old Country, the story starts way back in 1904 in Sicily, Italy, and the setting can seem kind of alien comparatively. It’s an old place where cars are much more rare than horses, and weapons are more akin to your arsenal from Red Dead Redemption.
I brought up Red Dead Redemption specifically because the guns are similar, perhaps a little bit more advanced in Mafia: The Old Country, but also because both titles approach open world gaming very differently, and it’s important for players to know what they are getting into. For games like Red Dead and to a large extent other titles like Grand Theft Auto V, the open world is there to entertain players in that if you wander very far in any direction you can probably find something fun to do, even if it’s just stealing an expensive car or punching out a mouthy pedestrian. But in The Old Country, the open world is mostly just window dressing that enhances the story. Missions are tightly controlled, almost linear in nature, and often filled with interesting cut scenes at key points. You won’t be wandering around the countryside collecting loot or (thank goodness) taking over businesses and territories for your mafia family. You might get to drive a vehicle or ride horses with your crew in order to get to missions, which is often accompanied by interesting or funny dialogue, but the world itself, while beautifully rendered, is mostly just background.
Because The Old Country is basically a series of tightly controlled and highly designed missions, each one has the potential to be really exciting, while also advancing the story. That’s kind of the key to success for the entire Mafia series. Hanger 13 is able to use video game technology to tell a compelling story. Instead of a movie where you witness the main character performing their first execution-style killing for their new mafia family, the developers put the gun in your hand and make players pull the trigger, which I believe greatly adds to the emotional shock of key moments like that. And in between those highly scripted missions are gorgeous cut scenes that set the mood, advance the story and provide context for the next grand mission.
As epic as the storytelling is in The Old Country, it’s also a very slow burn. I believe I was more than two hours into it (of about a 15 hour total adventure) before I finally got my hands on a gun. Even then, that gun was not loaded since I was only supposed to use it to intimidate someone we were shaking down. Eventually, combat or chases and other action sequences become a normal part of most missions, but it takes quite a while to get there.
You play as a young kid named Enzo Favara, sold to a sulfur mining company to pay off the debts of his father. It’s a harsh life, but Enzo is surviving and even saving up enough money with his friend so that they can buy their freedom and move to Empire City (basically New York). However, fate intervenes, and you are sent running alone into the countryside, chased by the cruel mine overseers. By happenstance, you hide in a barn owned by the Torrisi crime family, and the thugs chasing you are part of a rival gang. Don Torissi and his crew show up because by chasing you there, the mine overseers are breaking a fragile truce. The don takes you in and for the next couple months you perform low-level jobs around the estate, moving boxes, shoveling out the stables and things like that. In return, you get room and board while also being secretly evaluated for better things.
Eventually, you get to prove yourself and get inducted into the Torrisi family. Thereafter, you get assigned more exciting and dangerous responsibilities. Most of the missions in The Old Country have a good balance of stealth and combat, and most are also packed with surprises that you might not see coming. And the whole time, you are building up respect with the family and taking on more responsibilities and bigger roles. Enzo seems pretty happy with his new life too, although complications start to form which will lead to trouble down the road. But even so, being a made man is so much better than crawling through the mines.
The combat in Mafia: The Old Country is regrettably one of its weakest areas. It’s not too changed from Mafia III or even the first two games. It’s basically a third-person shooter with a heavy emphasis on cover mechanics. Success will entail moving from cover point to cover point and shooting at enemies when they break cover, stop to reload or foolishly charge your position.
Oddly enough, the weapons feel a bit underpowered. Many times, I would shoot someone who was charging at me with a revolver or pistol, putting three or four shots into them, only to have them shake it off with a wince or a momentary pause where they double over in pain before jumping right back into combat. At times it felt like I was giving them bee stings more than pumping them full of lead. The guns are also pretty inaccurate at range, mostly because they tend to sway a lot. It’s possible to sit back and take pot shots at people if you have a great rifle and can get headshots, but it’s much more effective to charge up to closer ranges and then blast them with a shotgun or maybe with the repeating rifle. The whole combat mechanic feels kind of dated actually, but at least it’s fair. If you maintain your cover spots and are careful, you can survive just about any fight without taking too much damage.
There are also knife duels in The Old Country, which are always a part of the story, so set piece battles basically against “boss” type opponents. In a knife duel, you need to block, dodge and parry blows if you want to live. You are given both audio and visual clues when your opponent is, for example, about to take a huge swing that can’t be blocked, so you know to dodge instead. It takes some practice, and there is a really good tutorial where you get to try out your skills with a dull blade, but even so, you will need quick reflexes, making the knife fights one of the most challenging parts of the game. And because they are story-based and not skippable, it could lead to frustration for players who struggle with that kind of quick time-based fighting.
In addition to gun battles, stealth sequences and knife fight duels, there are also quite a few vehicle or horse-based missions where you will be riding and shooting, either trying to catch someone or running away. These often involve a combination of driving and shooting with everything more or less on rails in terms of where you can go. Those scenes are really exciting, with everything from grenades to falling trees becoming a problem you have to avoid. They help to break up the times when the narrative is starting to drag along, giving it a much-needed boost to keep action-loving players happy.
There are also a few dedicated races in the title where you will need to zoom around the track on horseback or in a fancy racecar and try to take the checkered flag. This is hardly surprising given that racing has always been a big part of the Mafia series. Like in those other Mafia titles, players will need to help Enzo come in first to complete racing missions, although the game restarts the race and lets you try again until you finally land in the top spot. The biggest challenge with the race missions is probably not the speed, but the fact that cars at the time tended to slide all over the place on thin little tires, so you will need to fight to stay in control. Horses don’t have that problem, but do get tired, so the trick there is to balance your need for speed with your animal’s stamina.
Despite somewhat dated combat and pretty linear missions, everything in The Old Country really takes a backseat to the amazing story. It’s the main reason why most people will keep playing and advancing missions. Seeing Enzo go from sulfur-stained rags to a life of relative comfort is compelling, and even more so when we start to see him question his new, violent life. There is even a forbidden romance with the don’s daughter thrown into the mix, and it’s surprisingly well done too and has a profound effect on how the tale ultimately unfolds. It helps that all of the cut scenes are really done in cinematic quality, with the graphics, acting and script all coming together in a very impressive package for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and the PC through Steam.
Mafia: The Old Country might not reinvent combat mechanics, but it hardly needs to. The true strength lies in its storytelling, which blends history, atmosphere and personal stakes into one of the most compelling Mafia tales yet. For players who value strong narratives over endless side quests, The Old Country is a slow-burning masterpiece worth experiencing from start to finish.