Game review: Mafia: The Old Country (PS5)

Despite being a relatively popular franchise, the Mafia series doesn't have that many games in its library. Over the span of 23 years, only four mainline Mafia games have been released across multiple gaming generations. 

Mafia came out in 2002, and Mafia 2 was released back in 2010. The third game was out in 2016, and now we have Mafia: The Old Country in 2025. Mafia: The Old Country is the first game in the series to be released for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S generation. 

While I did not play Mafia and Mafia 2 in their release years, I did check out their re-releases in 2020. Mafia was a full remake, while Mafia 2 was only a remaster. Both games were enjoyable, although the latter was very humorous to me. Mafia 3 was okay, but it wasn't as engaging. 

To stop the series from feeling stale, Mafia: The Old Country takes place in a different era and isn't set in the USA. Instead, the game takes place in Italy, set during the early 1900s. While the other games are in cities, Mafia: The Old Country, on the other hand, features horses, vineyards, and more natural environments.

Mafia: The Old Country follows the life of a young Italian named Enzo Favara, who was sold by his father to the Mafia at a young age. The Sparado gang owns a sulphur mine, and Enzo and his best friend have been working there for a long time, but are sick of it. The pair plans to escape in hopes of leading a better life. 

Sadly, Enzo's best friend dies in the mine due to a gas leak, but Enzo manages to escape and hide out in a huge property. Even though the Sparado gang chases after him, the property's owner protects Enzo. The twist in this scenario is that the owner is none other than another Mafia boss called Don Torrisi. 

After that, Enzo is recruited to the Torrisi gang and starts to make friends with its other members. Enzo's closest friends include Luca and the Don's nephew, Cesare. Enzo's first jobs are mundane, but as the game progresses, he becomes the gang's most useful member when more illegal tasks are set upon him. 

Before I talk about the gameplay, I want to say Mafia: The Old Country looks beautiful. I like the old-school setting because you get to see the 1900s Italian architecture that we rarely see in other games. Not to mention, on a base PS5, the game runs at 60fps in performance mode, and 30fps in quality mode. It's by far the best-looking Mafia game that has ever been released. 

As for the gameplay, Mafia: The Old Country has a mix of stealth and lots of gunplay action. There are times you need to hide from enemies and kill them by strangling them. Enzo also has a knife he can use to pick locks, although its sharpness decreases every time you use it. 

Mafia's signature gunplay is also intact, with The Old Country using a competent cover system. I like how Enzo attaches to a wall when you press the X button (A on Xbox), instead of newer games where you enter cover by just crouching automatically without pressing a button.

Enzo has access to tons of weapons at his disposal, killing members of the Sparado gang. He can only carry one light weapon, one heavy weapon, a knife, and some grenades. Light weapons include pistols, while heavy weapons are usually rifles and powerful shotguns. 

Ammo isn't scarce in this game either because Enzo can easily steal more ammo from dead enemies. He can also steal any weapons that are dropped by other mafia members as well. 

Taking cover in this game is important because the enemies are surprisingly accurate and relentless in large numbers. Enzo can easily heal himself by using bandages. The game also has lots of boss battles that end in epic knife fights. Enzo can block and parry attacks, and the knife fights are cinematic with high stakes throughout. 

Aside from combat, travelling is also a big part of Mafia: The Old Country as well. At first, Enzo has access to a horse, but later on, he can drive many different cars. Enzo also has to compete in both a horse race and a car race to impress his new Mafia friends, too. 

I enjoyed playing Mafia: The Old Country with its good graphics and competent gameplay, but there are some minor flaws. For one thing, this is one of the shortest Mafia games in history, as the game only lasts around 10 hours. It's quite linear, although the story is mostly excellent. 

Not to mention, the game lacks any meaningful side quests or side activities. Even though you can explore the open-world environment, there isn't much else to do in the game outside of the main story. You cannot do fun stuff like you can in a GTA game, for example. 

Another thing I noticed is that the animations look stiff and outdated sometimes. It's hard to explain in words, but the character movements aren't smooth compared to other AAA video games out there. At least the cutscenes look good, even though there is graphical pop-ins on occasion. 

While it may be a short experience, Mafia: The Old Country is still a pretty fine game. The gameplay is enjoyable, and the story is emotional and engaging throughout. Mafia fans will love this game, even with its unique new setting. 

Verdict: 8.5/10