Mafia: The Old Country

Ahhh, Sicily. Rolling hills, rich wines, and the dry heat of the scirocco tumble together to form a slice of Mediterranean paradise. It’s both the birthplace of the Casa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, and home to one of the world’s most famous active volcanoes – Etna. It’s here that the protagonist of Mafia The Old Country, Enzo, finds himself – in Valle Dorata.

Mafia: The Old Country is a strong contender for one of 2025's best narrative titles. At one moment, it can feel like a cheesy Italian soap opera where Enzo and Isabella's on-screen forbidden affair is adorable enough to make you kick your feet in the air. But on the other hand, it's a ruthless crime spectacle that excellently portrays the origins of the Mafia with the Torisi Family's rise and fall, with character performances reminiscent of an A24 movie. Throughout its 14-chapter duration, it maintains a tight pacing, particularly in its exposition and gameplay sequences, with the latter feel...

Mafia: The Old Country is a worthy addition to the long-running crime franchise. It excels with a strong cast, high production values, and a story you’ll genuinely care about, all supported by simple yet effective combat systems. However, its lower price point likely limited its overall scope, which in turn impacts its replay value. But if you’re someone who wants games to respect your time and are tired of overly long, bloated open world experiences, Mafia: The Old Country is absolutely worth your attention.

Mafia: The Old Country is a conventional but effective return to the linear and tightly story-driven format of the original Mafia and Mafia II, and it boasts a wonderful eye and ear for detail.

After finishing Mafia: TOC, I will remember it fondly as a solid solo game experience, and I wish that we could have more games of the same ilk. It doesn’t waste any time with open-world bloat, it tells a compelling story, and gives you the option of being a completionist if you choose it.

Mafia: The Old Country launches tomorrow, nearly nine years after the last mainline entry in the franchise, making fans more than eager to get their hands on this new game. Sure, in 2020, there was the Mafia: Definitive Edition remake of the original classic from 2002, but this is a new story, albeit one set in the past.

A pretty prequel with a lot of betrayal and bullets that moves slowly, like a movie. But does it work?

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Shallow mechanics and dated design hold back an otherwise gorgeous game.

A clumsy and mechanically inert effort to capture the majesty and thrills of mob cinema, Mafia: The Old Country finds no promised land in either its routine tale of crime or its linear, hyper-focused gameplay. Impressive facial capture and a unique setting can’t sustain this poor, if well-intentioned, emulation of far greater works.

That first glimpse of the Sicilian countryside in Hangar 13’s Mafia: The Old Country is a gobsmacking moment, with those distant mountain ranges and crumbling ruins framing the pastoral splendor of busy vineyards and dirt roads. It’s a land populated and maintained by ruthless dons and humble peasants alike, supporting the story's classic climb through a criminal hierarchy, one wardrobe upgrade at a time. Published by 2K, Mafia: The Old Country is another third-person action narrative argument against open-world bloat, but its gameplay is as bland as room-temp ragù out of the jar.

I would have liked to see Mafia: The Old Country give me more to sink my teeth into. This is not about length, which comes in at around 12–15 hours to complete, but more about having some meat on the bone. If it's about giving me a cinematic drama to play before me, then really give it to me instead of a very typical love story up until the last hour or so. My hopes were high for Mafia: The Old Country, and the game didn't satisfy.